Fridays Food Finds

Friday Food Finds

Alright so yes it is a friday night and yes I went to shaw's at 9pm tonight and yes I know your completly jealous of me. I know! you don't have to tell mee ;) So I went to pick up a few things and came home with a bag full of goodies!

bananas

peach

Nature Valley Fruit & Nut Bars

PEANUT BUTTER & CO. SMOOTH OPERATOR

4 Vanilla Chobani yogurts

Power Bars (1 chocolate & 1 cookies 'n cream)

1 Vanilla Oikos yogurt

1 Vanilla Brown Cow yogurt

Ok so like I said before I was using Skippy Natural peanut butter and I just ran out of it today so I was excited about finally trying a different kind of peanut butter! I could not make up my mind in the store as to which peanut butter to buy! There are just so many good ones out there that everyone in the blog world keeps talking about! So I settled with Peanut Butter & Co. Smooth Operator, I thought I could not go wrong with PB & Co. because I have seem so many good reviews about all of their products!

I cannot wait to open this baby up tomorrow morning for breakfast! I am super excited. Tomorrow morning can't come soon enough!

I also picked up a Stonyfield Farm Oikos Vanilla yogurt to try out. I am a big Chobani girl and I am not very good with change but I have recently been trying new things and I have been working on switching things up because I have learned CHANGE IS GOOD! I am also super excited to try this new yogurt and i will let ya all know once I try it!

I have not really seen much of this Brown Cow yogurt around on the blog world besides my girl Jenny from PB & Jenny. She has been raving about it so I thought I would buy one and see what it is all about!

I am really excited about my new products I purchased tonight and I cannot wait to try them out.

Sweet Dreams Everyone!

The Pizza Dilemma

The Pizza Dilemma

Okay so tonight ED was really pissing me off, especially towards dinner time. My mom told me this afternoon that she was gonna get pizza for dinner. Pizza has always been one of my fear foods. ED was telling me "No, you will not have pizza like the rest of your family, you will have something else!" So I just went along with my mom saying yeah yeah whatever you can get pizza but I am not gonna eat it.

So as dinner time so approached I became really upset because ED kept telling me to not have pizza but on the other hand I really wanted to have the pizza because it is so delicious. My mom got two pizzas, one veggie and the other hawaiian. I really wanted the two slices of veggie, I mean it was thin crust, whole wheat, sauce, little cheese, and lots of veggies. What could be so bad? It is just pizza! And it was perfect because it had protein, carbs, fat, and veggies, it met my food plan, so why not have it?!

I came down from my room and into the kitchen and stared at the pizza for a moment, and ED told me "NO WAY are you going to have PIZZA, that is soo bad for you." I took his side and went into the kitchen for something I felt more comfortable with and started cooking it until my mom realized I was not having pizza for dinner and pulled a nutty. So I felt bad that she was mad and I was mad at myself so I took a deep breath, told ED to shut up, and told myself I could do it! I took the two veggie slices I wanted and sat down at the counter and enjoyed every single bite of my meal :) I was so proud of myself!

There is something about pizza that makes it have a bad reputation. The diet industry seems to think of pizza as a forbidden food that you should not have a lot of. But why?! I have learned to pick apart what I am eating to make sure I have everything I need. I ask myself does it have protein? Carb? Fruit/Veggies? Fat? And if say yes to everything on my list then I am good to go. Forget about the calories and just give your body what it needs!

So next time you sit down to have pizza please please please enjoy every single delicious bite because hey...you only live once! Bon Appetit.

Lil Rascals

Lil Rascals

Well hello fabulous friends and Happy Friday...so glad the weekend is finally herrre! Today I babysat allll day for my lil cousins aka the lil rascals from 7:30am to 4:30 pm, yup you heard that right, 9 hours of h-e-double hockey sticks. Well actually it wasn't thatttt bad, but they are a handful fo sureeeee.

And no I am not talking about The Little Rascals, I am talking about my cousins the lil rascals Owen, Keira, and Olivia!!

