With my new WIF Mentoring Circle, our mentors want us to meet with them every other month. For the in-between months, they want all the mentees to meet on our own. We set up our meeting when we all met for the first time, and I agreed to host.
We decided to make our meeting a potluck so everyone signed up to bring something different. Obviously I would have the plates/cups/silverware for everyone, but I also wanted to have some food. I knew that the days leading up to the meeting would be stressful, so I did some searching online for easy appetizer ideas. I ended up deciding on doing a meat and cheese plate with some crackers. And fortunately, Trader Joes has some pretty incredible things so I was able to make this pretty easily.
I got the tray and bowls at Ross Dress For Less because I realized as I was getting ready that I have no serving platters. That tray was $6 (I’m thinking about going back to get another one) and those bowls were in a set of 4 for $7.
I spent most of my afternoon cleaning my house (doesn’t everyone do that when company comes over?) and my fellow mentees started showing up right on time at 5pm.
With all the food that everyone brought, my dining room table looked pretty full.
We all grabbed some food and then sat in my living room area to chat.
I was pretty shocked that all 8 of us who were able to make it fit into my living room pretty easily. I’ve never had more than 5 people over but with my new couch and the rearrangement of my living room I can fit more people than before!
We all went around the group and shared what we had done since our last meeting last month. We got advice and shared stories and it was really a great evening of women who really are working hard to make it in the entertainment industry.
We ended up meeting for almost 3 hours (we might have to figure out an agenda for our next meeting so we don’t run crazy long). This mentoring circle is such a huge difference compared to my other mentoring circle. I don’t know if anyone in my last mentoring circle really met outside of our group meetings. We definitely weren’t told that we needed to do so (I like that my current mentors really want us to meet during the in-between months).
I’m excited to see how the rest of this year goes with my mentoring circle. I have my next meeting next month (that meeting is with the mentors as well). Hopefully they will have some guidance on how we can run our own meetings to maximize what we get out of it.
In the meantime, I’m just so grateful that my mentors and fellow mentees are just as enthusiastic about getting as much out of this year as I am!
Posted onMarch 6, 2015|Comments Off on Vacation From Meal Planning (or Finding It Hard To Go Back)
While on mytrip, I didn’t worry too much about what I was eating. I knew I’d be drinking a lot more than usual and I didn’t want to stress about counting calories. So I pretty much just entered what I had at breakfast in MyFitnessPal so I wouldn’t lose my record of how many days in a row I’ve tracked my food.
Breakfast was pretty easy. We got a free continental breakfast at the hotel so I had hard-boiled eggs, fruit, and toast. Nothing too crazy. Lunches were pretty sensible as well. I ate more bread type items because I wanted to help soak up some of the alcohol, but the portions were pretty reasonable.
And dinners were more extravagant. We went out for nice dinners the two nights we went out and I got what I wanted without worrying about calories. I had bread at dinner, enjoyed some great pasta one night, and got to enjoy a truly incredible steak (worth the wait!).
We didn’t have dessert any nights and we did some walking each day. So by the end of my trip, while the scale was up a little it wasn’t unreasonable.
My problem has been getting back on track with my food. I have been doing so well for so long, and this week has been extremely difficult for me. I’ve eaten things that I thought I’d be able to avoid and not have as temptations in my house.
I’m not trying to make excuses for myself, but this week was a crazy week. I’m working out at weird times (or at least weird for me), I’m working as second job at night, and I’ve got the film festival I work for this weekend. So I’m not able to eat on the schedule that I’ve been doing in the past. And the stress and tiredness I’ve been dealing with lowers my willpower and doesn’t allow me to make the best choices.
This weekend is going to be pretty bad food-wise. I’m working at the festival both days this weekend from about noon until 11pm. It’s at a bar, so I will be able to order something to eat for a large lunch/dinner meal (I’m thinking about eating a later breakfast and then eating something around 4pm to be it for the day). There are ok choices at the bar, but it’s still going to be food that I didn’t prepare myself. I’m looking at their menu online to try to plan things out the best that I can, knowing that things might get crazy and plans have to be flexible.
