Amazing Asset

Friday Favorites- Food Focus

by tessa8m on February 10, 2012

in Friday Favorites

Ahoy there and Happy Friday… so many F’s in the title, my perfectionist self loves this

Once again (like last week) I find myself posting quite late this evening… the day has gotten away from me! I was at my internship until 2:30, completed some errands, went to the gym, took a nap, had dinner, and now I am sitting in my building’s cluster office until 2 am! Yes friends, I am “on duty” tonight which basically entails making sure no one parties too hard and dies in the building.

It is a time to be productive as possible though- post right now, writing my abstract for my final Capstone project on eating disorders, making another collage (I have major magazine build up overload), and catching up on the Bachelor… which I missed on Monday and still have not had a chance to watch! So sad I know

As I have mentioned a number of times on my blog, I prefer to keep things more cherrful on Fridays. It’s a breath of fresh air and a nice change to focus on random aspects and things that I feel are worth discussing…. for whatever reason. So let’s get to it!

1) We all know that Pinterst is a joyous site… no need to dwell on it’s awesomeness. However, I do have to mention it now as it has given me so much help this week!

It helped me out so much with this hairstyle! A nice change for my hair and also great to get my bangs out of my face once in a while!

I am also going to my dad’s house on Sunday for an early dinner and am ready to get my cooking and baking on… I plan to make this for a side dish:

Quinoa with Mushrooms, Kale, and Sweet Potatoes (from Pinterest)

… and of course some sort of decadent baked good. Not sure of that one yet though, so stay tuned

On that note, the next Friday Favorite has to do with food as well!

2) In addition to the White Chocolate Brownies I made for the Superbowl, I also baked up these cookie bar delicious things,

These turned out excellently, and were so easy as well because I started with a cake mix. Although it’s nearly impossible to bake from scratch while at school, starting with a pre-packaged mix makes things far easier and much less stressful!

Cake Mix Caramel Bars

Ingredients:

• 1 package of yellow cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
• 1 can (5 ounces) evaporated milk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used a mix of pecans and walnuts)
• 36 Rolo Candies, halved

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-In a large bowl, beat the cake mix, milk and butter until blended. Stir in the nuts. Press half of mixture in a 13-in x 9-in. baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until set.

-Place candies, cut side down, over crust. Drop remaining batter by tablespoonfuls over the top. Bake 25-30 minutes longer or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and then cut into bars.

These were a hit as well… I think I actually preferred these over the chocolate brownies!

3) Yesterday at the Whole Foods in Hadley, a free event was going on that I ceratinly could not miss…

This “fest” lived up to my expectations splendidly! I sampled tons of different chocolatized and sweet items through the store- chocolate mouse cake, caramels, a mole sauce, a rich wine that apparently goes well with desserts, hot chocolate, chocolate ice cream with a cocoa granola for a topping, chocolate covered strawberries, pudding… and even more!

And guess what? I literally sampled ALL of those items, and more! Goodness, this small event is a clear indication to myself on how truly far I have come in recovery. Just about a year ago, I would go to these sort of free sample nights and not eat or taste a single item.

I would go to the event, walk around the store looking at all of that food and watching people try different items, and I wouldn’t even be tempted… well the disordered side of Tessa would not be tempted. I got some sort of sick pleasure from being able to resist these indulgences, and went to these sorts of foodie fests to prove to myself I could. A test of sorts… to show how “strong” and “in control” I was.

As terrible as this sounds, I felt that I was “better” then people because I could resist the fatty foods and they could not. I had the will-power and those other suckers did not. Little did I understand at the time that the only person suffering from this was me.

I would be lying if I said there was zero guilt after having an afternoon of treats like I did. However, sitting with the discomfort and proving to myself that an occasional day of eating like that does nothing, helps tremendously in this recovery process.

4) Since I was in Northampton today because of work, I decided to take a trip to a place called Deals and Steals… a very cheap store bursting with discounted natural food items! Heaven on Earth if you ask me. (Hannah if you are reading this, come back to Noho so we can go here together… you first introduced me to that place after all! )

Anyway, they do have pretty crazy deals there- I mean look at these prices on energy bars!

The most expensive ones are ONE BUCK, and most of the others are 25 or 50 cents. Yes PLEASE to those prices!

What a great feeling it is to buy energy/protein bars now and actually eat them. During the early stages of recovery, I would stock up on these with the intention of eating them, but then chicken out in the end… “afraid” of the calories and then not being filled up. First of all I need more calories, and second, all of these are SO TASTY and completely worth whatever anxiety I feel!

I also scored a random box of cereal for $1.99 that is surprisingly delicious and with great nutrition stats:

5) This next Friday Favorite doesn’t actually have to do with food! At the clinic where I intern, they have several different types of groups and meetings that all work together to aid the person in their eating disorder recovery. One of these is called “Art Therapy” everyone has an hour to create some sort of visual that represents their current thoughts or feelings with their EDs. The instructor usually gives some sort of prompt or theme to work around… and today’s theme was a quote.

