Well it’s January 11th. It took 11 days to lose 1 lb. Some of you may be giggling…oh it’s one measly pound, but it put me under 110 lbs. At my short height, average weight is between 98-110 lbs. Granted I lift weights and muscle weighs more than fat…but still…after gaining 13 lbs in Chile, being a healthier, lighter weight feels absolutely amazing…I have more energy and feel better about myself.
A few weeks ago the BBC Travel page posted an ad seeking coffee shop photos for an article. I submitted a couple of my favorites…one in Korea and one in Chile…and they were accepted and featured in the article!
Smoothie #13: one of my new faves!!!
Popeye’s Fruit Punch
Serves 2
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup water
2 cups grapes
1 apple
1 cup strawberries
I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. Cranky. Crabby. Homesick. Negative. and Annoyed. I could not snap out of it. Even though my sweet friend and I had a delicious brunch at Shark Bites Toast and watched “The Heat” with Sandra Bullock, when I got home I was right back to my morning mood of irritation. I even had texted a friend something along the lines of all I want to do is crawl into a ball and not be happy and not be productive and not do anything. So I didn’t. I took a two hour nap. I didn’t workout. I didn’t clean. I didn’t drink a smoothie. All I did tonight was do my laundry and dry my sheets. Then after all my wallowing, I decided; screw it, I’m getting a massage. This has got to stop, I just need to zen out and someone work the stress kinks out in my back. It was probably the best thing I could have done to start the upcoming week. For two hours my body cracked. Oriental music faded into smooth jazz and aromatherapy candles flickered onto the walls. Soothing serenity. Afterwards, I was served tea, a coconut cookie, and a seaweed cracker. What a misty Sunday evening of relaxation.
Smoothie #14
Purple Power
Serves 2
2 cups fresh kale, stems removed
1 cup apple juice, unsweetened
1 cup water
2 cups blueberries
2 bananas
Smoothie #XX:
my skip day…
Smoothie #15:
Citrus Crush
Serves 2
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup water
1 cup pineapple
1 banana
1 cup grapes
Smoothie #16:
Sweet Jubilee
Serves 2
2 cups fresh kale, stems removed
2 cups almond milk, unsweetened
2 cups grapes
1 apple
1 orange, peeled
Smoothie #17: so refreshing…almost like I was on a beach!
Tropical Breeze
Serves 2
2 cups fresh spinach
2 cups coconut milk, unsweetened
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
2 cups pineapple
1 banana
Serves 2
2 cups fresh kale, stems removed
2 cups coconut milk, unsweetened
2 kiwis
2 cups strawberries
1 banana
Smoothie #19:
less is more on the ginger!!! trust me. though maybe I just got ginger happy and didn’t read the recipe amount… ha!
Serves 2
2 cups fresh spinach
2 cups almond milk, unsweetened
2 bananas
½ inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
2 apples
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=trueview-instream&v=yd3QWrH6mIU
Wednesday January 15th
2 weeks my friends. 2 weeks until two of my dearest friends and I are reunited in Taiwan!!! It’s a wonder I’m not hyperventilating. For real. This week started off super rough…the weather was cold, rainy, and windy. And I had a bad attitude and didn’t work out. So today I was back to yoga. Phew! I needed to zen out…big time. And round 2 again tonight for Dancing Yoga. My Level 2 kids are driving me insane. I tried to be nice. I tried ignoring. I tried quiet. And now I’ve resorted to raising my voice. @&#*&@(. And I sound like my mother when I was a kid and didn’t listen. No tattling…(I have 3 siblings)…No arguing (I was always right, right?)…and Be nice…(4 hour car rides without picking a fight…yeah right.)…and my ultimate favorite…Because I said so! My little Taiwanese kids are catching on fast too…it’s kinda impressive when they tattle on each other and another kid goes “So and so you’re tattling, Teacher Megan doesn’t like that.” So help me. It’s total pay back time and I’m not even a parent yet! Maybe teaching is worse pay back ‘cuz instead of 1 or 2 kids, it’s 12 Taiwanese 7 year olds also cussing at you in Chinese under their breath. Awesome. Fingers crossed my own kids (someday) will be little angels. One can only hope…because I’m at my wits end with these crazy kids! But then they do something really funny and I’m in the middle of telling them to pay attention (for the millionth time) and I have to bite my tongue. Like the other day we were in the middle of recording a lesson and two of the kids had gone to the bathroom and one of the kids ran back in and says “So and So is going poo-poo.” On tape. It’s recorded. I about died in the middle of recording. I am becoming a stoic face pro…especially when they decide to get right up in my face and wave to see if I flinch. Not one movement in their direction. Aiyaya.
Friday January 17th
I can’t resist giving my Level 13 students five extra minutes at the end of class to read. One of them is reading the Hunger Games. I ordered my breakfast today in Chinese. I dance to this song. This week has been a rough week mentally. So glad it’s Friday. Weekend will bring time to think and refocus and adjust my attitude. Need to work on my Chinese pronunciation and read. My delts are sore. My legs are sore. Lifting weights is hard, but so worth it. Talking to myself at the gym is rather amusing. I used to do one set of 10 and be like good job Megan, now I do 4 sets of 20. Ow. Then I realized I was lifting kilograms instead of pounds. So I was lifting heavier than I thought…no wonder my arms were shaking and my brain was like why can’t you lift this? Ha! Oh and please explain losing another pound while eating mini chocolate cakes. I will never know this answer because half the time I gain ten pounds just looking at it. Ran into my friend tonight at the gym too and this is what she says to me, “the personal trainer on duty and I were talking about you…we think you are the first woman to do those machines. I’ve never seen a woman lift that bar with weights on it…” Cool. Five more pounds to go til goal weight. I’ve so got this. Today’s plank time: 4:20.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY2ycrpbOlw&list=RDecV1NHmELuA
Saturday the 18th
Chat with my amazing cousin. Yoga. Starbucks. Studying Chinese. Writing. A new Malaysian restaurant that serves Gordon Biersch beer called Melaka Kopitiam. So exciting…it was delicious! I must say it was a much needed restful day.
