November 2011
4 posts
You Know You Had An Interesting Night When
You have to spend a few minutes in the shower scrubbing mustache adhesive off your cleavage.
My Abs Hurt From Laughing
You mustachioed assholes. Thanks for an awesome birthday.
1 tag
SPORTS!
SPORTS!
October 2011
1 post
3 tags
White Bean and Roasted Garlic Peasant Soup with...
Another Season of Soup participant. Soup, oh beautiful soup! My sixth soup should be posted tomorrow. Today, I’m eating another batch of the Southwestern Chicken Soup, which proved so good I made it again! ionlyweardresses:
I’m starting the Nutritionista’s “season of soup” challenge and re-making one of my favorite soup recipes!
I started a tradition in college where I would cook...
May 2010
15 posts
ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS!
Hey hey hey! It’s the big day — time to announce the winner of the nine week Outside the Box Challenge!
You guys had some great reflections about the challenges. It looks like everyone struggled with the “Don’t Pour That Sugar” test. But it was interesting to see what other challenges you found easy or difficult. One girl’s hardest was another girl’s...
Broken Record
Like everyone else, the hardest thing for me was the no sugar day. I didn’t have a really hard time resisting it since I knew I had to be accountable (I need more accountability in my life on regular days to resist sugar!), but it was surprising how many things I eat on a regular basis had added sugar and how MUCH sugar was in it. I definitely won’t be buying Kashi Go Lean Crisp again!...
Reflections
Hello all, it is I from My Quirky Life. I nearly forgot to submit this week! Looking back on every single one of the challenges I completed for Outside the Box Challenges, I think my absolute favorite probably was the Culinista Challenge. I enjoyed trying a recipe that I had never tried before. I enjoy using ingredients that I may never have used otherwise. I enjoyed being challenged. And I of...
1 tag
Reflections...
All of the challenges were fun to participate in! I liked being given new ideas and I loved trying new things. Yes, some of the challenges were hard, but that’s the point. ;)
The hardest one for me was when I tried a new class at the gym. I had to get over my fears of going alone, going to something new, AND since it was an aqua fit class - I had to get over my fears of being in a bathing...
2 tags
OTB Challenge Reflection
I really loved this friendly competition. At times it really did push me outside my comfort zone. For the most part however, a lot of the challenges were things I do pretty regularly.
I’d say the hardest challenge was having a day with no sugar. Surprise. haha. While I’m not a big candy eater (chocolate once a month) and I eat a lot of fruit instead of junk food it was an eye opening...
Reflection
Hardest: The Frontier Girl test. I found this to be the hardest because it was the first challenge and I had to push myself to actually to try the challenges versus just following the blog. I’m also not entirely comfortable in the kitchen (I’m working on it) so the idea of making something from scratch that I usually buy was at first intimidating.
Easiest: The Shock Your Body test. I...
The Sugar Test. :/
Without a doubt, attempting to cut sugar out of my diet was THE hardest task out of all the tasks. The on day out of the week that I chose to do the task wasn’t too difficult. But the last couple days have been an absolute sugar fest for me, (bake sale, volunteering at a marathon where I ate nothing but candy and chips, etc) and I’ve come to a clearer realization about how truly...
Reflections of the way life used to be
The OTB challenge came at the right time for me. I’ve spent the last several weeks getting ready to move, moving, and dealing with the aftermath of moving. This makes eating well and exercising very difficult, so I’m glad to have had something keeping me out of the drive-thru lane and on the straight and narrow.
Easiest challenge? That’s probably the most difficult one for...
The Final Test - Reflection
It’s hard to believe we’re in the final week of the challenge. In looking back I find each test made me look a little closer at how I eat, exercise, and otherwise care for myself and my family. The easiest challenge had to be the fantasy fitness test. I stocked up on lots of fruits and other healthy foods, then attempted some yoga outside. The hardest by far was the no sugar test. I...
Reflections
I can’t believe it’s been 9 weeks of challenges already. The challenges certainly got me to try new things, and I enjoyed them all, even when they were difficult.
