I’m one of those people who sees “signs” in every little thing. Even the most mundane occurrences have a greater meaning to me. It’s ridiculous really. This personality trait is only heightened when it serves the purpose of acting as an excuse for getting out of exercising.
Case in point: Today’s run was doomed from the get-go because of (1) the rainy weather forecast, (2) my aching joints, and (3) my cranky GI tract. I took these all to be “signs” that I was not meant to run after my night shift.
Please note these are all things that were standard 365 days of the year when I lived in NYC. However, my body’s East Coast amnesia kicked in the second I crossed the Hudson, so we all know I’m living by Cali standards now.
And yet, I tried to fight my idiotic superstitions. Stubborn much?
I barely made it 9 minutes and yeah…I turned right back around. I should have listened to the signs all along.
Do you believe in signs? Or are random events nothing more than random events?
Such a moody and ominous looking bowl.
Steammmmmy too :) This bowl of warmth made my belly feel so so happy. Not quite as good as my muscles feel after a long run, but a runner-up feeling for sure. Does that make me a freak?
It was a super simple combo of whole rolled oats (1 cup dry), a few drops of NuNaturals vanilla liquid stevia and cocoa powder (1 tbsp)…with a HUGE spoonful of peanut butter on top.
I mean HUGE.
I had some extra oats that didn’t fit in the first bowl, but when I served up the second serving, I couldn’t help but notice how sad it looked. Weak! I’m not one to tolerate less than stellar brekkies (even if it’s a second helping), so I added some oomph in the form of chopped apples and granola.
I’ve been hearing about Galaxy Granola for a while now, but it’s rarely on sale, and I almost always choose the cheaper (ie bulk bin) brands. I finally sucked it up and purchased it though because my curiosity got the best of me my wallet.
I hemmed and hawed over which flavor to start with and ultimately determined I couldn’t go wrong with “Not Sweet Vanilla.” You can’t deny the ingredient list is one of the best on the market.
Crispies!! I love rice crispies in granola because they add such a unique texture.
There was a sh!t ton of peanut butter up in thurrr too.
I could die this was so rich. It was almost like cookie dough because the ratio of nutbutter to other ingredients was so off kilter. Definitely not a bad thing in my book.
I hate to say it, but my leftover second serving trumped my initial bowl. I guess sometimes simple doesn’t always win because the varying textures of breakfast round two made my taste buds sing.
The granola was definitely on the less sweet side, which I didn’t mind (because I had already added NuNaturals vanilla stevia to the oatmeal). However, there was a harder bite to it that didn’t crisp like some of the more recent granolas I’ve been eating (Love Grown). The nutritionals are what compensates for this though, because it’s virtually fat free and still doesn’t taste like a muesli-style stale cereal. That’s quite an accomplishment given the fact that oil and sugar are typically the key ingredients to making a granola nice and crispy. Galaxy Granola has apples and organic agave nectar as it’s sweetener and zilch in the oil department. Impressive.
And now that the rest of my photos are unable to load, I shall take it as a sign to end the post and go get ready for the weekend. My sister’s plane is about to land and I’ve got her until Saturday. FUN!
Thanks for getting that Ace of Base song stuck in my head!!
I totally believe in signs but will admit I sometimes make up signs so that things turn out in my favor. As in “My shoelace just came undone, guess that’s a sign I better end my run now!”
Hi Elsie, just wanted to leave my first comment, been reading for a couple of weeks and I love your blog! Its so refreshing to see someone eating proper size portions and really enjoying their food. After losing a lot of weight I’m now at the point of trying to stop losing weight and getting myself out of a weight loss mentality is very difficult. I love reading your blog as its helped me see what ‘normal’ size portions and days of eating can look like instead of weight loss restricted eating. I know we are all different and our intake will need to differ due to exercise etc but I just wanted you to know how much its helped, L xx
Elise sorry it was one of those days for you. But hey, your food looks great. And you’ve got sis in town. YAY! Now hopefully the weather holds out…we have had SUCH bad storms move thru San Diego this week, and I assume LA has been the same…ugh.
🙂
hey at least you got 9 minutes of running in! i totally listen to signs. the body knows best.
I am superstitious and see signs too. It’s a little crazy but I can’t help it. For example, your oats looks so good, this just may be a sign I need to make them! 🙂 Great idea adding granola to oatmeal. Have fun with your sister!!
I definitely believe in signs when they point to something I like, but bad signs I ignore, haha.
I’ve really been wanting to try that granola! Love the idea of having it in oatmeal.
i truly believe in signs…and i look for them all. the. time. ha!
and i think nut butters make everything better…the more the merrier the bowl of goodness!
hope you’re feeling better!
My fiancee is super-into seeing signs and I am not, so he gets frustrated with me. I love the Not Sweet Vanilla granola, but that’s mainly because it’s pretty much the only one I’ve found that just had a small (or it seems like small) amount of agave nectar and no brown sugar or other sugar ingredients. I use it when I have smoothies in a bowl and think it adds a nice crunch. I hope your GI tract feels better!
And it opened up my eyes I saw the sign….
It was impossible for me to concentrate as hard on the rest of this post once I had Ace of Base in my head 🙂
i follow signs when it comes to eating. i have things that i veer towards (protein shake right after working out) but today i just didn’t feel like it. i was craving apple & cottage cheese so i decided it was a sign that i needed me some fiber & curdled milk product – i make things sound sooo good 🙂
signs i ignore: stop signs. just kidding!
“Believing in signs” sounds slightly more agreeable than “neurotic obsessive compulsive”, so I’ll take it.
I’ve been eyeing that granola too. I always feel like granola is one of those things I should just make instead of buy, but I never do. Like nut butter. And coconut butter. Damn my laziness!
It’s kind of ridiculous how often my mom and I call eachother to say “It’s a sign!”
yeah…those are my kinda signs too. haha
im so bad with signs! i totally see them coming.. then i dnt respond and TOTALLY regret it.. need to learn from you!
I have days where I just get the feeling all is not going to go to plan and the feeling is often proved right…
I really love Galaxy Granolas–they have a quinoa variety that is delish!
That second bowl of bliss just gave me a vicarious foodgasm. I think that’s a sign that I should try it.
I just usually ignore signs 😀 Most of them are signs from my body, and that thing isn’t good to ignore :/
Love your bowl of oats, I never am satisfied with only one!
Bleh, I hate it when I make the effort for a run or workout, and everything just tells me to quit. I’m bad at looking for signs. 🙂 Your oatmeal looks scrumptious, though.
I have always wanted to try the Galaxy Granola too! Is it worth the cost, would you say?
Courtney
I always blame my laziness on “signs”. 🙂
The “signs” have been known to talk me out of running many-a-days!
I try to look for and listen for signs, sometimes I do and than again I don’t listen. I have mixed feeling about ‘signs’, I get stubborn about things, haha
i’m all about fate, signs, everything happens for a reason…i’ll find one of those instances at least once a day. i think its a great outlook!
and its so nice to see someone else using a REAL scoop of PB on their oats. i always have at least that amount, if not more actually…hence my jar per week addiction.
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