But after this weekend, I’m really hoping to get back into the groove that I was in. The big positive I’ve been trying to remind myself is that I’ve only had about a week of slip ups and my weight is still significantly down. I didn’t wait until I gained back all the weight (or all the weight plus some), before realizing that there is a problem and trying to make a change.
This past weekend was a fun weekend getaway for me! I went to Napa/Sonoma with my mom and sister-in-law! This trip had been in the works for a while now, and I had been looking forward to it for a long time. Even though I grew up in Northern California, I moved to LA when I was 18 and never went to Napa before. But my mom likes to go there and my brother and sister-in-law go up there at least once a month. So I was in good hands and trusted them to plan an awesome weekend.
I got into SFO very late on Friday, and the three of us headed up to Sonoma where we were staying. Since it was dark out, I didn’t really see too much, but I was very excited to see what was in store for me the next day.
On Saturday, we had a fun full day planned. Also, my best friend Kate was able to drive up and join us for the day! Once Kate got to the hotel, we got into the car and headed to our first appointment of the day: Arrowood.
I had no idea what was going to happen at the tasting, but my sister-in-law had set up a private room for a wine and cheese pairing. Plus, we had an incredible view!
Once we got inside the tasting room, we were given a menu of all the wines, cheeses, and condiments that we would be enjoying.
I’m typically a champagne or white wine drinker, but my sister-in-law really wants me to start liking reds. So I tried everything that was given to me (although I still don’t really like reds yet).
The whites were really good. And the cheeses really did make a difference in how each wine tasted. I had never really done a formal wine tasting before so this was a very cool experience. And I’m glad that my sister-in-law made an appointment for us for a private tasting because the lobby where non-appointment guests had tastes was very crowded and loud.
I didn’t end up purchasing any wine from Arrowood, but Kate and my mom got some.
After that tasting, we went to Benziger where they had a tour of their grounds as well as tastings. We didn’t have an appointment, but a tour was starting right after we got there, so the timing was perfect!
This tour started out by driving around some of the vineyards and the guide explaining on how they made the wine. They do everything on site, and while the grapes weren’t currently growing, it was all beautiful.
After driving around the grounds, we got to go inside one of the caves where they store the barrels of wine.
This was so cool! We learned about the barrel process and how long they have everything aging in the cave.
After touring the caves, we got to taste some of the wines. Again, I liked the white ones but the reds weren’t my favorite.
After those two tastings, we headed into town to have a nice lunch between our tastings. We were in a bit of a rush, but we all ordered things that were able to be made quickly. I had a mushroom truffle flatbread (I figured that would soak up some of my before lunchtime wine).
As we were leaving lunch, the sky started to look funny. And as soon as we were in the car a hailstorm started! It wasn’t too crazy at first, but then the hail got bigger and bigger and the storm didn’t seem to be letting up!
Our last wine stop for the day was Gundlach Bundschu. At this winery we had set up a cave tour and tasting inside the cave. It was still raining when we arrived, but we rushed into the cave to start the tour and tasting.
We learned a bit of history about the winery and then we tasted some of the wines that had already been bottled. But after that, we got to taste some of the wines in the barrels that were still aging!
I probably learned more about wine that day than I have in my entire life! And I think that everyone agrees and also had an amazing time! And I bought a bottle of white wine from that vineyard (my mom will be driving down my way in April so she’s bringing me my wine since I couldn’t put it in my carry on).
After all those tastings, we went out for a fun Italian dinner. Then Kate had to head back home(sadly she couldn’t join us for the entire weekend).
The next day wasn’t a wine tasting day (more on Sunday in tomorrow’s post!), but Monday was another wine day!
On Monday, we had 2 tastings set up. The first was at Duckhorn, where my brother and sister-in-law are members (so they get free tastings!).
It was a bit cold out, but they had heaters on the patio, so we enjoyed a nice tasting outside. And we got a lot of tastings!
There are only 5 of our 7 tastings in that picture! Again, I didn’t love the reds (I gave my tastings to Krystle) but I really enjoyed the white wine! I really liked the tasting at Duckhorn because we got a card for each wine that had some information like the mixture of grapes, aging time, and flavor profiles on it. I might not have loved the tastes of all the wines, but I loved learning more about them!
Then we went to our final wine tasting, and the one that I had been looking forward to the most! We went to Schramsberg for sparkling wine tasting!
