WIAW #23: Okay Fine, Sushi

Happy Hump Day! I hope your week is going by as quickly as possible, considering the weekend was an extra long one… which usually means the majority of us are left yearning for another one.

If you still find yourself moving a bit on the slow side (umm, me) check out yesterday’s post for quick tips to get back to eating healthy or one of my latest elliptical workouts to put a ‘lil pep in your step today!

After go-go-going all weekend long I sure needed something to get my booty in gear yesterday.

With a photo shoot in the near future, I have my focus on eating clean and I am trying my best to stay on track through the craziness of the holiday, late nights out and company in town the past few days. Life’s little challenges always seem to try to get in the way, but it’s all about how you handle it and how much you let yourself give into the excuse. There can always be a reason to get temporarily off track if you let yourself.

Today, I rise up to the challenge and am fighting the urge to make excuses for this week’s What I Ate Wednesday!

What the heck is WIAW? (<- newbies, click here.)

(As always, head over to Jenn‘s page to see tons of healthy treats and clean eating inspiration this week!)

Here we go!

What I Ate Wednesday Tuesday

Breakfast was super weird yesterday.

Scott and I had been out late after enjoying a few nights at Arts, Beats & Eats which has thrown our entire eating routine out of whack. The end of Labor Day officially ended my “just for the weekend” mentality, and let’s just say I didn’t wake up my normal hungry self. Keeping it light, I enjoyed a cup of coffee and a banana.

About an hour or so later, I was craving fresh fruit and broke into our stash of strawberries and grapes we brought home from the Farmer’s Market last week.

Lunch came after and was quickly thrown together using the leftover Taco Salad from Sagebrush Cantina the night before.

I LOVE that Mexican place located just a few miles away from our arena. I did my best to order as healthy as possible, leaving off the dressing and shredded cheese, then substituting fresh pico de gallo and salsa instead. The salad they brought out to me Monday night was literally three times this size!

To make that one ginormous salad into three servings, I added the black beans myself and underneath those you will find a bed of lettuce, tomatoes, red and green peppers, carrots, onions, shredded chicken, and a little bit of rice.

Oh so yummy!

The (monster Mexican) salad held me over pretty well until the late afternoon, when I dug into the Veggie Sticks for an afternoon snack.

While I believe they are a better choice than a standard potato chip, I still have my hesitations about them after reading this article. I am well aware the Buzzfeed is probably not the most credible source on this, but the fact that the straws always leave my hands greasy while I search for a paper towel makes me wonder.

After another cup of coffee (yikes) I prepared myself for a night at the gym with Scott and our friend, Surely, who is in town visiting us this week.

(Pre-workout fuel: Power Bar Energy Performance Gel from July’s Bulu Box.)

(Fintess Pilates fanatics.)

Although I had extremely clean eating on the brain after an a hard hour of core work followed by thirty minutes on the elliptical, I rolled with their plans for sushi for dinner.

We found a new place near our house called The Sakura Japanese Fushion Restaurant. Scott had visited the place he remembers in this location about six months ago for takeout, so we decided to give the new ownership and restaurant a go.

I LOVE sushi, but also know how quickly the rice and sauces can change it from healthy to unhealthy. I even resisted the urge to order a ginger salad until I saw how this place dresses them up a little with a fresh spring mix and cucumbers.

I ended up ordering myself one and enjoyed it with a side of hot green tea while we waited for our rolls to arrive.

While waiting, we noticed that the three of us were the only ones in the restaurant. Usually, that gets me a little worried, but considering they are a brand new left my mind open giving them the benefit of the doubt.

The three of us ordered a total of five rolls, and some of them had the prettiest presentation I have ever seen!

Above is the Sakura Roll with fish, asparagus, jalapenos, rice, cream cheese (I would have preferred to skip those last two) and soy paper. It was delicious!

Since we split everything, I limited myself to a total of six rolls and enjoyed a few of three Sakura pieces, two pieces of the Garbage Roll (mixed veggies, tuna, rice and soy paper)…

… and finished it off with one piece of the Rochester Road roll (rice, tuna, mango, avocado and kiwi). Sweet, fruit rolls are my absolute favorite and we were surprised by the chef when he made a sample plate for us  free of charge!

Also part of our order was this impressive Cheese Ball roll, which I resisted. With my sensitive stomach issues, one glace at the ginormous cheese topping doused in sauce had my stomach frantic.

But that doesn’t mean they weren’t gorgeous!

And according to Scott and Surely, incredible.

We ended up swinging by the grocery store on the way home and didn’t get home until around 11 p.m. I was still pretty full from dinner, but my sweet tooth showed its face as soon as I got ready for bed anyways.

A handful of dark chocolate chips from the pantry did the trick!

In summary, it has certainly been a challenge for me to stay on my clean eating mindset over the weekend and now into this week with the added elements of the holiday and having company in town. At the end of the day (no matter where I am or what I am doing) I am the only one who ends up with the consequences of indulging (feeling bloated, moving slower, getting an upset stomach) and I am the only one who can control that.

So I’m doing my best.

I’m sure next week will look a bit cleaner and include more home made concoctions. And, for the record, I promise to get back on the recipe train soon. Next week, it’s onnnnnnn!

Have a great rest of your Wednesday!

• If you liked this WIAW post, head on over to Peas & Crayons to check out plenty others, or even link your own!

• Also, you can always find my latest What I Ate Wednesday posts by exploring the “WIAW” tag on the right hand sidebar.