Author: Victoria Elizabeth

Victoria Elizabeth http://www.victoriaelizabethann.com Bubbly and enthusiastic, I am a lover of all things pink. My writing style is as eclectic as my personal library, so you'll see everything from dark poetry to light-hearted short stories posted in my portfolio.

An Ounce of Prevention …

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You know the old saying:

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Well, I’ve been prone to eating BAD food the last few weeks, mainly because I haven’t prepared myself for the constant hunger that comes with working (and being awake) more than 21 hours per day.

Snacking has become a survival technique, and when healthy food isn’t easily available, I’ve been grabbing anything I can get my hands on.

To prevent this in the new week, I’ve done some proactive grocery shopping:

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Ignore the trashy magazines: I swear, I don’t buy them! 🙂

Already cut up fruit salad, healthy meal replacement bars, fresh fruit, and other easy to chop/prepare snacks!

I’m going to slice up the zucchini and squash and eat them with little 100 calorie packs of spicy guacamole. Hoping to cancel out the two pounds I gained last week with a strong, healthy, and well-planned week three of this new, hectic life!

Wish me luck!

Bon appetit,
– Tori

Food Porn and BARGAIN Price!

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OK, it’s official:

The best place to eat when on a diet AND a budget is Jason’s Deli!

Check out all of this food:

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I got ALL of this for under $10!

To-Go salad comes with as many “extras” containers as you’d like: I got cottage cheese, fruit salad, corn salsa, and trail mix!

The base salad bar price is $7.49 and you can fill the container as full as you’d like! Add a small soup for just 99 cents and, even with tax, it still didn’t touch $10.

I could’ve had a free ice cream cone, as well, but my hands were too full from all of this. This will be at least two meals for me, if not three. Regardless of what type of diet you’re on, you have to try the to-go salad bar from Jason’s!

Bon appetit, my friends!

– Tori

Caffeine

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I’ve been drinking WAAAAY too much caffeine lately. An exorbitant amount. Maybe even a dangerous amount, I’m not sure.

I’ve been starting every morning with a Zero Carb Rockstar, which is a death sentence in and of itself. Seriously, this stuff is pure chemicals – there are no redeeming qualities, such as fruits and veggies, or added minerals/nutrients. Unless, of course, you count caffeine and taurine as “good” vitamins.

Unfortunately, getting up at 12:45am necessitates something STRONG to get moving in the morning (and brewing a strong pot of coffee is time consuming when every second counts), so I’ve been guzzling one of these on the drive to work every day. In addition to that, I’ve become HOOKED on the Starbucks Light Frapps – you know, the little bottled ones you can pick up at gas stations and grocery stores – so I’ve been drinking one of those mid-morning almost every day.

Throughout the day, I sip tepid black coffee and water interchangeably, hoping not to damage my liver/kidneys too much with dehydration and chemical overload. I made it a point to avoid energy drinks over the weekend (as well as soda in general), but did cave for a Starbucks Venti Skinny Vanilla Latte as a splurge on Friday night.

I might be reaching the point where I can consume excessive amounts of caffeine and still go right to bed: perhaps it’s time for a break.

Hope everyone has had a great weekend! Back to the grind – and the diet, hopefully – on Monday! 🙂

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

WHEW!

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OK. I’m four days in and I’m still breathing!

I wake up every day at 1:45am. I am at Job #1 (dream job) no later than 3am. I work – feverishly – from 3am until 7:30-8am.

Job #2 (love it, too, but #1 is definitely my passion) starts at 9am and goes until 6pm, sometimes as late as 9pm.

Two nights per week, I attend graduate school (from 6:45pm to 9:30pm).

Somewhere in the tiny bit of hours leftover I need to:

  • Sleep. Currently, I’m getting less than 3 hours/night. I’ve been having two diet Rockstars per day, plus the occasional cup of coffee to survive. I’m doing this proactively, though, as I’ve not yet experienced the feeling of exhaustion. I’m just so scared of it hitting me (and knocking me out) that I’m drinking the caffeinated beverages BEFORE the yawns start.
  • Spend time with family/friends. Not doing too well at this right now, but I did just start this new schedule…
  • Eat healthy. I am failing miserably at the moment. Not only am I eating more (I have breakfast around 2am, then again at 5am, then at 8am, etc), I’m also totally binging on sugar at night. I’ve always had a sweet tooth and a propensity to eat at night, but this has been BAD lately. I’m scared to get on the scale.
  • Work out. Surprisingly, I’m not doing too bad at this. I went for a 45 minute walk Monday night (not much, but I had class that night, so I was literally in motion for almost 20 straight hours). I also went Tuesday night (no class) and again today, as I didn’t have to go to Job #2 until 11am. It probably would have been a better idea to take a nap (I’m feeling tired now), but I opted for 75 minutes on the elliptical instead.

I have no idea what’s going on with my appetite. I’m ravenous. Seriously, I can’t stop. Even coworkers have been teasing me: someone called me the “bottomless pit” today after they saw me open my filing cabinet (aka, my pantry) to grab a third snack within the hour.

My only guess is that not sleeping has sent my metabolism into chaos: my body is seeking alternative energy sources, resulting in frenetic eating. Will power can’t even squeak out a word – I’m just inhaling food until I’m so stuffed, it hurts.

I’m off from Job #2 tomorrow, so my goal is to come home at 8am, take a much-needed nap, get in a TREMENDOUS workout (at least 2-3 hours at the gym, all muscle groups!), and spend a little time socializing.

It has been an INCREDIBLE week. I’m having so much fun. I’ve been too excited/happy to even notice the sleep deprivation; really, the only time I feel tired is when I sit down for too long. As long as I keep moving, I’m good.

