Odd Snack Day

Lately I have been under the weather; my dairy allergy has actually made me come down with flu like symptoms. I have been in bed for most off the week, I had no clue that certain snacks that contain milk products can get you sick worse than just eating dairy directly.
I decided to cut out all dairy from my diet including eggs (not dairy related), I miss yogurt but I really wanted to get over my cold quickly. I have finally gotten over it so I decided to include eggs back into my diet again.
The weather has been warm, so I have been drinking smoothies for breakfast and sometimes lunch, most of my calories are coming from popsicles as well. I know I should not eat so many empty calories but 102 has hit, so I gotta stay hydrated and keep cool.
Lately I have been having odd snacks instead of nuts or fruit. I will eat a boil egg and toast, tuna with lettuce, or even tortilla with a slice of meat. I love snacks so something I will usually have for breakfast or lunch I will have for a snack. My snacks have become odd for the time of the day. I am enjoying them since I have lost my appetite which I am hoping will come back soon.

Question of the day: What type of odd snacks do you enjoy?

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Shout it out Wenesday Le!

Eating healthy takes a lot of time and effort; I know most recipes do not cater to people who want low calories and low fat versions to recipes.
I even have a hard time coming up with ideals of what to cook that would be healthy and not bland. There are times when I just go oh screw it! Let me just add some sauce to this throw it in the oven and I know it will taste much better. I think food has to be the hardest thing to overcome when changing your life style.

It is still a struggle but thanks to Le I am able to have healthy recipes that are way better for you and lower in calories. When my sweet tooth is killing me (chocolate cookies any one?) I can find a healthy recipe that is an alternative.
I am a recipe fanatic and her recipes have really kept me on track this month so I had to dedicate shout it out Wednesday to Le. If you like to bake, cook, or just in the mood for a quick meal her recipes are defiantly worth trying. They are also very appetizing to look at; if we gain calories from just looking at food I would be well over 500 pounds by now.
I try to get in the kitchen and come up with more recipes, but if I am out of ideals and need to make dinner for the night. I usually find a wonderful recipe on her blog that I can make in a hurry. If you are a foodie trying to get fit then defiantly give Le’s recipes a try.

The Cheat Meal Deal

I know it feels good to splurge on food; after a week of dieting really hard I am able to get a cheat meal that will satisfy my cravings and kick start my diet for the next week. I guess one harmless meal will not hurt all my hard work or will it?
I know when I first started dieting I would have a cheat day every weekend, it got to the point that I began to binge eat. I would save up enough calories during the week to have my favorite cheat meal on the weekend. I would literally eat until I could not eat anymore. An example would be if I went out for sushi I would start with tempura; I would then order nori rolls and end up mixing and matching rolls which usually led to me eating about 16 nori rolls (rice included).
I would say my meals like this were way over my intake for the day, I am assuming it was about 3500+ calories. When it came time for me to weigh myself I would usually end up gaining a pound or two and most of it was not water weight. I know cheat days can help with staying on track but they can also stall weight loss and effect your goals in the future.
Eating healthy can be difficult and expensive, from meal plans, to finding yummy recipes that have flavor, but if you make it a lifestyle it is one that can be enjoyed and rewarding. I don’t have any more cheat meals are days, but when I do I will usually end up eating about 500-700 calories more for that day. I love a good cheat meal sushi is my favorite.

Question of the day: What is your favorite food to eat on your cheat day?

Banana Gone Black

My dehydrator has not shown up yet, I am so looking forward to making my banana chips. I guess I am going to half to wait another day or two.

The bananas decided they did not want to wait for the dehydrator to get here so they went black pretty quick. I am not one to waste food so I decided to use them today. I wanted to make banana pancakes, then I wanted banana muffins, or maybe freeze them to make banana ice cream. I had a few ideals in my head more than what I listed; I decided to just go with the easy one and make banana bread. They all seemed pretty easy but banana bread seemed to be a classic that I could try to make healthy.

My healthy version of banana bread did not come out looking like the one in the picture that I adapted my recipe from. Instead my loaf fell apart and was tilted to one side; it looked like a big blob of mush once in came out of the loaf pan, it was very sticky and moist (too moist). I guess I will half to work on my healthy alternatives to my favorite classic dishes.

Question of the day: What is your favorite dish you would like a healthy alternative for?

Challenge Friday

I woke up this morning and could barely get out of bed, I did 240 squats yesterday and I do not think I will be able to make it to 260 today. It will be a huge challenge for me and I hope I am able to complete it.
Squats have become my therapy and if I am having a bad day I do a few squats and I feel all the pressure of the day go away. Lately I have been bending down into a squat to get items I need, I add those to my squats as well; you gotta get them in whichever way you can.

My favorite place to sneak squats is at the grocery store; if I need a product I will dip into a squat and get it. So far I have gotten ten squats alone at the grocery store (no shame in my game). I am looking forward to challenging myself today even though my entire lower part of my body feels like I belong in a wheel chair. I think I will be able to do it but I know it will be a challenge.

When it comes to these yummy dried mango slices I bought this challenge will kill me. I cannot just only eat four slices (120 calories); I really want to eat the whole bag so I will have a huge challenge ahead of me.

Question of the day: What challenges are you facing today that you want to conquer?

