So Close, Banish the Bloat

With my planned vacation to the Cayman Islands!!! drawing near (I’m leaving on a jet plane Friday AM) my to-do list seems to get longer and longer each day. I’m not complaining though because I’m super excited, in case you couldn’t tell. I haven’t decided if I’m going to blog while away. On one hand I would like to be totally disconnected for a few days, but on the other I want to bring my laptop and share my experience with you guys. I’m not certain there will be wireless where I am staying, so I guess that will be a big factor. Plus, I could always do a re-cap post when I get back. So we shall see. If I’m not here for a few days, don’t fret, I will return – hopefully with a nice tan!

So when not daydreaming of white sandy beaches I did actually get some work done today.

Flash back to before work though. Olive and I were early birds this morning. We woke up around 6:15 and went for a long walk (about 3 miles). I think that is the longest walk she has ever been on. She did great, but was totally pooped afterwards. I was starving and sweaty. After showering I whipped up a cold smoothie. I’m all out of almond milk (or any other milk for that matter) so I just used 1 cup of water. It turned out rather liquified, but still had a ample amount of flavor and it made more. I got 1 pint glass and 1/2 out of this concoction:

The liquified purple smoothie.

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup of frozen blueberries
• 1 banana
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 3 pieces of ice
• Amazing Grass Chocolate GREEN SuperFood

I also packed a little raw mix for a snack once at work. Navitas Naturals goji berries and raw almonds and cashews.

I love these goji berries- they’re the perfect addition to any nut mixture, alone, or in salad (see my dinner)!

Speaking of salad, I had an awesome one for lunch. I used the left over oven “fried” tofu from Ellwood’s that I had bought for my soba noodle fiasco. Thank heavens, this lunch turned out much better than that little mishap. I used baby romaine, tomato, 1/4 of an avocado, the tofu, and Annie’s Honey Mustard dressing. Quite the salad.

I am offically in love with Ellwood’s tofu. I have to figure out the recipe. I’ve said I was going to figure it out before and didn’t but this time, I ‘m determined.

I brought back some snacks to work with me for the afternoon. One snack was the remaining couple bites of a small container of Oikos plain yogurt that I didn’t finish last night with some fresh black berries.

The other snack was 3 carrots. I ate those AND a mini bag of popcorn. I was a regular snack machine this afternoon, per the usual. I’m always so snacky at work in the afternoon. And I feel a lot of it is just from boredom, rather than actual hunger.

Anyone else with a desk job feel this way? Do you all have any good tips you would like to share for beating afternoon boredom snacking?

After snacking the afternoon away, I wanted something fresh and light for dinner. I made another huge salad, only I didn’t have any tofu left. :/ But I did add some goji berries. The berries were such a nice addition to the salad, I love the texture they added, and of course the flava flav.

So since I’m going to be living in a bathing suit for a few days come Friday I started thinking of ways to make sure I’m looking my best. No I didn’t head straight to the gym and do 5 hours of abs. It’s a little too late for that, but I decided to make sure I’m doing everything in my power to avoid any bloating.

If anyone else is interested, these are the tips I would recommend to beat the bloat:

• Drink lots of water
• Avoid salty foods (including pre-packed sodium laden ones)
• Avoid sugary white flour carbs
• Eat plenty of fresh veggies, fruits and fiber
• Avoid chewing gum (especially those with artificial sweeteners) -I find that SF gum makes me really bloated
• Avoid carbonated drinks – I rarely drink soda, but I do like my carbonated water which isn’t good when trying to stop bloating
• Avoid gassy foods (beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, etc.)
• Avoid alcohol, especially beer
• Drink hot herbal teas- my favorite tummy soothers include ginger, peppermint, and Yogi Detox teas
• Keep moving – walking, exercising, cleaning, shopping

Hopefully I’ll stick to my guns and have a flat tummy come time to suit up.

If you have any bloat free tips to add, please feel free to do so below!!

Tagged as: amazing grass, avocado, blackberries, bloating, carrots, Ellwood Thompson's, goji berries, greek yogurt, Navita's Naturals, oven "fried" tofu, popcorn, purple smoothie, raw almonds, raw cashews, salad, smoothie