My morning eats were:

*glass of milk

*english muffin with 1 tbsp. Skippy Natural pb

*Chobani yogurt and a very mushhhhy naner

After eating breakfast I was watching the Today Show (obvs) and the beautiful Channing Tatum was on...loooovveeeee. Can you sayyy "stud?"

there he issss!

with his gf, and guess what her name is? yupppp you guessed right.....JENNNA!!
gorg

on the cover of GQ mag

To get me through the morning I had a Strawberry Boost w/ a Nature Valley Fruit and Nut Bar. Then I hate a lil date with Tinkerbell ;)

i mean seriously whats a girl supposed to do for 9 hours with three lil ones? crayons + coloring books=jenna coloring tinkerbell while watching hannah montana all dayy.

I dont have many pics of my eats today because I was watching the cherrobs all day. But my lunch was veryyy boring anyways nothing special, milk, turkey sandwich, apple, and pretzels.

After being released from babysitting I came home showered and relaxed!! Had a cookies & cream powahh bah w/ a G2 for a snack. Oh yeah and obvs checked up on blogs, e-mails, fb, and twitter. YES, I do have a twitter acount, even though I said they were wicked stupid and that I would never get one...but I totally did and now I am officially addicted to it :)

About Me

Hello friends and thank you for checking out my blog, I really appreciate it! So to get to know a little bit about me, my name is Jenna and I am 19 years old and I am a college sophomore and I am a Nursing major. I love my family, they mean the world to me <3

me and the fam, August 2008

I never had a dislike for food in my younger years. As a teenage girl in high school I was very athletic. I played soccer, basketball, and lacrosse all four years. I was healthy, active, ate whatever I wanted (never worried) and was never was concerned with my weight.

me and my best friend Kelly, Senior Prom May 2008

The summer going into college I still didn't have a problem with food or my body. It was definitely by far the BEST summer vacation ever, it was soo much fun, no doubt about that! I went on vacations with my family, hung out with my friends, went to the beach, exercised, and ate whatever I wanted too.

my sisters Krista and Alexa in FL, July 2008

College was soon approaching and I was both excited and nervous for school to begin. I got a full lacrosse scholarship to my college and I couldn't have been happier :)

me and Krista, Summer 2008

As I started college, and a lot of things changed for me, I was now without my family and friends at my side whom I love so dearly and I now had to make all of my own decisions on my own. I was playing fall lacrosse, exercising, and eating quite healthy. My weight was never an issue. With all of my working out I dropped a few pounds in the fall (not intentionally though). I probably dropped five or ten pounds throughout the fall.

me and Alexa, Thanksgiving 2008

As I came home for winter break I felt wonderfully. I was now a whole size smaller and I felt like I had just made a huge accomplishment, but I knew I could do more! At Christmas time I was very content with my body and liked the way I looked. I felt healthy, strong, and beautiful. My family all said I looked great and this is a picture of me and my sister Krista (on the left) on Christmas Day when I was at an ideal weight.

I can clearly remember that Christmas when I was happy and full of energy. I remember helping myself to delicious desserts and not worrying about it one bit! I had no regrets in eating them. I just ate what I wanted to and exercised regularly.

me and Alexa on Christmas Day 2008

When I went back to school in January was when things really turned the wrong way. My weight loss soon became my life. I knew I could lose more weight if I just kept doing the same thing. My eating disorder soon became my best friend as I began restricting foods and over exercising, and isolating myself from everything and everyone. My food intake decreased dramatically and my exercising became more and more. I honestly do not know how I was eating barely anything and on top of that going to lacrosse practice AND running more on my own. WHAT was I thinking? Clearly I was not! I became obsessed with counting calories, looking at nutrition labels, watching the Food Network, looking up recipes, cooking, hording food but not eating it, and watching other people eat.me in March 2009 (collar bone sticking out)

lacrosse picture, February 2009again, March 2009 (face sunken in)