The easiest (or most fun) challenge for me was the Frontier Girl challenge. I love to make things from scratch, and it was fun to think of new recipes to try. The hot fudge I made was delicious, and I will definitely make...
Best and worst
The challenge that was the hardest for me was the know your herbs test. I cook pretty frequently and use herbs pretty regularly so it was a bit of a pain to try a new herb.
The easiest challenge was the shock your body challenge. This was only because I was already luck enough to have my first every ski session scheduled for that week. So it was pretty perfect timing. :-)
Reflecting
I must say I enjoyed all challenges a lot. Yes, some where easier than others, especially as I am currently making healthier changes for my life. So challenges were we should make food from scratch, try a new herb or new workout were rather easy for my as I was already working towards new things.
Challenges that were harder for me were when we had to write everything we ate in one day. I find it...
I think the most difficult challenge for me might be a tie between the Don’t Pour Some Sugar On Me and the Note Your Nibbles Tests, but probably the No Sugar one wins out overall, just because so much of what I have in my kitchen has sugar in it, and I’d never noted that before. I didn’t take time to go shopping beforehand, but it wasn’t like my cupboard was entirely bare, so the fact that...
Looking back...
…to the very recent past! The past ten weeks flew by so quickly!! I think the easiest challenge for me was the Frontier Girl Challenge - I love trying new things and find great relaxation when I am in the kitchen wielding cooking utensils. The hardest? Definitely the Shock Your Body challenge. It seems very difficult for me to find time to get out and work out! With my munchkin, work...
Is it over already?
Hard to believe that the Outside the Box challenge is almost over! So much fun!
The hardest challenge for me was definitely the “The Don’t Pour Some Sugar on Me Test”. It was hard because I really like sugar (especially in my tea!) and its one of the few things in my diet I never think about giving up. Plus, it was hard to schedule: I didn’t want to do it when we would be...
Challenge that was indeed challenging...
Absolutely the “Don’t Pour Sugar On Me” test. While pretty much all of the other challenges involved adding something to our lives (herbs, new exercises, tracking habits, etc.), the sugar one was based on removing something. Solely based on the fact that I had to become extremely aware of what foods had added sugar, the challenge proved to be the most difficult! However, I am...
April 2010
145 posts
Looking Back...
I cannot believe it’s the final week already, especially since when I started, nine weeks seemed to be such a long time, but it actually passed very quickly for me.
I did not really find any of the challenges to be extremely difficult, but I guess the hardest one for me was The Culinista Test, simply because it was my first time making soup by myself. It also took me about 30 minutes to...
Reflections
Hi I’m Kelsey. I’ve done all the challenges so far and had a blast. I always thought it would be fun to do something like this. The only problem with it was that it made the past weeks go by so fast, which I was not a fan of because I graduate from college in only a few more weeks. I wanted the end to last forever. Anyways, the hardest challenge was the Have a Little Herb test...
Suga' Free
Hello! It’s Nikki from YogaCookies and I’ve finally signed up for My Fitness Pal to track my foods and exercise. I was using Livestrong, but I think I like MFP better at the moment.
So the images below are from Tuesday, April 20th. I even skipped coffee that morning as I was really focusing on accomplishing one day without ANY sweetness….except fresh fruits. When I...
A Not-so-Sweet Day
As soon as I read this challenge, I knew I would have some trouble with it. I have cut back on added sugars over the last 6 months and have become more conscious of the sugar placed in foods I enjoy daily. My weakness though is Splenda…I add a packet or two to coffee, smoothies, oatmeal, tea, etc. I knew I would have to work on that for this challenge.
I have switched to plain greek yogurt...
Sugar-free Day
Yup, this challenge was just as difficult as I had expected. I have a major sweet tooth in general, so I had to cut out whatever scones, chocolates, etc. I would have eaten during the day. But not just that - I had to avoid bread! I already knew bread has sugar, but it still wasn’t enjoyable. I ate Wasa crackers instead (so good!). My day consisted of oatmeal, cheese, lots of fruit and...
Reflections...
