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I screenshotted these photos from Instagram to showcase my food habits! They are not my usual high quality images, just fyi.

my relationship with food, what i typically eat in a day, dallas blogger, dallas foodie, ellespann, lments of style

Toast at The Mill in San Francisco

BlankNYC Suede Moto Jacket | Madewell Silk Bandana | J. Crew Factory Scallop Camisole | NYX Lipstick: Electra

Wine at ZD Wines

American Eagle Purrrty Sunglasses | J. Crew Long Open Stripe Cardigan | Free People Lofty V Neck Pullover

Tea and toast at Onyx Coffee in Bentonville (coffee for Nick)

In-N-Out in San Francisco

Levi's Jacket | Madewell Stripe Tee | Madewell Jeans in Danny Wash

Corny Dogs at the Texas State Fair

Tee is old Nordstrom

Salt and Straw Ice Cream in Portland

Outfit is old Madewell

Shake Shack on opening weekend in Dallas

Outfit is old Madewell

I am not a nutritionist nor am I claiming to be. These are my personal thoughts. See your doctor to discuss changes in your diet and lifestyle.

This post is kind of far off from my "normal", but I recently had a request to talk about what I eat. (I love doing giveaways where one of the entry points is to leave me comments on my blog for what you want to see me write about!) Plus, I have recently experienced a couple things and I just wanted to share. If you want to see more of stuff like this, I encourage you to check out my friend Kami's website! She is a Body Image and Wellness Coach who focuses on things like this all the time! You can find her at KamiBlease.com or her instagram - @kamiblease.

I feel like I share with y'all what I eat allll the time on Instastories. Maybe it's just me? I don't know. I'm fortunate enough to work at a company who feeds us breakfast and lunch, so my co-workers see what I eat more than other places of work do. We have a cafeteria area and a break area, so yeah, they are all up in my food. (lol) We always have a pizza station, salad station, and American station (burgers, fries, chicken), and a rotator station. Without getting into what I eat daily yet, I pretty much always have a salad. One day I added fried chicken tenders to it, because well...I was craving them! I was eating in the break room and working on my blog (what I usually do during lunch) and someone came up and said "omg, you eat fried foods?!" I was like yes...I was craving them, so I just had them plop them on my salad. It's good! They were like "I know, but...you usually just eat a salad". Here's the thing. Yeah I do usually just eat a salad, but most of the time, it's what I want. I'll get into how 'you crave what you eat' here in a bit. The next example I have is regarding sweets. I used to have a HUGE sweet-tooth. Without getting too much into that story yet, I don't usually go for our dessert area at work. Most of the time the things aren't worth my calories, plus I often will get headaches from sugar. Anyway, some people were talking about the flavor of ice cream that was offered today, while I was in the breakroom. I mentioned the Magnum crackable ice cream pints because they are DIVINE. (seriously so good) The response I received was "Wow! You eat ice cream?! I feel better about myself now." I guess it's because people assume that I eat very restrictively because I'm naturally on the thinner side. But 1) I def indulge and 2) being thin does not mean you're healthy/eat healthy. I have pretty good self esteem, so I didn't let it bother me personally, but it did bother me about the thought of food in general.

SO let me first say that my mom taught me portion control very early. Not in a controlling way, but like something to be mindful of. There can for sure be too much of a bad thing, but there can be too much of a good thing, too! Side note- she would bring my breakfast to my room in the morning. For the longest time, I didn't know Poptarts came two to a bag, because my mom would give me one and my sister the other! lol I think that overeating is an issue, but on the flip side, being too maniacal about food can be bad too. In this #netflixandchill age, it's super easy to mindlessly eat and stress eat for that matter! I have been super stressed the past couple of months and guess what? I wanted all the not so great things for me. It happens.

All that to say, I've never really had an issue with food. That's not my struggle. I do have friends who fight that battle daily, so I sympathize with them. I love food though. Probably too much. Nick and I are both foodies and enjoy having our taste buds tickled. (was that a weird thing to say?! haha) Food and wine are our weaknesses. It's funny because I used to be very much a sweets person and while I still like a dark chocolate peanut butter cup or some gummy bears here and there, for the most part I crave savory things like chips. I mentioned earlier that you crave what you eat. In college I would eat Jolly Rancher after Jolly Rancher or chew Dubble Bubble after Dubble Bubble to stay awake while studying. My go to meals were Five Guys and Fries hamburgers and cajun fries or Whataburger burgers, onion rings, and a Dr. Pepper. Don't forget the fried chocolate pie! Side note I still eat these things from time to time. While I didn't look unhealthy, I wasn't treating my body right. Because of what I was fueling my body with on the regular, that's what I craved...crap! It's really hard breaking the sugar craving - trust me, I know! BUT it's so worth it when you do. How did I brake my craving? I started running and training more, which made me want to fuel my body better. Do I love a good fast food chicken nugget? Yeah, but it will probabllllly make my stomach hurt. Did I used to eat a chocolate filled donut and a chocolate covered cake donut in one sitting? Yep! But I don't now. I actually don't touch processed sugar until after I eat lunch (otherwise cue the headaches), and only if I'm craving it. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. So yeah, that's why for the most part, I have salads at lunch. I don't want to feel heavy and weighed down the rest of the day. It actually makes me really sleepy! I usually do a spinach salad with yummy pickled onions, cucumbers, cabbage, and mandarin oranges. Salads don't have to be boring. If I find myself craving something else, I eat that! Yesterday it was Pad Thai. Last week it was a burrito. What my co-workers don't see is that I usually have Rodeo Goat burgers + cheese fries or a Pie Tap pizza at least once a week! And guess what?? I DON'T REGRET ANY OF IT. My friend Kami likes to say that missing one workout isn't going to "ruin" your body in the same way that eating something on the 'not so healthy' side one night isn't going to "ruin" your body either. It happens overtime and is very much a lifestyle change for better or for worse.

