Missy Maintains » gum

Getting Back on Track

MissyMaintains — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:11:11 +0000

It seems like ever since I started my new job, I’ve been allowing myself to eat anything and everything that is put in front of me. I used to be chained to my desk so I was forced to bring healthy lunches and snacks every day. Things are much different now. I am able to get up any time of day and grab a cookie from the cafe upstairs or go outside and enjoy pizza with my coworkers. I used to be in my own department so I was not invited to any meetings or birthdays. Now, it seems like there is bagel party or cupcake meeting every week! While some people can eat half of a bagel or just a bite of cake, I am not one of them. In all honesty, my pants have been feeling tight and I just don’t feel great after eating all of these sweets and heavy lunch foods. The other day, I put on my work pants at the gym in the morning and a big hole ripped down my inner thigh. I am grateful that I happened to be wearing my Lululemon pants to the gym that day because I was able to pull them off as work pants! This was a pretty big wake up call for me so I decided that I would use Passover as a way to get back on track with my eating. Part of keeping Kosher for Passover means no bread products, which also means no cake, pizza, or cereal. The holiday came at the perfect time for me.

I got on the scale for the first time this past weekend since the beginning of January. The number confirmed that I did not just shrink my work pants in the dryer the night before; they no longer fit me. I work out almost every day for one to two hours so I know my weight has nothing to do with the amount that I exercise. It is completely about food and having the self-discipline of staying away from all the sugar and huge serving sizes. My friend from intenSati is also struggling with her weight so we worked together for a while on Sunday and planned out our meals for the week while also setting weight loss goals for the month. We’ve been emailing each other our meals each day, along with how we feel after each meal. We are trying to figure out what foods make us crave sweets, make us bloated, make us anxious, or make us want to binge. Sending my meals to a friend is already much more effective for me than just logging them in a journal or on a website. Since Monday, I’ve kept Passover and have been making much smarter food choices. It feels so much better to get through each day without that feeling of guilt after stuffing myself to the point of feeling sick. Yesterday at work, there was a birthday which meant a giant chocolate cake and chocolate chip cookies the size of my head. I simply sung Happy Birthday and walked away. Not only did I feel great for sticking with Passover, I felt like I actually had control over my food choices for once. I have to admit that I felt even better when I heard my coworkers complaining about how stuffed and gross they felt after eating too much cake! I know if I continue on this route, I will get back to the weight I am most happy at and I will feel powerful, strong, and proud.

Since I have to avoid bread products for Passover, I’ve been eating a ton of veggies and protein! I’ve been starting my mornings out with green juices that contain kale, celery, parsley, green apple, ginger, and cucumber.

I am trying to get back in the green juice routine so that my body is not in total shock when I do my 3-day Organic Avenue juice cleanse (happening sometime before my Groupon expires in June, I promise!)

I’ve also been making omelets at home and bringing them to work for breakfast since I can’t eat oatmeal during Passover.

I’ve been bringing vegetables for when I get the mid-afternoon munchies. I was getting into the habit of eating the heavenly red velvet cake or banana cream pie that was always sitting out at work!

I was fighting a fever last night so I made a comforting dinner of eggs with turkey slices and salad.

As for lunch, I’ve been spending $10 on grilled chicken salads from Hale & Hearty each day. That needs to stop before I become poor! Last night, I decided to make a ton of vegetables and chicken to bring for lunch the rest of the week.

I made a big bowl of string beans topped with pepper, garlic powder, and spray butter.

Lots of salad..

I also made balsamic chicken with mushrooms. Look at me cooking!

Check out my fancy dinner! I will admit that it was much more enjoyable than my typical frozen veggie burger dinners.

Some other fun foods I’ve been snacking on this week….

Can you tell I had a fun time in Trader Joe’s last night? I finally feel like a healthy eater again and am committed to staying on track. The only thing that has not improved this week is my gum chewing. I really want to get over that addiction too since it makes me bloated and makes me crave more food. I guess one step at a time though. I am happy with the way things are going.

Do you have a habit or food addiction you are trying to break?

** The winner of the Betty Crocker Mashed Potato and Cookware Giveaway is…

14- Andrea, “most excited for those loaded mashed potaters!!”

Congrats Andrea. Please email me your address and phone number! Have a great day everyone!

Single Edition Event #2 and Gum Update!

MissyMaintains — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 03:13:45 +0000

Hello friends! On Monday, I started my new job and love it so far! I am still learning everything but love being busy all day. Tomorrow my department is holding a welcome breakfast for me with bagels and cream cheese! Definitely something to look forward to in the morning. Today after work, I went to my 2nd Single Edition “Live the Life You Love Event.” I was able to squeeze in a little 20 minute elliptical session now that I get out of work a bit earlier. 20 minutes is better than nothing…right!? I met Mari and Monique after my quickie and headed into the Samsung store.

The appetizers were pretty similar to the first event.

I made a small plate since I knew we would be eating at Whole Foods after!

The bread on the left tasted like pizza! Once again, the candied walnuts were my favorite!