This tasting and tour included a cave tour and tasting by candlelight inside the cave! We had been inside a few caves already that weekend, so I thought I knew what to expect. But this cave was so incredible with all the sparkling wine bottles stacked from the ground to the top of the cave!
And since this was on a weekday, the cave was busy with people working there. We saw them take bottles out of the cave to be cleaned and ready for the next steps in the bottling process. But the coolest thing we saw was the drumming of the bottles (I never knew that was a thing before).
We also learned how they get the yeast (which makes the bubbles) out of the bottles without losing the bottles. And that was also in a section of the cave that was floor to ceiling bottles.
Finally, it was time to taste! And the area for the tasting was so beautiful!
Holy moly that sparkling wine was good! I loved all 3 bottles that we tried. 2 of them cost more than $100 (more than I can afford), but we did try a rose that was a much more reasonable price. So I ended up buying a bottle of that. And my mom ended up joining their wine club so I got to take advantage of her new discount.
That was such a perfect note to end the wine tasting weekend on! I had such an amazing time and we’ve already decided that we will be making wine tasting weekends an annual occurrence!
And I haven’t shared what we did on Saturday yet. That will come tomorrow, and that day was amazing as well!
Posted onFebruary 27, 2015|Comments Off on Fitting Splurges Into My Meals (or How I Need To Eat For Life)
I’m still getting used to post-cleanse life. It’s tough to find a balance even though I completely understand what I need to do now. But I had some opportunities to test out my new knowledge with some splurges over the past week.
It started on Sunday with the Oscars Party. I ate cleanly and limited my calories before going to the party. I tried to go to the party without being hungry, but I knew I could be there from about 3-10pm, so I’d have to eat at some point. I did make some good choices like cut up veggies. But that wouldn’t be enough to hold me over for the evening.
The traditional thing that Chris and Marie make for their party is queso dip with chips. So I made a small portion of that for me and it was really delicious! By eating so clean and plain normally, things that are different taste more extreme than I’m used to. So less of it filled me up and satisfied me. Beyond that, I stayed with pretty healthy options for the rest of the party. My weight the next day was up a little, but that was to be expected because of sodium.
The next test for me was Disneyland. I ate breakfast and lunch at home (and also did a pre-Disneyland workout at Orangetheory) and brought a snack with me. The only thing I ate at the park was my soup in a bread bowl. No treats or candy for me. And all I drank was water. With my smart choices and all the walking I did, I lost the weight that I had gained from the Oscar Party while at Disneyland and splurging a little.
I also had a minor setback/splurge this past week with some crispy M&Ms. Those are my favorite and they only just came back into stores after being gone for a long time. I didn’t need them, but I had them. But I balanced it out by not eating as much for dinner that night.
I’m also looking at finding more good options for lunch. Now that my lunches can be cooked, I’m exploring what else I can eat while I work (which means that I need it to be ok to eat cold). Right now, I’m loving the quinoa cowboy veggie burgers from Trader Joes. I had one the other day with half an avocado and a banana. This kept me satisfied and full even through my workout!
I’m hoping to not have as many splurges/treats in a normal week. This weekend will be tough because I’m going wine tasting and will be going out for some nice meals. But once I’m back, I will be back to my almost always clean eating. But this is normal life, and I have to learn how to live this way and still continue the right way on my weight loss journey.
Posted onFebruary 20, 2015|Comments Off on Bringing More Food Back Into My Diet (or Staying Vegetarian For Now)
This past week was my first post-cleanse week. Right when I started the cleanse, my plan was to have a steak on my first post-cleanse day. I was craving meat like crazy and that seemed like a good way to celebrate doing a cleanse (and being vegan) for 28 days.
But as the days in the cleanse went on, that plan started to change. I am still in the weight loss challenge at Orangetheory (1 week left to go with that) and my need to have a steak right away went away. Plus, I’ve got an amazing trip coming up next weekend with my mom and sister-in-law and my mom made reservations at a fancy steakhouse. I’m sure that that steak will be so much better than anything that I can make, so I’m going to wait.