Life is good, but I have a feeling I’m going to need to find a better balance if I’m going to keep this up for an extended period of time. But I’ll worry about that once I get a nap!

Bon appetit, my friends, and have a great evening!

~ Tori

 

P.S. Check out who I met today at Job #1:

Djimon Hounsou!

Djimon Hounsou! 🙂

Day One of the New Hectic Life

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OK, it’s almost 3pm and I’ve been awake for over 13 hours. I’m (amazingly) feeling alert and strong, no fatigue setting in just yet.

Then again, I had a Zero Carb Rockstar (also known as “death juice”) this morning and a handful of dark chocolate covered espresso beans about an hour ago, so I’m running on a good amount of caffeine.

As anticipated, it has been a busy day. I managed to scarf down a couple Greek yogurts for breakfast (at 3am!) and I snuck a protein bar in around 6am, but being up this many hours guarantees that my stomach is going to keep growling all day. Fortunately, my planning paid off: I had a big bag of baby carrots, a banana, and a Trader Joe’s pre-made salad packed for the day, so other than a few pieces of chocolate (I needed the espresso beans!), I’ve been good! It doesn’t help that I’m surrounded by incredibly fit (as well as BEAUTIFUL) ladies in the morning, so I hardly paid attention to the danishes set out on the counter in the breakroom. How can you stuff your face with pastries when a supermodel-esque woman is watching?

I still have three more hours left of my work day (yipes!) before I head to Rollins College to set up camp in the library and work on homework, but I think I can make it through the day without falling asleep or succumbing to temptation. I am sad that I won’t have ANY time to workout (I probably won’t be home until 9:30pm and I need to be up by 2am), but I can make up for it with a long run on Tuesday.

All in all, it has been a good day!

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

 

 

A New Challenge

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So, first and foremost, my apologies for my sporadic posts the last few weeks.

I keep thinking of all of these things I want to post and topics to discuss, then get distracted with work (or school, or pets, or life), and the next thing I know, a week has passed! I guess that’s how the world works when you’re official an adult. (If you can’t tell, I’m still quasi-mourning the fact that I’m 30 now.)

As if things weren’t busy enough, starting Monday I face a new challenge: I start a second job.

Yes, on top of my 50 hour/week career, my graduate school classes in the evening, and my social life, I’m taking on an additional 20-25 hours per week.

YIPES.

Once the euphoria of getting the job wore off (it’s a pretty huge and, potentially, life-changing opportunity), the realization that my work day is now going to start at 3:30am and continue through 6pm, followed by 3-4 hours of school, really set in.

How am I going to do this?

While I think I’ve set up a strategy to survive each day and meet my work/school obligations, what happens to my social life? What happens to my health?

Looking over my calendar, a best case scenario would allow me to hit the gym 3-4 days per week — assuming, of course, I even have the energy to go.

And, even if I can make it to the gym these few days, what’s going to happen to my eating habits? Life is about to crank into overdrive, with just a few minutes to spare between commitments. Will I be able to maintain a healthy diet? Will I succumb to the allure of fast food, purely because it’s quick and easily accessible?

Yeah, I’m stressing.

My goal is to commit every Sunday evening to prepping healthy meals I can safely freeze/store to eat the whole week. I’m hoping that a few hours sacrificed from my little free time on Sundays will save me from pounds gained (and major stress) in the long run.

I know the siren call of pastries is going to be a daily temptation at the new job, as I’ve heard they cater breakfast almost every morning. Oh, boy. My hope is a speedy protein shake loaded with ground flax seed (fiber!) will give me strength.

I’m nervous for the road ahead, both for the professional obligations and the potential stress it may cause my personal life, my health/fitness, and my sanity. My hope is that through proactive preparation and a good attitude, I can make this work.

I start Monday. Wish me luck!

On that note, bon appetit my friends!

Tori

Keeping Cheat Day Reasonable

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Saturday is the unofficial cheat day in my household. It’s never officially talked about or agreed upon, but nothing is said if someone orders a burger instead of their usual grilled chicken salad.

After an 8.76 mile run on Saturday morning, I knew I wasn’t going to worry about what I ate for lunch: I deserved anything my little heart craved.

That being said, I decided to finally check out the little bar at the East End Market (in Orlando, Fl.). Located at the end of a row of artisanal restaurants and stores, you can order practically anything you’d like to eat to accompany the drink(s) of your choosing.

With a boulangerie behind me and a charcuterie to the right, I made a good decision:

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Paired with a collection of Florida wine flights, really, I couldn’t go wrong:

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A delicious, satisfying cheat meal – that really wasn’t a cheat, if I’m being honest – and a new experience supporting local small businesses. I would say it was a win/win Saturday!

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

Bon appetit, my friends!

Tori

Join Me on MyFitnessPal!

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Instead of trying, with difficulty, to take several pictures of my good diary and exercise log to post on here, I wanted to encourage my fellow Yo-Yos to join me on MyFitnessPal (www.myfitnesspal.com).

I am 100% honest with my food and exercise log, and I publish everything so that it’s fully transparent to my friends.

Doing this keeps me accountable, as I’m far less likely to eat an entire bag of cookies if I know my family, friends, and coworkers are going to see it! The more people who join and add me as a friend, the more accountable I feel.

Here’s my handle – look me up!

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As a note, I do not gain ANYTHING for mentioning these apps/sites; they’ve just been a huge personal help on my health/fitness journey so I’m a big fan. Feel free to skip if you have a system that works better for you; or, even better, share it with me in the comments!

On that note, bon appetit!

Tori