Tonight’s topics included:

Carolyn Kelley North, “How to Dump the Slumps! Way to Boost your mood when “dating fatigue” sets in.”

Helen Kim: “A Woman’s Guide to Your Money Relationship.”

Kathryn Kaycoff-Manos and Lauri Berger de Brito:“Fertility 101: Essential Tips for the Single Woman.”

All of the topics were pretty interesting! We got great swag bags again!

The bag included a pretty notebook, Neuro Bliss, lip gloss, arousal oils, Girl’s Night Box of Questions, and my favorite…..

BUMP-A-CUP!!! I will let you guys know how Bump-a-Cup works out for me.

The night ended with a wonderful Whole Foods salad.

As far as my gum chewing goes, I did not stick with my goal! Sorry guys! I am usually better at sticking with goals when I announce them on the blog. I really could not go one day without it! I am happy to say that I am chewing a lot less at work now that I am busy all day. Hopefully this continues. I should go spit my gum out now and go to bed! I have bagels waiting for me in the morning! Have a good night!

Don’t forget to enter my NatureMade TripleFlex giveaway!

Omega 3 Greens Winner and Gum Update

MissyMaintains — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 15:45:19 +0000

Hey everyone! Check out my post on Hollaback today about why I don’t attend blog conferences!!!!

Time to announce the Tropical Traditions Antioxidant Omega 3 Greens Giveaway Winner!

The winner is….Carol! She said, “I would use it in smoothies since, now that I’m trying to follow Dr. Asa’s plan, I am off of gluten, bacon, cheese……! I’m running out of breakfast foods! LOL!”

Congrats Carol! Please email me your address so I can ship out your prize!

Thrifty Thursday!

Free sample of Tide Detergent and Glad Trash Bags

Sorry, I could only find one today! I will be back in a day or two with my usual posting. I have a lot to do since tomorrow is my last day in this position at work!

Quick goal update: Today is Thursday and I have not gone a day without gum yet. Maybe today? I think the weekend might be easier for me though. I have trouble not chewing gum when I am just sitting at a desk. Someone suggested mints to me but that does not work. I just want to be chewing so I end up eating an entire pack of mints anyway. I might just have to do a cleanse to prove to myself that I don’t need something in my mouth all the time (that sounded dirty). It cured my coworker of her gum and coffee addiction so I am going to look into that next. For now, I am going to aim for Saturday with no gum! Wish me luck!

Dentyne Premium Bottle Giveaway!

MissyMaintains — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:00:26 +0000

Hi, my name is Missy and I am a gum addict. I know it is bad and I hate eating chemicals every day but it is just one thing that I am not able to quit right now! Whenever new gum comes out on the market, I need to try it just to see if it can top the gum that I am currently chewing. Sometimes the gum is the same but it gets new packaging. Sometimes just the packaging is enough to make me buy gum; as you saw last week when I bought the “Mystery” Stride gum. I was very excited when I received 3 new bottles of Dentyne to try the other day!

Artic Chill
Spearmint
Peppermint

These flavors are not new but the packaging with the artwork is new. Here is a little more information about the new bottles:

Dentyne® premium badge edition bottles, a first in the U.S. gum category, come in twelve bold, badgy, limited edition designs for three flavors: Peppermint, Spearmint and Arctic Chill . The bottles, designed by artist Anthony Yankovic, are especially appealing to young adults who love socializing. Anthony previously produced limited edition designs for trend and badge-driven categories like Apparel, Skateboard and Snowboards.

http://anthonyyankovic.com/home.html

Here are some close ups of the new bottles:

I personally don’t usually buy Dentyne because it is slightly too strong for me. It is great for fresh breathe though. I do love the idea of the pretty bottles. I think people would pick the package up just to check out the art work. I sat here and stared at the bottles for a while since there is so much to look at. I feel that younger kids would buy it just to show their friends. It is definitely a conversation piece. People would probably be more willing to share their gum just to show off the cool package. I think these bottles would also be cool to leave on my desk at work instead of the typical candy dish. People would stop to check them out and pop some in their mouth for some fresh breathe!

As far as the actual bottles go, I think a lot of people probably like that they hold 60 pieces. This saves them from having to buy a bunch of smaller packs at once. I personally stopped buying bottles like these. Being the gum addict that I am, I could go through half of the bottle at once if it is near me. I sometimes just pour out pieces without even thinking about it. I need pieces to be wrapped so that I can take out 5 to bring to work and limit myself to just those pieces. Other people that do not have my chain-chewing issue would probably be fine with the package!

Giveaway Time!

I would love to know your thoughts about this gum! One reader will win 3 bottles of Dentyne!

How to Enter:

1) Leave me a comment telling me your thoughts on the bottle itself and the artwork.

2) Leave me a separate comment telling me how you would use this bottle in social situations or in your everyday life!

3) Become a fan of Missy Maintains on Facebook!

4) Follow @missymaintains on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway!

I will choose a winner this Monday, January 25th!