Think of a quote that really sticks out to you or is important in your life and in your recovery, and make a visual to correlate the message.

I actively participate when it is appropriate to do so, and today I came up with this:

Yep, I am artistically challenged, so try not to let the lack of skills distract you.

I was trying to convey here the idea that a person is made up of so many unique qualities (the colors represent this) and to embrace them is simply necessary. It is terrifying and *hard* to genuinely explore the person that you are and address that question…”who am I?” Yes, it’s difficult and scary, but I believe it’s worth the effort as you will be rewarded in understanding your true qualities.

This is certainly still a work in progress for me!

6) And finally, FLOW!

Credit goes to Lindsay over at In Sweetness and In Health for creating this weekly fitness event!

Yesterday I decided to do a workout from Tina’s Blog that had caught my eye a few days ago…

I did make a few changes-

• Instead of bench pushups I did Renegade Rows with 15 pd DBs for a total of 20 (10 on each arm)
• I decided not to do the one Leg sit ‘n’ stands and added in a cardio burst instead- 50 total Mountain Climbers, 50 High Knees, 50 Mountain Climbers, 50 High Knees
• No concentration curls and did a backwards lunge with bicep curl- 10 on each leg.

I really liked the idea of Tina’s workout and I only made a few changes to add in some moves I am personally loving at the moment. I did this circuit three times through and was a hot mess by the end The way I like it!

And there you have it, another Friday Favorites, with a food focus

-Do you actually use any of the tips and “how-tos” from Pinterst that you pin like a mad woman? I need to utilize my choices more… I tend to get a bit ambitious!

-Would you prefer a chocolate or blondie-style brownie/bar more? Like I said, the Rolo ones certainly did tickle my fancy.

-Have you ever reacted or acted around samples in food like I have before… a feeling of empowerment perhaps? Not something I enjoy admitting.

-Do you think “Art Therapy” would be helpful to you in any aspect of your life?

-What are your plans for the weekend, tell me one thing at least (please) . Besides going to my dad’s on Sunday and work, not much for this gal!

I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of their Friday nights, and is doing something a bit more interesting than me ha. But really

{ 2 comments }

WIAW- Eating ‘Normally’ On Rest Days

by tessa8m on February 8, 2012

in What I Ate Wednesday

Good Morning!

How wonderful is it that we have already made it halfway through the week?! Yes please to that. Staying busy has been making time go by faster than ever… great to a certain extent, but also terrifying!

Anyway, I sincerely enjoyed reading the comment from Monday’s post. There was a great discussion going on, one where people shared their personal stories and explained their views, all in a respectable and knowledgeable way… I love that! When I write an in-depth and informative post, I do have the hope that it can raise both a discussion and also awareness on the subject. I have said this a number of times, I blog for myself, but I also do it to reach out to others. Knowing that I am making any sort of impact, especially with a topic like this, well quite frankly that means a lot to me.

Now it’s time [...] Continue Reading…

{ 108 comments }

What Needs To Change?

by tessa8m on February 6, 2012

in Serious Stuff

Good Morning and here we are at another week!

*Update- Arghhh they lost! Ahh well, the commercials at least entertained me

What I want to discuss today is something that was brought to my attention after I wrote the post on my internship last Monday. I realized an issue had been brought up when people commented on something in particular I wrote about, but I did not elaborate at the time… and now it is time to.

From Monday’s post, Although I have never been “officially” diagnosed Anorexia because I did not meet the DSM IV weight BMI weight requirement, I did have an eating disorder, disordered eating, whatever you want to call it.

When I first started blogging, I was very specific about using the term “disordered eater” when I would refer to myself. Back in March 2010 I even wrote a lengthy post on the critical reason I said [...] Continue Reading…

{ 105 comments }

Happy Birthday Mom <3

by tessa8m on February 5, 2012

in Family

You are not only my mother you are also my best friend,

You are always there for me and I know I can always count on you to support and love me no matter what.

I love that I can tell you anything and know I will never be judged.

Your love is so deep and so true, you are genuine, caring, and the most giving person I know.

I love that I can joke and laugh with you, but also vent or cry during times of frustration and sadness, and that you will be there for me… no matter what.

Thank you for being there during the tough times… the times I have wanted to give up on myself, but you stopped me and did anything to pull me back.

You are forever my best friend and I hope and pray that I can be half the mother you have been to me <3

I [...] Continue Reading…

{ 29 comments }

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My Turn- The 11 Things Survey

Wahoo for it being the weekend! After a first and busy week of classes and internship (sharing the news next week), I am quite ready for the weekend! I find that when I am busier during the week, with school, homework, RA job and such, I value my days off so much more because I [...]