Early February, my family, friends, lacrosse captain and coach were all terribly concerned with my weight loss and my lack of energy. They all talked to me and told me I needed to do something. But I just kind of ignored them not thinking anything of it. But I finally went to see Health Services at my school where I saw a nurse practitioner and she weighed me weekly. They sent me home for one week in February because they thought my weight and pulse were extremely low for my height. I went home and I started seeing a nutritionist and therapist, both of which I paid no attention too. I just went to all of the appointments because I had to in order to go back to school and not because I wanted to get better. The next three weeks as I was back at school I just kept losing more and more weight. Once again, Health Services sent me home again, but this time for good. They said I needed to seek more medical treatment at home because this time I was at an extremely low weight.

collar bones sticking out (gross :/)

As I went home on that Friday, the following Monday I was admitted into Walden Behavioral Care at Children's Hospital Boston at Waltham. I was inpatient at the hospital for a little more than one month.

As I left inpatient at the hospital I was required to see my doctor each Tuesday for a weigh-in and vitals. I began seeing a therapist weekly and a nutritionist every two weeks.

At first when I left the hospital I did not follow my meal plan and do exactly what I was supposed to do. I soon began to lose weight the first couple of weeks or stay the same weight. I was going to exact opposite of what I needed to be doing. But soon enough things got to get better for me, as I soon realized I was GOING NOWHERE with my eating disorder. If I wanted to do the things I loved and used to do I needed to get over this disease and move on with my life.

Though I am still in the process of gaining weight, I am much closer to health and happiness than I ever was before. I still continue to see my doctor, therapist, and nutritionist whom I all enjoy working with and I love dearly. If it were not for them I probably would not be where I am today. Each day with the support of my family, friends, and my team I am making more and more progress to a healthy life.

I hope this blog will be very helpful to everyone and also motivational. If you have any questions, comments, or thoughts for me please feel free to e-mail me at
Jetgirl1990@aol.com.

Book Reviews

Booooook Reviews ;)

Hey chicas! Hope everyone is having a nice day. One more weekday and then it is the weekend babaaayy...hollah! So I thought about doing a lil post on some books I have recently read. Every since I got out of the hospital for my anorexia nervosa I have been a book worm...well kind of.

I have learned that reading is very enjoyable, relaxing, and a good way to get your mind off of things. All of these books are related to eating disorders. I thought as a way of recovery it would be beneficial to learn more about other peoples stories and struggles through eating disorders.

Life Without Ed by Jenni Schaefer

This book is written by Jenni Schaefer who has had an abusive relationship with ED (Eating Disorder) for a long time. ED controlled everything in her life and it was destroying her. She later meets a psychotherapist Thom who teaches Jenni how to treat her eating disorder as a relationship rather than a condition. Soon Jenni was able to break free of ED at last. She discovers the road to recovery can be fun, exciting, and filled with laughter.

First of let me just say this book is A MUST READ ! If you are struggling from an eating disorder I highly recommend reading this book. This book was flying around like a hot potato while I was inpatient and every girl reading it said it was simply amazing. I decided to wait until I got home to purchase this book and read it on my own. Once I picked up this book I did not want to put it down because it was sooo good! I really enjoyed this book because there was just so many things I could relate to. I would give this book 5 STARS out of 5 =)

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Homesick: A Memoir of Family, Food, and Finding Hope by Jenny Lauren

Jenny Lauren is the main character in this book, the niece of fashion designer Ralph Lauren. Since her uncle and dad are in the fashion business it did not take Jenny a long time to figure out she was less than perfect. She first starved herself at a young age of 10, in her later years she began bingeing, purging, and compulsively exercising. She later went under surgery because her colon herniated and at 24 years old she was living in severe pain and decided to write this book. This book tells the story of Jenny Lauren and how she dealt with anorexia and bulimia. She also focuses on family and social issues, pressure from others, and the search for herself.

I enjoyed reading Homesick and overall thought it was a good read. I would give this book 3 stars.

