Pumpkin Spice Muffins

It's that time of year where you can get pumpkin everything!  Pumpkin coffee, pumpkin beer, pumpkin ravioli.  You name it, someone's made it pumpkin!  I, for one, LOVE pumpkin, but most everything out there has been filled with tons of sugar and fat.  These muffins aren't exactly "healthy," but they are lighter than usual, have added fiber, and are portion controlled!

The muffin recipe is from HungryGirl.  It's so simple, you'll be amazed at how easy it is to get delicious results.
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Take one box of spice cake mix.  Add in one 15oz. can of pure pumpkin (be careful NOT to use pumpkin pie mix.  Only pure pumpkin).  Mix.  Fill 24 mini-muffin tins with the batter.  Bake according to package directions, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Don't over bake.  That's it.  

While they are cooling, put about 1/4 cup of cream cheese frosting in a pan, and melt it over very, very low heat.  If you make the heat too high, it will separate.  Stir while it melts, and shut off the heat as soon as it's all melted.  Dip in cooled muffins to just glaze the tops.  

Viola!  Pumpkin spice muffins!  Each mini muffin has about 85 calories (depending on the exact cake mix and frosting you use).  Not to shabby, if you ask me!  So moist and delicious, perfect for something sweet this time of year!  They are best eaten on the same day as the frosting tends to get a little melty overnight.

Change of Priorities

Over the past 2 weeks, I've had a personal revelation of sorts- my priorities are being happy and healthy.  Not being skinny, not running a marathon, not eating certain things.  I want to be happy and healthy.

I'm not going to weight myself weekly anymore.  It's not a "goal" for me.  I've always been an extremely confident person, and strangely enough, when I focused on weight loss and did lose a whole bunch, I lost my confidence!  I remember being so confused, but I couldn't find my confidence.

I was also broken when I realized how much weight I put back on since then.  That also made me miserable.  I can't focus on that, though, or it will ruin me.

So, here's the new plan.  My goal is to be happy while being healthy, and hopefully losing weight will be a positive side effect.

Instead of trying to squeeze into my "skinny" clothes, I went out and bought clothing that fits.  I didn't buy an entire wardrobe, but enough bottoms and tops to get me through my days.

I got a full body massage.  It was glorious, as am I, both inside and out.

I got a mani/pedi, a new haircut and color.  Seems normal, but I never spend money on myself, especially not in the "pampering" department.  I am so happy that I did, I feel unstoppable!

I am trying my best to eat healthy, but if I really want something, I have it and don't regret it.  I'm not eating donuts and fast food all day, don't worry, but my fried calamari at dinner last night was AMAZING!!!  Like, the best I've ever had.  No regrets.

I am still going to the gym.  It makes me feel good, and I love when I surprise myself and am stronger than I give myself credit for. 

My self confidence is the highest it's been in a very, very long time!

So, here's my advice:  Make yourself happy and be healthy.  Live life, but don't go overboard!

Bai Bai Bai

I've been very curious about this new beverage that seemed to be popping up everywhere called Bai 5.  The flavors look so enticing!  
And I start singing *N Sync whenever I say the name!

I was having a craving for something coconut the other week, so I grabbed a bottle of their Bai 5 Molokai Coconut flavored drink.  And then I was hooked!  
I haven't tried them all, but so far my favorite flavors are the 
Bai 5 Molokai Coconut, Ipanema Pomegranate and Malawi Mango.  
The Bai 5 drinks have about 10 calories in a bottle.

I decided to look more into the product and ingredients before posting here, because, as we have seen lately, what might appear healthy on the surface rarely is under the microscope.

GOOD NEWS!!!  It appears that they are actually telling the truth about their product!  Unheard of!  First off, I can pronounce and know what the vast majority of the ingredients are.  The only one I wasn't familiar with was erythritol (labeled as a natural sweetener).  After reading a few articles about it, it's a sugar alcohol that has almost no effect on the body.  That being said, if you are avoiding "fake" sugars, etc, this would be the only downside about this product.  

Bai 5 drinks are gluten free, GMO free, soy free, and besides tasting yummy, they are also packed with antioxidants derived from coffee fruit (the flesh around coffee beans).

I have been making a habit of bringing a bottle with me to the gym.  I find it very refreshing, and hopefully the antioxidant component is having some sort of positive effect as well.