Sunday the 19th
What started as a low-key Sunday morning of skyping grandma, pilates, and tea with a friend (best Chai tea latte!), turned into a 8 hour day of hanging out at the cafe (Titty Tea) with the owner and an electrical engineer from NYC traveling in Taiwan for business. Ironically he had been to the cafe I want to go to that was featured under the Taiwan section of the BBC favourite cafes. Intelligent conversation and Korean food for dinner (I got to order in Hangul-Korean).
Tuesday the 21st
Woke up and studied Chinese at Starbucks. TODAY was the first day of their Starbucks card program…if you buy a card for 100NT then you can get 2 hours of free wifi and drink discounts! My card is super cute and has Chinese written on it. First day of Winter Camp…not too bad! I have the little kids so we watched a scene of Snow White (the theme is Drama/Fairy Tales) then I taught them some basic phrases and vocabulary and they acted it out. So cute. However, they were sooo quiet and usually they are bouncing off the walls. So strange. Fabulous Mandarin lesson today! I’m learning…slowly, but surely. I have a great tutor! This is what she has to say on her facebook page: “Thoughts of Stacy So happy that my student Megan who has been taking Chinese lessons for only 3 hours can order breakfast by herself using a simple sentence pattern我(wǒ) 要(yào) 一(yí) 個(ɡè) 雞(jī) 蛋(dàn) 和(hé) 一(yí) 個(ɡè) 面(miàn) 包(bāo)。I want one egg and one piece of bread. Today, she actually ordered coffee in Chinese too. 我(wǒ) 要(yào) 一(yí) 個(ɡè) 咖(kā) 啡(fēi)。Although now she only knows one measure word “個” which is a general measure word for things, its already very encouraging for a beginner learner as she. For items in a form of liquid like water, coffee, mike , measure words are up to their containers, so we can say 一(yì) 杯(bēi) 水(shuǐ) a cup of water 一(yì) 瓶(pínɡ) 水(shuǐ) a bottle of water 一(yì) 碗(wǎn) 水(shuǐ) a bowl of water 一(yì) 桶(tǒnɡ) 水(shuǐ) a bucket of water 一(yì) 缸(ɡānɡ) 水(shuǐ) a barrel of water 加(jiā) 油(yóu) ！ all the beginners… the satisfaction of conquering difficulties is just great!” Today’s workout: 200 weighted walking lunges, 120 weighted bench step-ups, in addition to other leg lifts and an arm workout. Killer. My triceps are burning and my thighs are shaking. Ahh!!! At least some country music (Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan) played while I was lifting today. Made me so happy! Plank- 4:41.
Week #4: Sweet Tooth Smoothies…the only downfalls are A. Mangoes aren’t in season. (I am questioning the location of these smoothie makers…I live on an island and I still don’t have access to mangoes in JANUARY!) B. I don’t have access to peaches right now either. Sooo…I will be mixing it up with past smoothie recipes. Just wanted to share these in case YOU happen to live in an area where mangoes are plentiful… if you are in that location I’m highly jealous. 🙂 These recipes will be in the making (everyday) this summer. C. random note: avocados have now disappeared from my supermarket as well… note to self, hoard the seasonal food and freeze it…ha!
Smoothies #22- 26
Coconut Dream
Serves 2
2 cups fresh kale, stems removed
2 cups coconut milk, unsweetened
1 cup mango
1 cup pineapple
1 banana
2 tablespoons coconut flakes, unsweetened
Peachy Cobbler
Serves 2
2 cups fresh spinach
2 cups almond milk, unsweetened
2 cups peaches
1 apple
1 banana
Dreamsicle (yay a smoothie that I can get all the ingredients for!)
Serves 2
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup water
2 oranges, peeled
2 bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries (yay a smoothie that I can get all the ingredients for!)
Serves 2
2 cups fresh kale, stems removed
2 cups almond milk, unsweetened
2 cups strawberries
2 bananas
3 tablespoons cacao powder
Pink Flamingo
Serves 2
2 cups fresh spinach
2 cups almond milk, unsweetened
1 cup strawberries
2 cups mango
Shauna’s Sangria
Serves 2
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup water
1 pear
1 apple
1 cup strawberries
½ cup grapes
Side-by-Side Citrus Breeze
Serves 2
GREEN SIDE:
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup water
¼ cup pineapple, frozen
¼ cup mango, frozen
½ banana
½ orange, peeled
YELLOW SIDE:
1 cup water
¾ cup pineapple, frozen
¾ cup mango, frozen
½ banana
½ orange, peeled
*Blend each side separately and use a piece of cardstock paper to divide your glass as you pour.
Serves 2
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup water
3 oranges, peeled
1 banana, frozen
½ avocado
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Jen’s Coconut Twister
Serves 2
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup coconut water
2 oranges, peeled
1 cup pineapple, frozen
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons chia seeds
Found an Italian eatery. And a Cafe.
This Cafe. Adorable. Reminded me of Cafe Muse…cute, quaint, quiet, and melodic background music. Studied my Chinese and practiced with the Cafe Lady. She’s so sweet and knows enough English to help me with my Chinese words and what I’m trying to say. It’s called 181.
Words from a Traveler 
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