My first post-cleanse grocery trip was a little overwhelming. Suddenly I could get whatever I wanted. If I wanted ice cream, I could have it again. If I wanted frozen mac and cheese (one of my favorite Trader Joes splurges), I could buy it. But I tried to focus on eating similarly to the cleanse plan.
I did get some frozen turkey burgers and frozen tilapia to keep in my freezer, but right now I don’t know if I’ll be eating them anytime soon. But they seemed like good “emergency” meal things to have. But I’m pretty much vegetarian at home right now.
The main things that I brought back into my diet were eggs and dairy. I’ve been eating eggs (1 whole egg and 2 egg whites) for breakfast most days. As much as I wanted to keep just having fruit for breakfast, that never satisfied me. I need protein in the mornings. I usually scramble the eggs up with some spinach and onions and top it with a 1/4 cup of cheese (which is the actual serving size and not just me dumping some cheese on top). I also added some greek yogurt back into my diet. I love to use it instead of sour cream for baked potatoes (my mom and dad now do that too). So I had it on Saturday night with some sautéed potatoes and onions. It was so yummy!
I also had a meal out this week. When I was in San Diego, I went out for dinner. There weren’t a ton of choices on the menu that seemed like good choices and almost everything had meat on it. I’m sure I could have asked for things to be made without meat, but the menu said “no substitutions” all over it. I feel good about my choice of Huevos Rancheros, but my body did have a big jump on the scale the next day. Not being able to control the oil, seasonings, and salt is not good for me as far as losing weight.
I tried not to freak out about the weight gain. I knew it must have been from salt in the food. But I had some good clean meals the few days after and that weight gain is gone.
My weight now is just under where it was at the end of the cleanse. So I’m still heading in the right direction even with the weight gain from Monday’s dinner.
I don’t know if I’ll be adding meat back into my diet this next week before my trip. I have a full day tomorrow where I won’t be home from 11am until maybe 10 or 11pm and then the next day is the Oscar party (I’m hoping that I can make good choices while I’m at the party).
But the main thing I’m doing (which is one of the lessons I learned at the end of the cleanse), is that it’s ok for me to have a treat or splurge every once in a while. It’s safer for me if those treats or splurges don’t happen in my house so that they don’t become a regular part of my diet. And when I’m not out or enjoying a treat, I need to focus on good clean foods at home. That way I can balance it all out.
It’s taken 31 years and a lot of different diets, but eating right without being super restrictive is finally making sense to me.
I always have Mondays off from my main day job (I work Tuesday-Saturday). I usually just spend the day getting stuff done around my house or running errands. They tend to be pretty lazy days (except for my workout).
But this past Monday my mom was down in San Diego visiting with my grandparents. Her cousin Karen (who I haven’t seen in over 20 years) was also down in San Diego. So I rearranged my day so I could spend a couple of hours in San Diego with everyone.
After an early workout and showering and dressing, I was on the road by 10:30am. The drive went much better than it has in the past. I was down at my grandparents’ place in 2 hours and arrived a few seconds after my mom and cousin Karen got there from their hotel as well.
Most of the day was spent in my grandparents’ condo just catching up. I hadn’t seen my grandparents’ since Thanksgiving so it was awesome to get to see them again. And my mom was at the tail end of a multi-state trip so she was filling me in on everything that she did. And of course, getting to talk with cousin Karen a lot.
We all went out for Mexican food for dinner. I knew we’d be going out to dinner, so I had planned my meals accordingly and saved a lot of calories for the meal. I also had done some research on good vegetarian options at Mexican restaurants (I still haven’t brought meat back into my diet yet).
I ended up getting Huevos Rancheros. It’s somewhat close to what I would make as a rice bowl at home, just with some eggs. Now that I’m being careful with what I’m eating, I’m realizing how difficult it can be to eat out. I had no control over oil, salt, or any other extras that were added into my meal. So I had to try to guess the nutrition levels of my meal as best as I could. But since I was careful with my breakfast and lunch, I think it was ok to splurge a little on my dinner. And I didn’t have any chips or partake in the pitcher of margaritas that the table got.
After dinner, we all headed back to my grandparents’ place and I got my car so I could head home again. I ended up being in San Diego for just under 7 hours, so that’s a pretty good visit.
The drive home was easy again and I was home in time to get some stuff done in preparation for my work week.
