Bend & my gut feeling...

I went to BEAUTIFUL Bend, Oregon for the long Memorial Day weekend with my hubby, one of my best friends & her boyfriend. We had never been, they had. We rented a little house a few blocks from downtown and definitely fell in love.

Sabrina is GF/DF because of Rheumatoid Arthritis and we eat healthy normally so we decided to bring a little bit of our own food! I brought fruit, Mary's Gone crackers, bacon, and 2 bottle of wine :) Sabrina brought veggies, hummus, chips/salsa, and eggs. During our trip we walked over 8 miles on both Saturday and Sunday on hikes and around town. It was so great to walk almost everywhere we went and I managed to get in a barre3 Bend class {or course}!!!

PDX storms barre3 Bend!

My plan for the weekend was to enjoy myself, eat what I wanted but not go crazy. Since it was our first time in Bend, which is known for great restaurants and even better breweries, I knew I'd drink beer and have a few foods off my normal plan. I don't consider this "cheating" because the definition of cheating is: getting a reward for ability by dishonest means; finding an easy way out of an unpleasant situation; or breaking the rules. Sure, I was "breaking" the barre3 challenge rules and how I eat most of the time but I believe in the 80%/20% rule and stick to it almost every day. So a few days "off" wouldn't be too bad...right?!

Sam, Sabrina, Jason & Me

My food for the weekend went a little like this...

Friday - Driving down
- 1/2 a wrap from NS and 1 pint worth of two sides from NS.
Saturday.
- Homemade eggs, bacon, fruit
- Pulled Pork with potato salad from Crux Fermentation Project
- 1 piece of pizza from 10 barrel
- 4 beers over 6+ hours
Sunday
- 3 eggs baked omelet & a bowl of fruit from Victorian Cafe
- Snacks of veggies/hummus/chips/salsa
- 1/4 of a hamburger & 1/2 serving fries from Worthy
- 3 beers over 4+ hours
Monday. Drive home
- 2 eggs with Veggies & a cup of steamed almond milk

Smith Rock

We hiked around - not up & down {risk of falling too great}

barre3 after the hike. 

I promise I did not ever have that pole in my hand during the hike!

I want to talk about my dinner on Sunday {and the real reason for this post} which left me with a weird feeling in my gut. Literally and figuratively. We went to the gorgeous brewery Worthy which is a few minutes drive away from our house & downtown Bend. They had a GORGEOUS outdoor area where we luckily got sat. It was in the sun, we had beers in our hand. And I'd been craving a cheese burger. But not any cheese burger, I knew the one I wanted from the Island Cafe in Portland but I thought any cheese burger would do. I debated for 15 minutes as to what I was going to have and decided to order a burger & fries "because I'd been craving them". Before I even ate the burger I was full from the water on our hike and snacks I'd had after it.

What I believe now is that I was craving what the old Annie would have wanted in that situation. There is still a huge part of my psyche that is the old Annie, especially when it's something I can't have often - a certain restaurant that isn't local, a beer that is only available in one location. It's the thought of not being able to get it again that drives me crazy. And that is crazy. Because feeling like crap isn't worth any food and I think I learned my lesson last weekend.

I'm going out of town for 2 full weeks {plus any additional weekends here & there} so I'll have plenty of practice eating out and making good choices. What makes me the most upset is that my barre3 family gave me SO many great ideas of healthy places to eat and since the people we were with wanted to eat at the breweries, I chose to also. I know I could have chosen something else but I didn't. Maybe next time I will...

Fingers crossed {that my choices keep getting better & better}...

PS. We cannot wait to go back to Bend ASAP!!!

Viva Las Vegas!

{warning: long post} enjoy!

It wasn't until I was 2 days into my Vegas trip that I learned what "Viva" meant! Live Las Vegas. While we did not live Las Vegas in the typical sense (drunk & ridiculous) we did have a very, very good time!!! Not only will I be telling you about our trip...but what we ate! While it definitely wasn't "all healthy" we never intended it to be. We tried to make smarter choices and I'm very proud of how we did.