5 AM Wake Up Call

MissyMaintains — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:06:52 +0000

Happy Friday! I’m glad you guys enjoyed my Q&A post yesterday. I’ve already gotten a few more questions so I will be sure to post them every few days!

I have to talk about my great workout this morning. The last workout I did was the Wednesday morning Core Fusion class. I took a much needed day off yesterday! Last night I decided I would go to a 6:30 am inTensati class this morning at an Equinox near my work. This meant I would have to leave my house by 5:30 and wake up by 5:15. I tried to be good last night and go to bed at 10:15. I stared at the ceiling and cuddled with Daisy for a good hour and a half. I chewed an entire pack of gum yesterday so my tummy was bothering me. I also had caffeine later in the day so I just could not fall asleep. I got back online at 11:30 and played on Twitter. Mari and I tweeted back and forth about how we both wanted to wake up to work out. We told each other we would yell at each other in the morning if one of us did not go. Finally I took a piece of melatonin and fell asleep around 12:30.

This morning the alarm went off at 5:15 and I struggled to get up. I knew Mari would kick my butt if I got to work and told her I slept in so I made my way out of bed. Twitter really does hold you accountable! I made myself an espresso drink because I needed some sort of caffeine at that hour! I made it to Equinox at exactly 6:30. It was still dark out when I got into the city. Very weird! Who knew that there was an Equinox 3 blocks away from work!?

I made it into class by 6:35 but luckily the teacher was still talking. She was sharing one of her stories about how inTensati has helped her in her life. We got started by 6:40 and did our relaxing, flowy yoga moves. Five minutes later the cardio began. The energy seemed kind of low in the beginning but after a few minutes, everyone was yelling chants and getting very into it!

This particular class was labeled HCB on the schedule…high calorie burn! I could not imagine how much more intense one of these classes could possibly be! Let’s see..we broke out into crazy mountain climbers in the middle of our moves. I had to stop several times and chug water. We also did cardio straight through and only did the yoga at the end for 5 minutes. Last time we did it for maybe 15 minutes. I liked it better this way I think. We did leg lifts, lunges, and then a few stretches to end the class. It was so good. It just amazes me how these teachers can have such high energy, remember every dance move without messing up, and chant the affirmations at the same time! That takes skill and coordination! My stats were:

Calories burned: 463
Maximum heart rate: 187
Average heart rate: 161

Love it. I am already stressing out about what will happen at the end of the challenge. I don’t want to ever stop taking this class! I am also in love with Equinox. I should get this out of my head because I can’t afford a more expensive gym. Everything is just so pretty and nice. There are also 8000 classes to try. I decided I feel like I’m on vacation when I am in the locker room! They have razors, Q-tips, mouthwash, hair gel, Kiehl’s shampoo…everything. The steam room is huge. Oh, and the towels are thick and actually fit around your whole body. At NYSC, the towels are so little that either your top or bottom shows! I don’t like that. Okay, I need to stop dreaming of my future Equinox membership now.

I had an hour and a half till work after the class. I kind of wished there was a strength class after. There were no other classes so I did the elliptical for 30 minutes since I don’t need that long to get ready. It was a lovely workout.

GUM

I mentioned that I chewed a whole pack yesterday. I’ve really been trying to cut down but if it is there, I chew it! I go all morning without it but then buy a pack after lunch just because I need something minty to chew. Today I am not buying any! It bothers my tummy way too much. I do have to show you the awesome pack of gum I got yesterday!

Yes, their little marketing tactic worked on me. I wanted to know what flavor was inside. The package is so pretty! I also have a hard time choosing a flavor sometimes because I want everything. This saved me from having to choose.

It was Sweet Berry incase you were wondering. It was a nice change from my usual mint!

This post is going to be all over the place. I had a lot of caffeine….Now I need to show you one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had.

This was from the cafe at my work. Just $4.36 for this amazing lunch. It was a spicy salmon sandwich with cucumberand avocado on 7-grain focaccia.

It was so good. The delicious bread was coated with a little spicy mayo and sliced avocado. MMM.

Fiesta!

I took my friend Kaity to the 5 Burro Cafe for dinner! I got an Apricot Margarita.

I got a new friend!

I was going to get my usual veggie fajitas but she convinced me to go all out and get the combo fajita. It had shrimp, steak,and chicken. I haven’t ordered steak or chicken from a restaurant in a while (thank you Food Inc). I promised myself it had to be organic/grass-fed but this was a nice little treat. Don’t judge. Their steak is so good there!

I could only finish half! I wish I had a picture of her quesadillas. They were huge! I had a 2nd margarita but she had to help me drink half. They are so strong. We stumbled our way into the little corner store after so she could buy Shape. The new issue is out now…kind of depressing. We had to dig through a bin to find a January issue for her to buy! I can’t yell and scream anymore when I walk by a newsstand. I got my 30 days of fame lol.

Okay, I have real work to do so I will stop rambling! Have a great Friday!

1) Are you doing anything special for the long weekend?

2) What is your favorite thing to order from a Mexican restaurant?