My Plate

When I tell people about the way I eat they are astonished. Then they always ask, "How can you do that?". I am always surprised how people think the way I eat is so weird or extremely healthy. But I guess it's never been that hard for me, my mom doesn't buy unhealthy things, so I don't eat unhealthy things. I've learned to adapt to my mom's dietary ways and now it's the norm for me. My family eats gluten free, organic, non GMO, preservative and pesticide free foods. When you try a little bit, it isn't that hard to find good things to eat. In this post i'm going to share with you what a typical day in meals is for me.

Breakfast

When I wake up really early for school, my stomach is growling and so is my attitude. The first thing I do is make my coffee (organic and fair trade of course). Every once in a while I will throw some fruits, veggies, and protein powder into a blender and make myself a green smoothie. But I usually just want to get something into my stomach so I opt for a more simple option, cereal. What I have been eating lately is organic brown rice crisp cereal; like a healthier version of Rice Crispies. It sounds sort of bland but it's the highlight of my morning.

Lunch

I pack a small but well rounded lunch for school days. It usually consists of greek yogurt of some kind, multigrain chips, cheese, carrots, and a banana or a few Cuties. I love greek yogurt, it's like a light whipped cream version of regular yogurt with so much more protein. My multigrain chips are gluten free and have flax seeds in them which have great healthy fats and omega 3s. When I bring broccoli I steam it ahead of time in the microwave and then I zap it again when I'm at school. Usually I pack other snacks to eat before track practice.

Dinner

Almost all of my dinners follow the Paleo diet. So no grains and little to no dairy, lots of lean protein and nutrient rich fruits and vegetables. My dinner plate usually consists of a meat: chicken breast, white fish, turkey, or buffalo, and some vegetables: broccoli, green beans, peas, carrots, or cucumbers. 

Snacks and Sweets

Yes, I do eat sweets, healthier sweets but sweets nonetheless. For example, I have Ben and Jerry's ice cream sometimes, and no it's not always gluten free. For snacks I have chips and the most amazing authentic salsa from Trader Joe's, a granola bar, cheese sticks, or Cuties. I snack so much when I'm home so on the weekends I don't always have lunch because I'm constantly eating (healthily).

I hope you found this post somewhat interesting and explanatory, and hey, maybe even a little bit influential. Let me know if you would like to read more posts about me and my lifestyle, or of course if you completely hate it... lol. Until next time!

xoxo,

Stella

Spring Savings

I love shopping just as much as the next girl but when I'm walking around a mall or in a store that I like I can't help but notice how expensive everything is. I can't spend all the money I want, what I have in wallet is all from babysitting and I hate spending it all on clothes, its not worth it. But when spring rolls around and it's time to get a couple new pairs of  shorts and maybe a tank top or two, I either need a butt-load of cash or some serious discounts.

What I purchased from J.Crew

One of my favorite stores is J.Crew, this store is ME. The only problem is I can't afford to buy $65 shorts and a $40 shirt, it's just too much. My philosophy is to shop in the back where they have all of the clearance or sale items. I always find really cute clothing items back there for a fraction of the price. I was just at J.Crew last weekend with a friend and I found some really cute patterned Chino shorts along with a nice emerald colored tee, both in the sale section. The day I went, all of the sale items were an additional 40% off. So instead of $60, my shorts were on sale for $40 and then $24 with the 40% discount. My tee shirt was $30 then $20 and finally $12. Another awesome thing about J.Crew is that they offer a 15% discount on any purchase if you are a college student or a teacher. You'd be surprised how many really great stores have student discounts, it doesn't hurt to ask.

Roxy pants from TJ Maxx

Another thing to keep in mind is TJ Maxx, close-out stores like this are a great place to find a bargain. I usually go every once in a while and always find myself with armfuls of clothes in minutes, of course I narrow it down to just a few but it's really easy to find cute stuff. The last time I went I was looking for a pair of spring pants with some bright colors. I found these two pairs of pants originally from Roxy and marked down from $65 to $16. They are an amazing fit both price wise and size wise.

Something I forgot to mention is the magnificent thrift shop! Where I live there aren't really any good ones but I'm sure it would be easy for you to find one near you. One tip about thrift shopping: look for a store in a more wealthy area, that way the items donated will most likely be designer or really nicely kept. Well, I hope you found this post useful and informative. Have fun shopping!
xoxo,
Stella

A Day In The Life of Me

Lately I've been getting bored of just writing about fashion every week. By now you are probably asking, "how could fashion get boring?", well my answer to that is: because I like change, consistency bores me sometimes. That's why I've decided to write about what my day is like. A typical Friday looks like this...

Walking in the light snow

I get ready for school really early in the morning and walk to the bus stop in the cold and in the snow (usually). I then take a short bus ride to my school. I sit next to a nice girl who loves to talk about school, boys, fashion, politics, and more... we have some really good conversations.

Awkward picture of the back of my Spanish class.

Once I get to school I put my bag in my locker and get my materials for first period. At my school we have four periods a day and two different days (block schedule). Today I had Honors Math, Honors Biology, Ceramics, and Spanish. A pretty interesting day all around. In the middle of my day I have lunch with my friends, I really like lunch to catch up with them because we don't have many classes together.

My school's track and field.

When school is over in mid-afternoon, I change and go to track practice. Practice is every day for about and hour and a half. The track season just started and I convinced two of my friends to join with me, we may not be the best, but at least we're trying something new and exciting!

Alexia and I in our pink shirts.

I volunteer at my local hospital on Fridays with one of my friends from track, this causes us to leave practice early. At the hospital we volunteer with two other people our age, I always have loads of fun with everyone. The environment of the hospital is really awesome because everyone is so nice and loves to talk to you. Not to mention-- my boss is the BEST! I have been volunteering there for some time now and I can't imagine stoping any time soon.

Well there you have it, that's pretty much my normal Friday. Of course with the exception of me Face- Timing (is that a verb?) one of my best friends Maddi almost every night of the school week. And how could I forget, I also do homework but on Fridays I only have to write a blog post for English. ;)

xoxo,
Stella