The reason we headed to Vegas was because my Father in Law was getting married to his girl friend of 14 years...Penny! They made the meaningful date of 11.14.13. They got married at 14:00, on the 14th, of the month they met 14 years ago.

We headed out on Wednesday night after work and got into Vegas at about 10pm which was about 3 hours later than we were supposed to be there! It was fun flying in at night!

 

Wolfgang Puck at the MGM Grand. The only restaurant open at 11pm.

THE FOOD: We split a pizza, each had a salad, and one beer.

 

Bright and early Thursday morning I took a taxi to the most magical place on earth ;-) Before class I had an apple. Then when we pulled in I saw that Whole Foods was right in the parking lot so I headed over and got some grilled veggies & eggs before class.

 

 

barre3 Henderson!!!

Jackie, barre3 Henerson's owner, and myself!

I took a class by Meredith and she taught a really fun class.

THE FOOD:Eating my Whole Foods salad in the window of our room at the MGM.

 

barre3 Henderson is in the same parking lot as a whole foods! Amazing!! I headed over before class and got two big salads for lunch before the wedding, apples, and a few other healthy treats!

A little barre3 in the background!

barre3 ball plank!

 

Thursday afternoon Penny and Mike got married!! Jason was the best man.

 

All the Eeds!!

The whole group that came down for the wedding!

 

I wore this tight dress without Spanx!! NON SCALE VICTORY!!!

I did wear tights but they were a size to big!

 

After the wedding we headed back to our hotel changed and headed back to the Bellagio to do our one day of gambling & drinking before their wedding dinner. I don't have any pictures from inside the casinos because I was told we couldn't take pictures (by someone) and I didn't want to get in trouble! Though, I can now officially say I understand how people can get "the Hangover" drunk in Vegas!! We sat at a video Roulette table and made a bunch of "safe" bets and drank way too much wine. Then we headed into dinner where we ate WWAAYY too much. We had a salad, this amazing chicken & potato entrée, and then cake of dessert. I was SO full I couldn't even finish dessert which is pretty much unheard of! I figure, if we only did that for one night in Vegas we aren't doing too bad!

Jason's first time seeing the Bellagio Fountains!

 

Friday morning we decided to head out to see the Hoover Dam! Jason, Matt, Chris & Alex had never been. I had been once but it was 2 months after 9/11 so we couldn't go on a tour.

 

For breakfast I honestly can't even remember what we had! Heehee. We were busy trying to get the rental car!

 

Jason looks pumped to drive us hooligans to the dam Dam!

Ps. I had to have heard over 50 DAM jokes that day. UG!

barre3 at the Hoover Dam!

 

There was water in that tunnel. I was scared.

We don't use the "leak" word here. We use the "seep" word. Same different. The rocks were wet!

The turbines.

That's a L O N G way down!

US <3

Hoover Dam from the lookout on the new bridge!

 

This wasn't here when I went in 2001 so it was fun to see it from a new vantage point.

THE FOOD: We had sandwiches, apples, almonds, and water for a picnic lunch by the dam.

barre3 core ball warrior 3

 

Once we got back from the Hoover Dam we headed up to Fremont Street to see what that was all about!

It was fun to see the giant ceiling TV in person! Fremont Street definitely wasn't our thing.

 

BURGR by David Ramsey. AMAZING!!!

 

We headed back to the strip before we made our way to see "O"! We happened upon the restaurant BURGR and it was SO worth the wait!!

 

Burgers at BURGR!

 

THE FOOD: We each had a burger (DUH) and split the fries. We also each had to 2 beers. This was definitely our one night to go all out, well, maybe there was the wedding dinner too ;-) I wish I could go back there tonight!

 

The "O" curtain! This show was definitely worth the money!!