Hello my name is Erin and I have participated in all of the challenges so far and have found it to be so much fun. I really enjoyed being not only challenged to get out of my comfort zone but being able to see how others react when asked to do the same. That being said I will say that the no sugar challenge was definitely the most difficult for me. No coffee = not happy. The easiest challenge for...
Wish I had known sooner!!!
Dear Nutritionista,
I’ve only known about and have been following your blog for a few weeks so I totally missed this competition/challenge. Will you be having others like it in the future?
Roya
Nutritionista note: Yes! We will absolutely do it again in the future!
Week #9 Challenge: The Reflections Test
You all had some pretty insightful things to say about the Don’t Pour Some Sugar on Me Test. We were so proud of your amazing abilities to stay sugar-free.
But guess what, people? We made it to the end! After nine weeks of getting you out of your comfort zone, we’re just about done. And those of you who submitted an entry every week so far are still eligible for that fab grand prize!
...
no sugar....
The biggest challenge of going sugar-free was not being deprived of the sugar - I don’t necessarily need it to have “energy” - but having to be aware of what items have sugar regardless of quantity. For breakfast, I, like many others, have some Kashi cereal, but had to cut that out. Ate plain Greek yogurt instead. After a workout, I ate some peanut butter (relieved it...
This challenge was both simpler and more difficult than I thought it would be. One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to cut out direct sugar in my diet, and I’ve stuck to it pretty well, but this challenge made me, like I’ve noticed other people saying, realize how many of the things I eat have sugar in them, even if they’re not ‘junk food’. I didn’t...
So close to "Sugar Free"...
Its been a long and trying week, so I wasn’t sure if I was going to get this one in. But, today, things seemed to calm a bit - Munchkin was feeling better, work slowed and there was some time to think about meals. I am not one for a lot of sweets or processed food so this wasn’t too difficult, but I was surprised to find out about some things that contained sugar that I normally...
Hurray for being sugarless!!
About 2 months ago, I had a weird undiagnosed medical problem which severely limited my diet. Nothing with white flour, full fat dairy, potatoes, sugar, or artificial sweetener. It was a rough period, but one of the benefits was learning how to go without sugar or fake sugars! While I am currently back on a “normal” diet, I still try to limit my sugar intake, and I avoid artificial...
A day with no sugar
I have already eliminated adding extra sugar to my food, and consume only the amount already present in it.
I have been trying to reduce the food with lots of sugar in it from my diet (at least the ones were sugar is one of the main ingredients).
This challenge was a bit harder for my as I was visiting home and going out to eat a lot, but i managed in the end.
I stuck to my oatmeal and fruit...
Sugar-free Sweetness
I went sugar-free a few weeks ago & completely eliminated all sugars in my daily diet except fruit sugar. It’s been a fun & rewarding challenge.
I’ve realized that most of the sugar came from my drinks. Before going sugar-free I drank a lot of soda (diet & regular), juice & sweetened my tea & coffee with sugar or Splenda. I’ve completely eliminated all soda...
Sugar is in WHAT?
This was a great eye opener for me. Did you know that rice milk has sugar in it? Granted, it doesn’t say sugar or HFCS, but it has brown rice syrup in it. The 2nd ingredient in Kashi GoLean Crisp is again cane sugar! This challenge was difficult, mostly because I thought that I didn’t have a lot of sugar in my diet, but it turns out that a lot of my staples do.
It was hard not to...
I confess, this wasn’t much of a challenge for me. Sweetness is not my weakness, and for those of you that know me this is at least partially reflected in my personality. I grew up in a hippie household where sugars were limited. I strayed away from that when I first moved out on my own. I lived on cigarettes, beer and all forms of processed junk that first year. I’ve definitely gone...
My Day without Sweetener *eek*
Ok, confession time, I haven’t completely weaned myself away from Splenda. And it’s not just Splenda (the brand) I am like some huge big fan over, it’s just a sweetener, but it’s my sweetener of choice that is available pretty much everywhere AND my dad gets batches for free from work for all of us. Yes, so it has been very hard to give up something like that that is so...
1 tag
Not Too Sweet.
