Sorry, guys. Life got in the way and I had to take a day off blogging. I have lots to talk about, though, so I promise this post will give you plenty of material. 
Before I forget (I’ve been really bad about that lately) – the winner of the Substituting Ingredients book giveaway is lucky #39 – Monique. Monique, please email me your address to elina@healthyandsane.com. Also it appears that I never announced the winner of the RPS cut + color giveaway on the blog (I emailed the winner though). So just to make sure no one is waiting for their name to be announced – the winner was #11 – Beth. Beth, I hope you had a great makeover! 
All right, now that we got all these logistics out of the way, let’s talk about something I’ve been super excited about lately – EXERCISE! A little while back I wrote kind of a sad post about struggling with overeating and just not feeling “it” in general. The very next day, I forced myself to go to the gym to sweat it out and haven’t looked back. I’ve been an exercise machine ever since. I can’t stop. It’s been amazing (and made a difference in my eating as well). Finally activating my 7-day pass at Healthworks just added more excitement. There are so many classes offered and I want to try every one of them. I’ve been going to Fitcorp (my current gym) and Healthworks and loving every second of it. I love when the snowball effect works in the right way. It’s all about finding something that you absolutely love (and that may change with time) – doing the “work” is then effortless. I actually look forward to every class!
So now let’s talk food. This is Sunday’s eats. I didn’t have a chance to blog about them earlier (and there is some really good stuff here!) so I actually left my camera at home on Monday and took a little break from picture taking. You still get to see a whole day’s worth of food (from Sunday) so I think it’s all good.
BREAKFAST
A few weeks ago, Lauren blogged about a healthy carrot cake sandwich that can be enjoyed for any meal of the day. I kept it in the back of my mind and even bought a special mango, pineapple, raisin bread that I thought would be great with it. I was right!
Look at this beauty from Sunday’s breakfast…
The back side 
Since the sandwich just has a touch of sweetness, you don’t feel like you’re eating dessert for a meal yet it is still kind of exciting. I may have another one of these soon. Carrots are not an ingredient I use often in breakfast so why not throw it in a little more often?
WORKOUT
Body Pump at HW. Hurts so good…..
LUNCH
Beet salad, leftover L’Espalier chicken and feta wrap
Awesomeness.
SNACKS
Low fat cottage cheese + strawberries
Wow. I forgot how much I love macarons. I know this is a big no-no but I just had to take a picture of the inside. The paste was fantastic and the outside “shell” was so delicate, I definitely felt like I was eating a real treat.
Here is another TREAT. Sunday was Father’s Day of course so I baked my dad some pecan pie bars (recipe here). He loves nuts as much as I do (it runs in the family actually ).
Mmmmmmm – short bread crust, caramel-like pecan filling. These are not low fat/calorie by any means but SO worth it.
I probably had a square and a half throughout the day (I never actually had a whole one – just kept picking at it at different times). Oh, and if you make it – a little less sugar works beautifully. I used 1 cup for half a batch and it was perfectly sweet. If you love pecans, this is better than pecan pie (and way easier to make)!
DINNER
I mentioned before that my grandmas from Israel are here. Well, they still haven’t seen our new condo so I invited everyone over to enjoy some pecan bars and last minute, Adam and I decided to make dinner for everyone too.
Apps – pita chips, TJ’s garlic tzatziki (SO good!!) + grapes
The main fare – grass fed cheeseburgers (with whole wheat buns)
Toppings: tomatoes, avocado, pickles
Smashed grilled red potatoes (and sweet potatoes)
A big salad – mixed greens, carrots, grape tomatoes, grilled zucchini and pine nuts
My plate:
Everything was super yummy. For the burgers, btw, I almost always use 2T ketchup, 1T worchestershire sauce + 1/4t pepper for 1lb of meat. It makes really juicy and flavorful burgers. The potatoes were yummy as well.
A little dessert wine to end the meal. It tastes like white grape juice
And that was Sunday. Have you tried any new workouts lately? I’m going to a step class today – it’s been years. I can’t wait!! 
Do you have any interest in doing the Healthworks Fiona’s Challenge? I am awful at pushups, but I bet I could get better if I trained for a month!
Your photos just keep getting more beautiful!
Wow, the spread looks amazing. your photography skills are definitely kickin’ in
i’m sure the gorgeousness of the food helped too. so colorful! so pretty! so drool inducing! hehe
Sounds like you’ve got the endorphins flowing!!!
It’s been way too long since I’ve taken a class at the gym – you’ve made me want to sign up for one!
How about some credit to the grill master for the delicious burgers!
that really is a beautiful sandwich. like i want it asap. and i love that you bought special bread!!
i’m trying some yoga class called “hot vinyasa flow” tonight..i’m scared
Those pecan bars look amazing!!! I love your pictures, they’re always so inspiring!
Oh that is so good to hear! It IS awesome when the snowball effect rolls in the right way. I’m so happy for you!
I haven’t done much new fitness as I’m nearing the finish line of pregnancy but something I’ve added and will be doing a lot more of is squats. This is on top of walking daily and running a couple times a week.
Isn’t is great when exercise is fun?! I keep my workouts fresh by alternating jogging/walking outside, going to the gym, and staying home with workouts On Demand or on DVDs. Have fun at step class!
I’m thrilled that you tried the carrot cake sandwich with tasty results – that bread sounds (and looks!) incredible
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That really is such a different breakfast!…it looks amazing but i’d probably be more inclined to have it for lunch as i am not a fan of veggies in the morning! the bread looks really delicious too!
i don’t have motivation to exercise anyomore!once i get started, i’m fine, but it’s the getting started that causes me problems!
Your photos are fantastic…..I’m so jealous!
The hardest part of working out is actually getting started! I teach Step, so I hope you love it as much as I do!
I’ve been getting into Zumba and recently tried a spin class for the first time. I’m finding that I look forward to any exercise that isn’t running. I think maybe I just don’t like it or maybe I need a break from it.
So glad you’re in better spirits!
I love taking new classes; it really keeps things interesting! I am totally hooked on Body Pump and Body Combat but just cannot get into spinning! I thought I was going to pass out and die the last time I took it!
YAY! You sounded so happy in this post – love that you’re digging the exercise thang again. Go you!! And PS. That macaroon looked SO GOOD!
wow, those pecan bars look incredible. thanks for the link to the recipe! i have been doing insanity workouts lately because they are easy to fit in. but i also love spin classes!
OH! So much good food! Your dad is a lucky guy to get home baked goodies from you
So glad you are feeling better and in a workout routine. I definitely go through times when I am more or less excited by my workouts. But the excitement always comes back
That has happened to me far too many times. I start overeating at night and then just feel horrible and can’t even get myself to workout. All we can do is pick ourselves back up, though! Working out feels so good if you can figure out how to take the work out of it. And all that food looks delicious!
I’m glad you gave the carrot cake sandwich a good review; that’s on my to-make list as well!
Your breakfast always makes me jealous!
[...] The snowball effect – getting on the exercise bandwagon again [...]
[...] Jump to Comments Breakfast today was another bagel, but this time with CARROTS inspired by this post from Elina over at Healthy and Sane. (Note: my camera ate my picture of it. And when I say [...]
I’m glad to hear you’re feeling more optimistic! Keep at it and know that your readers (and friends) will always support you 100%!
[...] Carrot cake breakfast sandwich anyone?? [...]