I’m so glad that the timing of things worked out so well for me to have a family day on Monday. My family has always been important to me, but I’ve realized lately that I need to put in a better effort to see my family. Time goes by quickly and I can easily go a few months without going to San Diego to see my grandparents and that’s not good. I might be going down to see them again in 2 months when my parents (and dog) are down there. But I’m still trying to work out the timing for that.
I know that it doesn’t seem like I did a lot on my day trip to San Diego, but just being around my family is such a great way for me to recharge and get ready to kick some butt again in my life.
I love that the Inside Acting Podcast is doing more and more hangout with our listeners! It was great when we had our Chipotle meetup, but not everyone was able to make that one. So we scheduled another dinner meetup for this past week.
The dinner was at Native Foods, which is a vegan restaurant very close to my house. At first, I wasn’t planning on eating there because it was going to be on the last day of my cleanse. But I did a lot of research on their menu and discovered 2 things that were actually cleanse-friendly (most of their food has soy in it which was not allowed on the cleanse). So I decided that I would celebrate the end of my cleanse with a meal that wasn’t prepared by me (the first meal like that in 28 days!).
I ended up getting a salad which was ginormous and super delicious! I was only able to eat about half of it, so a friend of mine ended up eating the rest. It felt so decadent to eat something that someone else made. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt that way about a restaurant meal before because I used to eat a lot of prepared foods (whether it was delivery or frozen meals from the store).
When I got to Native Foods, a couple of people were there. But before we knew it, we had about 25 people there! We took over a majority of the seating inside (we gave them a heads up about our group and they said “bring it”). It was so great to reconnect with old friends and to meet lots of new people. And everyone is so amazing and awesome!
And within the 25 or so people who were there, the entire team behind the podcast was there! I don’t believe that we have all been in one place at one time, so of course we took a team photo.
I ended up being at Native Foods for almost 5 hours. Time flew by just chatting about random stuff with everyone there.
I’m so happy that the podcast is now becoming a more social thing. And if you are interested in finding out more about our future hangouts (we’ve got a couple of ideas in the works right now), I recommend joining our email list. We send weekly emails and include any podcast events in the emails.
Today is the final day of the cleanse! These 28 days have gone by super quickly, but at the same time it seems like forever ago that I started.
This past week was a breeze compared to the twoweeks before. Not having to do any detox drinks or tonics made everything seem so simple. Although it was weird not having to get up all the time during work to take a shot of a tonic. I’m also glad that I’m not drinking orange juice all the time anymore. As much as I love orange juice, I don’t like drinking it all the time. Plus, it’s just extra calories in my day.
While I did make a few newdishes this week, most of my meals were pretty basic. A banana for breakfast, apples with nut butter or veggies and bean dip for lunch, and rice bowls for dinner.
I also made my new favorite meal, sautéed potatoes and onions. It’s not the prettiest dish, but it is so yummy and so filling!
I think after today when I can add dairy back into my life, this dish will be improved by a scoop of greek yogurt (which I prefer over sour cream).
I’ve really loved having all my meals prepared by me so I can make them exactly how I want them. And it’s nice to see so many pretty colors in my fridge.
And my plan is to keep going in a very similar way that I’ve been doing on the cleanse. I am not going to stay vegan. I feel no need for that, and I know that I need more protein in my diet to continue pushing myself in my workouts.
But I’m not going to go crazy starting tomorrow either. For a while, I said that my plan was to eat a steak on my first non-cleanse day. I’ve pretty much changed my mind on that. I will be going to a very nice steakhouse in 2 weeks with my mom and sister-in-law, and I think I can wait until then to eat a steak.
I still have about 2 weeks left in the Orangetheory weight loss challenge. And while I don’t believe that I could win the national challenge, I think that I might be able to place in it and maybe even win the local challenge. So the idea of going crazy with food right away isn’t appealing to me.
I’ve also had some “ah-ha” moments while on this cleanse (mental clarity is one of the effects of doing this cleanse). I realized that obviously I don’t have to live the rest of my life with these food restrictions. But if I keep these restrictions (or something similar to these restrictions) at home, that means I can go out and splurge on meals without it having as much of an effect on me. In the past, I’ve allowed myself cheat meals and treats at home. I really think I need to limit those and make my cheat meals out. That way there is only one serving and I don’t have to deal with any leftovers at home.