Regarding weight specifically, that's a little harder for me to talk about. I have a good body image, but I'm currently at the heaviest weight I've ever been. When you are a cardio bunny, it's pretty easy to keep the pounds off, but I've 1) been bad about consistently working out and 2) trying to do things besides running or rather in addition to running. I injured myself in 2015 - runner's knee and a strained aductor muscle .(near the groin and no I don't mean my abductor). You can read more about that here. BUT my running/workout has never really been the same. I work 7:00 am - 4:00 pm, because I commute to Frisco and live in Dallas. By working those hours I miss bad traffic, but I also have to workout beforehand to really make it work. If I want to workout, I have to leave by 5:00am. If I am taking a 5:30 am class, I have to leave around 4:50 am. Can you seeee why I might have an issue waking up?!

Anyway, this has turned into rambling, so let's get back on track. Again, I am not a nutritionist nor am I claiming to be. These are my personal thoughts. See your doctor to discuss changes in your diet and lifestyle. I do not count calories or macros or anything like that. I try to eat what makes me and my body happy, while being mindful of it as well. Here is what I typically eat in a day:

5:00 am

Lipton Orange Passion Jasmine Tea w/ cinnamon

Dave's Killer Bread Thin Slice toasted with cinnamon and Trader Joe's Peanut Butter (I list the exact peanut butter here)

SOMETIMES ginger shots

7:30 am

Eggs, sweet potatoes, 2 pieces of turkey bacon

OR

1 egg/1 egg white scramble with jalapeños, turkey sausage, bell peppers, onions, cheddar cheese

AND

Lemon Lift Tea w/ honey and lemon wedges

9:30 am

Banana

OR

Greek Yogurt w/granola, cinnamon, blueberries

11:30 am

Spinach salad w/ pickled onions, cucumber, cabbage, manadarin oranges, while balsamic dressing

SOMETIMES I add chicken or steak

SOMETIMES I add a side soup

SOMTIMES I add a slice of pizza

SOMETIMES I don't get a salad at all!

SOMETIMES I have a Coke if I have a headache and that could be as early as 9:00 am!

12:30

Tazo Zen Green Tea

(If I want a dessert, I eat it now)

2:00 pm

1/2 a bottle of Buddha's Brew Ginger Kombucha (1 serving size)

3:00 PM

Apple

5:00 pm

A handful of Boom Chicka Pop White Cheddar Popcorn or a couple Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips

6:30 pm

I've been cooking more as of late, so this varies

You can follow my dinner plans pinterest board here

I love making casseroles for dinner because I can graze on them throughout the week. I did a blog post on easy casserole recipes here

Nick's favorite are these Green Chicken Chili Enchiladas

If I want to do something quick and easy, I'll use Free To Eat Pasta w/some fresh veggies and if I reallllly want it, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese

USUALLY wine

SOMETIMES dessert if I'm feeling it

If we go out to eat for dinner in Dallas, we usually go to

Rodeo Goat Dallas
Sprezza
El Bolero
Pie Tap Design District
Town Hearth
Montlake Cut
Eddie V's
Shake Shack
Tacodeli

9:30 pm

Sleepytime Tea

Soooo yea! I hope those of you who requested this post, liked it! I think how you fuel your body is more important than hitting the gym for hours on end. I try to work out eat least 5 days a week, but end the end, I just try to just "move my body" daily. I typically park further away in a lot and take stairs when I can, etc. Just some parting words for ya:

I believe in balance and moderation. If you want the cookie, eat the cookie. Just maybe not 10 cookies.
Carbs aren't bad.
"Healthy" food doesn't have to be boring or bland.
Treat yourself with grace.
Be thankful for your body and what it can do.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you find a way to love your body and treat it to some good food today!

P.S. If you liked this post, you'll probably enjoy:

Favorite 13 Items from Trader Joe's

Healthy Places to Eat in Dallas, without Losing Flavor

Which Meal Subscription Service is Best for You

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