The downside?  Price.  It sells online for almost $3 a bottle (when you buy a 12 bottle case).  I was lucky enough to find it in my favorite grocery store for $2.19 a bottle, still steep, but not bad when I keep it to a workout beverage.  

Bottom line:  It's tasty and low calorie, so don't be afraid to try it!

Weekly Weigh In

Down another 1.5 lbs this week!

 

I can't get the pictures to be the same size.  It's making me a bit twitchy!!!

I finally went shopping since school is starting soon (gasp!). 

I feel so much better now that I have some nice clothes that fit me and that I feel good in!

My arms and abs are nice and sore today from my kettlebell workout yesterday, and I like it!  I'm going to keep that up, plus my workouts on the elliptical.

I've been doing pretty good with my food.  My next major change is going to be to try and reduce my sodium intake.  I never realized how much sodium I consume in a day!  It's crazy!  Little by little, I'm going to work on it!

Spicy Shrimp and Cabbage Soup

I love soup.  Doesn't matter whether it's summer or winter, I just enjoy a big, hot bowl of soup!  I was craving soup the other day, so I took a look through my always well stocked kitchen, and created this delicious soup!

I make it a point to keep my kitchen stocked with the basics, and then some.  That way, I always have something healthy to make, and can resist ordering out or grabbing fast food.  The only thing in this recipe that I don't usually have was the cabbage, but luckily I picked up a head at the store yesterday!  I make sure to always keep a bag of frozen, cleaned raw shrimp in my freezer.  They thaw out in minutes and cook quickly, and are such a great protein!

This recipe makes 2 servings.  

Each serving has 204 calories, 31.5g carbs, .5 g fat, and 15g protein.

Ingredients

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 75g buckwheat noodles (I use Sau Tao noodles, they are pre-portioned into 75g bunches.  Each bunch has 264 calories, so depending on your noodles, you might have a higher/lower calorie count)
• 2 cups napa cabbage, roughly chopped
• 12 shrimp, raw and cleaned (if frozen, thaw before using)
• 1 tbsp sriracha sauce

Bring broth to a boil in a medium pot.  Add noodles, stirring to avoid clumping.  After about a minute, add the cabbage and sriracha.  When noodles are almost done, add shrimp. Cook until shrimp are just cooked through, about 2 minutes.

Enjoy!

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Weekly Weigh In and Chicago

This week, I maintained my weight.  I am guessing that I did lose a little before I went away and then put some on.  My body feels bloated still from eating more salt/fat/sugar than I normally do on a regular basis.  I'm calling this week my detox week!

I spent 3 days in Chicago for a mini-vacation with my best friend.  She was there working, so I was on my own for the most part.  I had a great time!  The weather was beautiful, so I spent most of my days walking around.  The first day I forgot to track my miles, but I used my free Endomondo app the rest of the time (a really great app if you want to track any sort of outside activity!).  It tracks how far, how long, average speed, and more!  Here are a few examples of the feedback from the app:

I walked over 30 miles while i was there!  My legs are exhausted, but I'm proud of myself!  There were a few times when I really wanted to hop on a bus or in a cab, but I didn't!!!  

I'm not going to lie, I ate a bunch of stuff that isn't on the weight-loss wagon, but that's part of travel for me.  I did discover some delicious, healthy meals along the way!

Crepes filled with spinach and mushrooms at the farmers market (above)
Grilled fish tacos at Howells & Hood (below)

The rest of my meals weren't horrible, health-wise (except the deep dish pizza- which, in retrospect, I shouldn't have eaten- I was so disappointed in the taste!  I'll stick to NY style pizza, thank you!), but they weren't healthy, either.  

I'm glad to be home, back in my routine and my kitchen!

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Huevos Rancheros

I will start off by saying I've never had huevos rancheros before, so I don't know how authentic this recipe is.  I can tell you that it's delicious!!!

I often get in a breakfast rut, having yogurt, oatmeal or a shake.  Sometimes I want something different, and this was perfect!

The recipe below is for a single serving, multiply as needed.  Each serving has 247 cals, 24g carbs, 8g fat and 14g protein.