So this week’s challenge… no added sugar. That was hard. My friend was celebrating her birthday this week, so that meant lots of drinking, and drinking means lots of sugary mixers. There was one night of drinking solace, so that was the day I cut out sugar. It wasn’t too hard for me. I don’t generally eat any candy, and I don’t drink soda. Most of what I eat is fresh...
1 tag
Sugar Free
I feel like I’ve been training for this week’s Challenge for quite some time.
My daily beverage of choice used to be Arizona Green Tea. At the beginning of the year, I decided to try and start drinking more water. Unless I was working out or somewhere hot, plain water just didn’t appeal to me. Over the past few months, I’ve successfully transitioned into drinking mostly...
A Day Without Sugar :(
This was definitely the hardest challenge for me so far. Like some of the other people who posted, I eat healthy and try to eat whole foods. But sugar is kind of where I draw the line: I like dessert, I like chocolate, I like sugar in my tea.
Nevertheless, I gave it a try. Breakfast was oatmeal with a sliced up apple—not bad, but not the same as sweetened cranberries. I really missed my...
Sweet Days
Kelsey (Kitchen Art)
No Sugar… No Problem (except I couldn’t chew gum at track practice)
Cereal with Milk for breakfast.
Apple
Avocado, Sprouts and Cheese on Rye bread for lunch.
Trader Joe Pasta (Brown Rice Pasta noodles, Chicken, Pesto, Bruschetta, Broccoli, Pepper, Spinach)
Yummy Day and it really wasn’t that hard to stay away from sweeteners. I’ve given up...
Sugar? No thanks.
I have come to the conclusion that I have way too much crap in my house. Yeah, clutter, too, but I’m talking about food. I learned a lot this week about how much sugar, sweetener, high fructose corn syrup, etc. etc. etc. is in the foods in my home. And I must say it’s a bit disheartening.
I managed to go 1/2 a day on Tuesday, but lost the challenge when I decided I was not going to...
No Sweets for You!
Hello my name is Erin and this was definitely the most difficult challenge for me to complete! I never really realized how much sugar I ingest in a day but wow!
I started off with breakfast….usually I have either oats with brown sugar or eggs and toast. I was thinking hmmm…that’s a quick fix, I’ll just have the eggs today, no problem. Well, huge problem…no eggs....
Wednesday without Sweetness
Everyone has the place where they draw the line on healthy living. For me, it’s ditching sweets. You know how everyone (wrongly) attributes to Benjamin Franklin the quote, “beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy?” Well, I feel the same way about sugar (and, well, beer too). Sugar makes so many delightful things that I find it appalling that anyone would...
No Added Sweetener Challenge
Oh boy, this was a toughie!
For the last year or so I’ve been firmly on the real-foods bandwagon, so I have very little trouble avoiding things like soda, adding sugar to my yogurt, and eating processed foods with lots of added sugar. I’ve cut way down on these things already - but cutting everything out was certainly not easy.
I started out my day with my usual meal - oat bran with...
No added sugars!!
This challenge was a little difficult for me. I usually have a huge sweet tooth and had a hard time with an after dinner snack.
For breakfast I ate a small handful of blackberries, an apple, and a hard boiled egg.
I did have a morning snack which included some veggie chips.
For lunch: I ate a wrap with tuna, lots of spinach, salsa, cheddar cheese, and some almonds.
For dinner-I had a...
Sugar free?
Like some of the other people that have posted, I don’t use much added sugars. I never add white granulated sugar to foods, I find that kind of crazy. I use maple syrup when I eat waffles, sometimes I make honey and lemon tea, and when I have coffee, I add lots of sugar, but I rarely drink coffee.
My problem lies more to eating sugary foods. I LOVE chocolate, candy, ice cream, etc. So for...
No Added Sugar Wednesday
It seems this challenge has been easy for everyone who has posted so far and I’m here to say the same. The biggest challenge for me was breakfast, because my cereal contains added sugar. So, I decided to switch out the cereal for oats. The last time I had oatmeal I didn’t like it, but I thought maybe I would like oats not heated. I didn’t. I ended up throwing more than half...