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Wasted by Marya Hornbacher

This book was about a talented young woman who struggled with hunger, drugs, sex, and almost death. Marya talks about her dealings with anorexia and bulimia and how she lost her friends, family, jobs, and everything else she had going for her. During her college years she experiences a horrifying bout with the disease and put the romance of wasting away to rest forever. During her lifetime she was hospitalized five times and had tons of therapy sessions. Wasted is a story of Marya's travel to find herself again on her own.

Personally I thought this book was just okay. To me it seemed like it dealt with more things other than just her eating disorder. But don't get me wrong this book did talk about eating disorders. I thought this book was okay. I gave this book a 3 stars.
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Gaining: The Truth About Life After Eating Disorders by Aimee Liu

While I was in treatment a girl was reading this book and it looked like a good pick. So when I got home and finished my other books I ordered it on line. I know your not supposed to judge a book by it's cover...but just by looking at the cover with the girl jumping up on the beach just looked like a very inspirational and happy book to read. Aimee Liu wrote her first book, Solitare documenting her teenage years with anorexia nervosa. Now as Liu is older she wrote Gaining which she writes about many myths surrounding eating disorders, and also has research and interviews with former anorexics and bulimics. She interviews men and women of different races, cultures, and backgrounds to clarify that eating disorders do not just effect "modern rich white girls." She also talks about the impact of families, talks about genetics, shame, and personality. She incorporates a lot of facts and interviews which make this book very interesting.

I reallllly enjoyed reading this book and I rated it a 4 out of 5 stars!

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Giveaway time! Check out Healthy Skinny today for her giveaway :)

Happy Wednesday

I not only want to say Happy Wednesday but I also wanna give a HAPPY BIRTHDAY shout out to my best friend Claire!!! She is turning the BIG 1-9 today and we have been friends since the third grade <3
Summer 2008

Senior Picnic, May 2008

So today was wicked hahhtttt out and humid. I had a call-in at work for 11 so I called in at 10 expecting not to be needed...but they told me to come on in! So I got my but in the shower after eating my relaxing breakfast while watching regis & kelly (love them) and got dressed and got into work for 11.

But I had a Vanilla Chobani yogurt w/ a smashed banana, an english muffin w/ 1 tbsp pb (Skippy Natural) and a glass of milk. the whole breaky

smooshed up banana in Chobs yogurt

english muffin w/ 1 tbsp. peanut buttah

Peanut Butter used to be one of my greatest fear foods. ED would always tell me peanut butter is a FAT and therefore would make me fat. But I have learned in treatment and appointments with my nutritionist that peanut butter is a healthy fat :)

So I have been slowly incorporated peanut butter into my diet. I now use 1 full tablespoon of peanut butter each morning. Now I know all of ya pb lovahhs out there probs don't think that is a lot, but it is for me and everyday I am making progress. I currently use Skippy Natural Creamy PB because that is all I really knew of but now after reading all of these lovely blogs I cannot wait til that jar of peanut butter is finally gone so I can try some other peanut butters that everyone else is raving about!!

I have heard a lot of bloggers talking about these peanut butters listed below. I have been doing research on them and seeing what there all about but now I just have to finally TRY these yummy delights :)

• Peanut Butter & Co.
• MaraNatha
• Naturally More
• Naturally Nutty
• P.B. Loco

So I went into work from 11-3, not too bad and had a nice lunch afterwards. Turkey sandwich with pretzels and some milkk!

I also had a lil snack around 5ish to hold me over until dinner. For the first time I tried the Clif Organic Z Bar, the Honey Graham flavor. It was the perfect sized afternoon bar to keep me full. Now I was expecting this bar to be a lot different than it was. I thought it was going to be more like the consistency of a Clif Bar but it was more of a soft baked bar, not grainy at all. Kind of like a baked cookie! I really enjoyed this bar and I will definitely try the other flavors!