What I ate Thursday

I am happy I was able to eat in a hurry( over slept), I made a breakfast sandwich and added mustard. I think mustard makes every thing taste better after sriracha…

I was getting my grub on, and run and got the camera to snap a pick… Last night dinner had left overs. I also added seaweed nori sheets, asparagus, dried kimchi, and shredded coconut (salad dressing)… I had to hook it up 🙂

I like freezer dried fruit, but dried mango is the best and pair it with oatmeal yum, yum. I can eat the whole bag ( I really want to)

I did add salad dressing, but I did not want to drench them in oil. The colors would never come out the same…

I ate granola bars while I was riding my bike and celery forgot to photograph it. I finish 240 squats today, and I surly do feel my thighs burning (burn baby burn)…

Healthy Shout Out Wenesday

April is almost over so I decided to dedicate the last two Wednesdays in the month to someone who has inspired me to keep my fitness goals on track. I will call it Healthy Wednesday shout outs. This has been one crazy month, with school, work, and keeping up with household chores a girl could really use a break from all those squats (just a day).

One woman that truly inspired me to get through my squats was Laura Harris from chickentuna, she really is an inspiration for me to be the best I can be. Many of you know I do not have too much support from my friends and family, so I have really gravitated to the blogging community so many of you are so friendly, supportive, and encouraging I feel as if I am on top of the world (I mean it).

Chickentuna is one lady I feel is my best friend in my head (every one that inspires me is), every time I cannot take another squat I push on thinking what would Laura say? If she can do her regular workouts and add squats to her regimen so can I. The killer part is she is in her 40’s with the body of an 18 year old; this just motivates me even more to kick butt when I work out, and push through those squats until I reached my goal for the day.

If any of you have never gone to her page please do (she has an instagram), you will find lots of motivation and great inspiration for those days when you have just had enough. You may start stalking her page (yea I am a stalker) just the way I do…

Eat to have Fun Part 2

Last week I started talking about eating to have fun; I will continue the topic this week with my final thoughts on eating to have fun.

Learning how to balance food and friendships has been something that I have not been able to do. I am slowly learning that if I want to maintain a healthy lifestyle, I should find activities that do not revolve around food. I have not found any activities yet (besides riding my bike) but I am still looking.

The challenge not to eat for fun can be difficult especially since everyone I know loves to eat. The thing that kills they all love to eat but are very picky eaters when it comes to healthy food; usually they will consume foods that are high in salt and lots of fat. When I first started I was a very picky eater, now I can eat almost anything and everything that is not in a bag. Eating to have fun can be done if you cook foods that are healthy that don’t come from a bag.

I have found some of my coworkers telling me that they would love to go on a diet loose a few pounds, get healthy, and stop drinking sodas. I get all excited for them and the very next day or the day after I see a soda or some other high sugary drink that they are drinking. I always want to help them or say what happen I thought you wanted to go on a diet, but the last time I did that someone snapped at me so I just keep my comments to myself.

I had to learn that someone telling you they want to lose a few extra pounds and get healthy is not the same as someone asking you for help. I love to help people I guess that is why I work around children, but I hope there is a day where I can actually motivate and help people to eat healthy.

Question of the day: What are your favorite activities that do not revolve around food, and how do you deal with family and friends who ask you for tips on how to get healthy?

Pick and Choose Random things

I finally picked a dehydrator (yes it took me a while), but I really wanted the one that would be best for me on my budget. I decided that my first recipe would be banana chips. The bananas are turning brown so why not put them to good use. I know I have a bad habit of letting bananas sit, but you know it is time for them to go once the fruit flies and pesky little gnats start attacking you’re your bananas. I hope my dehydrator is here before they go black but if not I will find something else to do with them (will keep you updated).

When I finally mustard up the courage to try and make granola bars the recipe I wanted to use was not the one I really wanted, I decided that I wanted to try this recipe but then I wanted to try this recipe. That is when I realized some of the ingredients in both recipes I did not have, neither did I want to use flour. I decided to call my grandma and ask her for a recipe. So in the end I made two different granola bars, a chewy one and a crunchy one both with black sesame seeds (only seeds I had)..

Gosh today has gone by extra fast, I still need to do 100 more squats to get up to 200 and hurry up and finish my fourth meal for the day. I am having rice cake bagels they are just that additive and I am using raspberry yogurt this time I look forward to eating so I am going to be happy once they are in my tummy. I am trying to come up with more rice cake recipes that will not leave the rice cakes to soggy. Challenges can be so difficult yet I am having fun with squats even if I can barely walk the next day.

Question of the day: What April challenges are you doing, and how far have you gotten in your challenge?

Strawberry Smoothie-Shake

Summer is approaching faster than I thought, with it being so warm out I really wanted something sweet that had strawberries in it. I know strawberry season is not here yet but the weather is defiantly calling for me to eat a big bowl; mine are frozen so I would have some serious brain freeze, if I ever decided to take on that many frozen strawberries at once. I guess I could wait for them to thaw but I am very impatient (I am working on it) person, so I would probably try to rush the process and end up with a catastrophe. I need strawberries in my life today; the weather is perfect for it since I see so many kids with ice cream cones. I would love a drink that taste like a milkshake but looks like a smoothie. We can call it a smoothie-shake and that would be the end of the controversy over “what is the difference between shakes and smoothies “(I still have no clue). Strawberry milkshakes sound great right about now but a smoothie seems healthier so let’s combine the two and get to the recipe…


Strawberry Smoothie-Shake

2 cup Frozen Strawberry
2 cup Soy Milk
2 (6oz) container strawberry yogurt
1tsp of sugar, optional

Directions: Place strawberries, yogurt, and sugar in blender (I used my food processor) allow to blend and slowly pour in milk and let puree.
Note: The Smoothie-Shake will be extra thick like ice cream you may need a spoon, I did not use any sweetener but if you have a major sweet tooth you can use more sugar or any sweetener of your choice (stevia works well).