 

Saturday started out with sleeping in followed by lunch! We ate at a Japanese restaurant in our hotel and each had some kind of rice meal! Then...

 

sunshine & beer!!! It was about 75 degrees and we needed a little Vitamin D!

Side Note: We make a quick mess of hotel rooms. It's quite humorous!

 

Saturday night we were hanging out with Jason's brothers, Alex, and their friend Ethan. We had a BLAST at the Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas. I'd definitely recommend you go there if you like lots of beer! Mine was so big I couldn't even finish it!

Jason in beer heaven.

 

It was a 2 hander!!!

The group minus Alex!

THE FOOD: Beer, bread, brats.

Where'd I go?!?!

 

Then we went to something I wish I hadn't paid $60 to go see - Tournament of Kings. The boys all wanted to go and they had a good time but the whole time all I could think of was "Where is the GD silverware" and "Horse poop is going to fly into my food".

Last night. Exhausted.

I'd say we did a lot of walking!!!

Monday after Vegas. Gym time at 6:00 am.

 

All in all we had a great trip but I would have been okay with it being 2 or 3 nights, not 4! I gained about 2 pounds while there but lost it within a week so I determined that is also a success!

 

Fingers crossed {that our next vacation is to the beach}!!!

{30 thoughts} busy being busy!

I totally fell off my 30 thoughts wagon last week. I thought about writing a few times but we were just SO dang busy! The downfall of being so busy means eating out. Today I'll divulge where I was and what I ate last week. I will be back-posting tips & thoughts so don't you worry! There is still more to come!

Monday we got some photo's taken! Just because we don't have cute kids doesn't mean we can't get our pictures taken. Right?? After taking pictures it was 6:30 and we were 30 minutes away from home and hungry! We went to Thai Orchid in downtown Vancouver and it was delish! I had the yellow curry with brown rice. Next time I might get just a chicken & veggie dish instead of the curry.

Tuesday we went to Grand Central Bowl with Jason's work. A company that works with him has a bowling night in Portland every year! Even though I was on restriction with my shoulder I still bowled a round!! We also exchanged names & numbers with some people our age in his industry so we are looking forward to make those connections! Since it was a business dinner it was catered and had free wine. I'll be honest here - I had two glasses of wine and three pieces of pizza. And you know what...I felt like crap ALL night! I also had a huge salad so it wasn't all carbs! Thankfully there were no desserts there otherwise I'm sure I would have eaten them!

gimp bowling

Wednesday I went to a book signing at Annie Bloom's Bookstore in Portland! We listen to and met Kelly from The Spunky Coconut! It was so fun to meet her and get our new cookbooks signed by her. Sabrina and I ate out a a fabulous restaurant called Marco's. I can't wait to take Jason there someday! I had a special that was chicken, potatoes, and veggies. It was delish and very worth it. I was full but not stuffed.

Sabrina, Kelly, and I

borrowed from Kelly's IG. That's me at the bottom right!

 

Thursday was BUNCO. Bunco is always full of bad food. Well, not always. Last month myself and another barre3 babe brought the food and it was all healthy! This month there was pulled chicken with Hawaiian sweet rolls, CANDY, Ritz crackers filled with PB or Nutella dipped in white chocolate, hummus and veggies/chips. And wine. This was really the first time in 1.5 years our Bunco group broke out the wine. I had one small glass and drank it through a straw. I definitely ate too much but I did have a Pita Pit salad before so...that must count for something?!?!

 

This weekend we actually had really good food choices. We'd both eaten out SO much during the week that it didn't even cross our minds to eat out!

 

I'm thankful I didn't go {too} overboard in eating and that I have a fun, busy life!

 

Fingers crossed {that I continue to make good choices}.

{30 thoughts} food for thought...

Tomorrow morning we are heading back to Jason's alma mater and the place where we met, Washington State University.

