Sorry for the gap between postings! It’s been crazy busy here at CollegeGirlCooking. Right now I should be studying this high-yield problem on conservation of momentum…
Instead, I am writing this blog! Much more thrilling than physics. So what have I been up to this past week? Pretty much lots of studying and lots of good eats.
Wednesday I visited Darren. We went to a restaurant in Perrysburg called Zingo’s Mediterranean. I ordered the Vegetarian Trio sandwich. It featured falafel, hummus, and tabbouli salad all wrapped up in a grilled pita. It also came with a side of pita chips. I absolutely loved the sandwich and the pita chips. Darren got the Chicken Tawook sandwich. He enjoyed his sandwich as well, but probably not as much as I enjoyed mine. That evening we shared a pint of Ben and Jerry’s “Fair Goodness Cake”
It was good, but it wasn’t as great as my three favorites: Half Baked, Milk and Cookies, and Bonnaroo Buzz!
Friday I went out to dinner at a local restaurant with my Mom, Dad, and sister Allie. I got a Chicken Club sandwich with french fries. I thought the chicken would be grilled, but to my dismay, it was breaded and fried. It tasted alright, but it was much lower on the nutrition scale. Later that night, Darren came home and we got ice cream. I had a cookie dough flurry, and Darren had a German chocolate cake flurry. We each ate half of our flurries, then traded and finished the rest. Darren is such a good boyfriend for putting up with my food sharing antics.
Saturday was basically all about food. My Mom, Dad, and I visited my brother in Cleveland. We went to the West Side Market.
It’s a gigantic market with fresh produce, cheese, meats, baked goods..basically anything you could ever want. We ate at the West Side Market Cafe where I ordered The Mellow Mushroom Burger which was a hamburger topped with Swiss cheese and mushrooms. It came with a side of delicious french fries. I also bought some cannolis at the market to take home. As usual, it was great to have a day with the family!
Then on Sunday Darren’s mom invited me to go along with her and Darren’s brother to visit Darren and go shopping. Of course, I was super happy to go along. We shopped throughout the afternoon. Darren’s mom bought me a University of Michigan T-shirt<—Hopefully I will be a medical student there someday! We ate at a fancy schmancy restaurant called J. Alexanders. I ordered the Veggie Burger with a side of fries. It was the best Veggie Burger I’ve ever had. I gave Darren a bite, and of course he didn’t like it. That man will never understand veggies. I had a really great day with Darren’s family.
So, in case you haven’t noticed a theme, there was a lot of fried food, restaurant food, and ice cream consumption in the past few days. How did this make me feel? Physically I felt fine. I ate decent portions, stopping when I was full. I also ate enough of my nutrient dense meals to compensate for all my restaurant meals. Mentally, I did not feel so fine. I felt really guilty and anxious about how indulgent I had been in my eating. I may have had a hysterical breakdown, bawling my eyes out, right in front of Darren. He was a good sport as always though, and just hugged me until I was ready to talk. There is nothing wrong with eating out a little more often than usual, or even overeating once in a while. It’s normal. It happens. My anxiety and guilt was a product of my eating disordered thoughts creeping back up on me. Recovery is about being able to stop thinking about calories and weight in order to properly assess the situation and address the ACTUAL cause of unhappiness. Now that I’m not so crazed and upset, I can clearly see that quite a number of things going on in my life are stressing me out. I’m sick of studying for the MCAT. I’m worried about having time to study for the MCAT during the school year. I’m nervous that my course load is too heavy this coming semester. I’m nervous about having a job for the first time while also taking classes. I’m sad that summer is ending. Food and weight have been familiar scapegoats for me in finding the source of my unhappiness or anxiety. It’s hard not to automatically turn to them whenever I’m scared or stressed, but I keep trying. And when I fall off track, I keep managing to get back on. That’s what recovery is all about.
On a happier note, today I baked brownies!
Low fat brownies. They are gooey and fudgey and delicious! AND they’re from a mix, so they come together super quick and only dirty one bowl!
Low-Fat Chewy Gooey Brownies
- 1 box brownie mix (I used Pillsbury)
- 1/2 cup lite vanilla yogurt (I actually used Yoplait’s Boston Creme Pie)
- 1/4 cup water
Combine brownie mix, yogurt, and water in a large bowl until completely combined. OMIT the eggs and oil! Put batter in 9×13 inch pan and bake according to package directions. You may have to bake them for a couple minutes longer than called for on the package directions if they come out too fudgey.
EAT BROWNIES
XOXO,
Jamie