Bananas

This $h!t is Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S

A few times I've been around that track

So it's not just gonna happen like that

Because I ain't no hollaback girlI ain't no hollaback girl

Let me hear you say this $h!t is bananas

B-A-N-A-N-A-S

Alright so enough with Gwen Stefani and learning how to spell bananas. More onto the food stuff! Now I thought I would do a lil review on bananas because i love them! they are so delicious and i always eat them with my breakfast in the morning. the one thing i really like about bananas is that they are so versatile. i can eat them plain, mix in with my yogurt, or have with some pb!

In order to have a healthy lifestyle it is important to get the right amount of fruits and vegetables in each day. Bananas are a great fruit to add to your diet and are the most popular fruit in America.

Bananas are great for you because they are:

• rich in Vitamin B6
• a great source of fiber, Vitamin C, magnesium, and potassium
• contain no fat, sodium, or cholesterol
• a great source of energy, they contain plenty of carbs to keep your body going
• regulate blood pressure and reduce your risk of high blood pressurepressure and stroke

Typical Tuesday

Typical Tuesday in the Household

I hope everyone had a terrific tuesday! i know mine was great because the sun was out all day and not a drop of rain today (it has been a horrible rainy summer so far) hopefully august will bring more sun?!

Today was a typical tuesday in the my household. i had my doctor's appointment today (like i have every tuesday) at exactly 1:40...fun times! today went well i guess? for lunch i had the usual, well actually not really.

turkey in a pocket w/ tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese, apple, serving of pretzels, and milk

sorry for the pics, i know there not that great...but hey i am just a newbie to this blog world!

the afternoon was nice and hot...i coached lax with 2 of my girlfriends claire & nicole all night with our lil cute lax players. around 4:30 i had a lil snacker to keep my going for three hours till dinner. i had a chocolate Power Bar with a Strawberry Kiwi G2 (sorry for no pic :/)

after 3 long hours of lax ended we were all starving so we headed over to...drumroll please...PANERA :) my all time fav restaurant now...but ya know the funny thing is that i used to hate panera because the first time i ever went there with claire i ordered a hot chocolate and it was cold, and i just never really liked it. but now i absolutely love panera, or as my best friend claire calls it, Panane!

I had the chicken dijon sandwich on country bread w/ lettuce, tomatoes, spicy mustard, and swiss cheese with a fruit cup on the side. boy it was divine!

Great Giveaway

Hey girlies! Hope your having a great Tuesday morning. I know I am because it is SUNNY out, finally no rain for once!

Megan from Meganerdruns is doing an awesome giveway so go check it out :)

She is giving away some Chobani yogurt...yummmm. I am a big fan of Chobani yogurts. This yogurt is rich and creamy and I highly recommend trying it! I personally love the vanilla flavor because I put cut up banana slices on top.

Chobani yogurt is:

• all natural
• gluten free
• has two times more preotein than other yogurts
• a good source of calcium
• made with 5 Live & Active Cultures

For more info on Chobani yogurts go to Chobani.com

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Ok and I wanna show ya girlss a pic of what I made for a family cookout yesterday!!

a watermelon cut into a basket (which I carved by myself *props to Jenna*), and then filled with tons of fruits :)

Big Day Today

hello biddies! hope everyone is having a lovely start to their week :) i know mondays can kinda be a drag because the weekends are ovahh :(

but anyways on a better note, today is a big day beacause it marks my first real blog and i am kinda nervous and anxious both at the same time. i have been reading a lot of other blogs lately and they are all amazing and inspiring and that is why i have decided to create a blog of my own.

my blog right now currently does not have any food pics on it yet, but boy lemme tell ya there will be some sooooooon, ahh can't wait!

today was a typical monday and i had lovely work 10-3 but suprisingly it went by really fast (which i am not complaining about at all!) and now i am home trying to spice up my blog :)

it is also a big day/night because it is monday night, and you know what is on at 8pm...THE BACHELORETTE!! get excited. Who will she pick?! And did anyone see the previews for tonight, because something major happens and i cannot even wait.

Kiptyn

Ed

Do any of you girls watch the bachelorette? Who do you think jillian will choose?