2004 ~ our first picture together

As we were starting to plan our journey I came to the realization that everything I wanted to do revolved around food. The bean dip at Casa Lopez, ice cream & cheese at Ferdinan's, breadsticks at Sella's, beer at My Office & The Coug, and last {but the most important}, wine at Camas Prairie Winery.

And then as I started to think about where I wanted to go...I started to think about what I was going to eat. I know what the old me would eat...but should the new me eat that? Does the new me want to eat that? Will I feel deprived if I don't eat certain items I used to love? Will I feel cheated because we don't go back to Pullman often {this is the first time in 5 years we've been back}.

2008

Food is such an emotional item. It can remind us of good and bad times. Happy memories with fun people or memories we'd wish to forget. Looking back now it seems as though almost all of our memories are centered around food {and alcohol}!

Here is my plan. Friday go to Casa and have chips & bean dip {OMHell the bean dip is the best ever on the planet} and have the taco salad instead of the quesadilla. The quesadilla there isn't my "favorite" {that's at Chevy's} therefore I don't need to have it. Have one scoop of ice cream at Ferdinan's because it truly is the best ice cream ever {chocolate peanut butter}. I'm going to try to eat slowly, savor the flavors, and focus on the company we are with.

One of the best things about going back to Pullman is our friends. We are staying with a friend of mine who I met while teaching in Idaho and she is wonderful. I went to visit her last summer and even then she catered to my food needs. She called the other day to ask what I liked for breakfast! How amazing is that?!?! We are seeing Jason's old boss {who I used to babysit for} and she asked me what we could have for Friday night dessert! I feel so fortunate to have people who love me enough to ask what I need. How lucky am I?!?!

2008

I am so looking forward to a weekend away without my husband's work phone!! Since he is taking a vacation day tomorrow he gets to turn it off! WHOOP!

Here's to great friends, good food, and taking the time to enjoy them both.

Fingers crossed {for NO rain}!!!

there's always time for a little celebration!!

Last night my hubby and I dressed up, went down into Portland, and had a nice & fancy dinner at McCormick & Schmick's Harborside at the Marina! We had some celebrating to do {and some gift certificates to use}!

Jason & I :) Love him!!!

 



At first I went into this dinner and I was in a "I'll have whatever I want (likely something I shouldn't have) mood" but then once I sat down my conscious really got the better of me. Maybe conscious isn't the right word. My thought pattern went like this...

- I want the blackened chicken pasta with alfredo linguine.
- But, I had cheese a few days ago so I don't know if I need that much dairy today.
- Plus, I might have dessert which might have dairy in it.
- I still want chicken though. What about the Parmesan chicken? It's still dairy but not as much as the alfredo sauce.
- Order glass of Riesling.
- Talk to waiter. Tell him I do want the chicken pasta but I don't want the alfredo. Waiter suggests that we do a veggie medley on top of noodles that have olive oil instead.
- BINGO!

I forgot to take a picture of my dinner but it was delicious. It was the Parmesan crusted chicken breasts with linguine and tomatoes & fresh basil. It was fresh, it was light, and it was perfect & just for me.

I've said it many times on here and many, many more times in my life - YOU have to be an advocate for yourself. Whether it is going to the doctors or eating as best you can at a restaurant you are the only one who is truly looking out for you!!

it wouldn't be an Annie post if there wasn't a comparison picture!

left ~ April 2012

right ~ May 2013

Because I made the decision to change my meal I felt better about myself, I am proud of myself, and I ordered {almost} exactly what I wanted for dessert. If I had had my choice {and I did, I just chose something else} I would have loved to have had the cheesecake with berries and next time that is available I just might. This time, though, I decided to share the MOST delicious apple pie upside down pie with vanilla ice cream with my husband. There's something fun and intimate about sharing a dessert...and my husband always lets me have the last bite! He's sweet like that.

Have any of you made any good choices recently at a restaurant? Salad instead of fries? Sharing dessert? I'd love to hear how everyone out there handles eating out!!

Fingers crossed {that next time I go out I can make good choices}...