This may seem like a silly or stupid realization, but as someone who has always been all or nothing, it’s a big deal. I’m hoping that I will be able to maintain this new mindset, and with the new mindset I will continue to see results.
It’s so funny how much I learned from this cleansing process. When I went into it, I mainly did it for the weight loss (and I did lose a good amount of weight). But I really gained so much more out of it that I never could have expected.
All joking aside, I needed to find another recipe that would work for my lunches. While I’ve been happy with apples and nut butter or a salad for a while, I’m looking for other options. It didn’t help that my salad the other day was ruined by almost all the vegetables having gone bad (I have no idea how that happened).
So I was trying to think of what else I could do with uncooked veggies or fruit (since that is what I eat for lunches on the cleanse). I love having dips with veggies, but most of them have ingredients that I cannot have like dairy. And while having guacamole would be amazing, I needed something with more protein.
So I did some searching on Pinterest and found this black bean dip that seemed super easy to make! It’s from Edible Perspective and it is super yummy! I might even make this when I am making dips to bring to Thanksgiving!
Super Easy (and Vegan) Black Bean Dip
What You Need:
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
3 tablespoons of water
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1/4-1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper (I had to skip this because salt and pepper are not allowed on the cleanse)
1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
smoked paprika (optional)
What To Do:
In a food processor, pulse the garlic clove until it’s finely chopped.
Add all the other ingredients and blend until smooth. Taste and add salt/pepper/cayenne if needed.
Refrigerate and enjoy!
Seriously, that’s it! It really does need the salt and it’s a little bland without it. But after this week is over I can add salt back into my diet.
I’ve seen a lot of other recipes online for black bean dip that have salsa added to it, but I don’t know if I’ll do that. But I do like the idea of adding things like onion, tomatoes, and red pepper into this mix. Again, something to try when I made this again (which will probably be this weekend!).
I ate this dip for lunch yesterday with some carrots and celery. Celery is a new vegetable in my life lately. I hated it raw for so long, but I forced myself to try it again. And with this dip (or nut butter), it isn’t so bad.
I love that I’m discovering new recipes that are cleanse-friendly but also something that I can see myself making even when the cleanse is all done. It makes me think that I can keep up the weight loss that I’ve experienced on the cleanse (although most likely not at the same speed) even after I’m done. The more healthy options I know how to make myself, the better!
I’ve been eating a lot of the same things for dinner while on the cleanse. While it’s great because I’m getting the right number of calories and nutrients, I know that I can’t keep this up for forever.
I’ve tried doing a little experimenting with my food and it’s all been pretty successful. But I wanted to get out of my comfort zone.
I had seen portabella mushroom pizzas on Pinterest a lot, but I’ve never been motivated enough to try them. I had to make them with soy-free vegan cheese (made from peas) to make this cleanse-friendly. But I will totally make this again with real cheese!
Portabella Mushroom Pizza
What you need:
Portabella mushroom caps
Pizza or marinara sauce
Cheese
Whatever toppings you like (I had olives, onions, garlic, and spinach)
What to do:
Preheat your oven to about 375.
Clean and prep the mushroom. Clean off the outside with a damp cloth and then remove the stem and gills from the inside. I used a spoon and it worked pretty well.
Put the mushrooms on a foil-lined baking sheet. I saw online that by making little cups for the mushrooms to sit on, they wouldn’t get as soggy.
Take some of the pizza or marinara sauce and spread it on the mushroom.
Cover the sauce with the cheese and then add your toppings.
Once the oven is at the correct temperature, stick them in to bake. I kept mine in about 15 minutes and I think they could have used a bit more time. But a good judge is once the cheese is browning and bubbly, it’s ready.
I made a few decisions with my pizzas that could be considered mistakes (too much sauce, not enough toppings, not baking them enough), but honestly it was still very yummy! With a few adjustments, this recipe will definitely be in a regular rotation at my house.
I’m still so shocked that I’ve gone from never really cooking to cooking every day (and making up my own recipes!). This is such a positive change in my life and I’m looking forward to continuing it even after the cleanse is done this week.