Ingredients
1/4 white onion, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1-2 tbsp adobo sauce (from canned chipotle peppers in sauce, start with 1 and adjust depending on how much spice you like- I like mine spicy so I added 2 tbsp)
1 tsp salt
Pinch black pepper
1/4 tsp cumin
1 egg
1 corn tortilla (I used a Mission extra thin yellow corn tortilla, one has 40 cals)
2 tbsp reduced fat Mexican blend shredded cheese
olive oil spray

Spray pan and place over medium heat.  Add onions and sauté until softened and beginning to brown.  Add tomatoes, adobo sauce, salt, pepper and cumin.  Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, spray each side of the tortilla with olive oil spray.  Heat a pan over medium heat.  Place tortilla in pan, heat each side until it begins to form bubbles and brown.  Be careful not to burn!  Remove from pan.  

Spray pan , continue to use medium heat, and crack egg in.  I like to cover my pan with foil so that the whites set without overcooking the yolk.  Cook until desired doneness, I like mine yolky!

Plate tortilla, then egg.  Cover with sauce, and sprinkle cheese over top.  Enjoy!

Greek Potato Crisps

Growing up, my dad would make what he called Greek French Fries.  He would cut up potatoes, fry them in oil, and season with salt, oregano and lemon juice.  

They were delicious!!!

I decided to make his recipe healthier, which was easily done with some simple switches!
Using olive oil spray allows you to get an even coat of oil using a minimal amount.

This is a great alternative to having plain baked potato with dinner.

You can use a mandolin to slice, or you can slice them by hand.  After a mandolin accident a few years ago, I choose to cut slowly with a knife!

This recipe is for a single serving.  It's so simple to make!

(Serving has 210 cals, 3g fat, 25g carbohydrates, and 5g protein)

Ingredients

1 medium russet potato (about a half pound), thinly sliced (about 1/4 inch)

olive oil spray

salt

pepper

oregano

2 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Place potato slices in a bowl.  Toss with lemon juice, salt and spices, making sure each slice is evenly coated.

Spray a baking sheet with olive oil spray.  Place potato slices in a single layer on the tray and spray tops with olive oil spray.  If you like your potatoes salty, sprinkle on a little more salt before baking.

Bake for 1o minutes, then flip slices.  Depending on the thickness of your cut, they will take 10-15 more minutes.  Potatoes are done when they are turning golden brown in spots.  If you want them really crispy, cook until they have completely browned, but be careful not to burn them!

For more intense lemon flavor, you can squeeze a fresh lemon over the finished product.  

I chose not to so they would retain their crispiness!

These were perfect as a side dish!  I enjoyed them with a lobster and steamed asparagus.

Dirty Girl Mud Run and Weekly Weigh In

So far, being back on track, I'm down 3 lbs!

Before and After

This weekend was the Dirty Girl Mud Run, and I did it!!!  I did all but 2 of the obstacles, and I was very proud of myself!  I've found that I have very good balance, and rock cargo nets!!!  There was one inclined log obstacle that I almost got over, but it was very slippery, and I had a vision of my foot slipping and hitting my knee or head on the log.  So, I decided to go around it after I was almost at the halfway point.

The one obstacle that killed my legs?  There was this one section towards the end that was (or at least felt like) at least a half mile of thick, thick mud a few inches deep.  Like, the kind of mud that you could easily lose a shoe in.  It reminded me of the scene where Artax drowns in the swamps in the Neverending Story.

If this scene means nothing to you, your childhood was lacking!

Like, seriously, my body just couldn't deal with having to pull my legs out of the mud after every single step of this section.  My fellow Dirty Girl, Katie (who is awesome and amazing for staying with my slow butt even though she is currently training for her marathon- you should check her blog out!), almost lost me in the mud!!!  I did survive, but my body is not happy about it today!  

For anyone considering doing a 5K or a mud run- do it!!!  If I could do it, you can do it!  It's completely non-competitive, I walked 90% of it, plenty of others walked, too!  Chances are that you will do better than you think!  I plan on doing more in the future, hopefully my body will be less sore as I get back in shape!!!

Need a quickie?

Sometimes, you just need a quick, light hunger solution, but don't have time for a meal.

GNC has a weight loss program called Total Lean.  I know almost nothing about the program as a whole, so I cannot evaluate it, but I have discovered their ready to drink shakes.  Here's why I like them!

Taste!
Each flavor I have tried (swiss chocolate, vanilla bean, and strawberries & cream) actually tastes good!  This is the first "diet" shake I have tried that I like drinking.  I haven't tried making them from powder, so I don't know if it tastes the same, but the bottled versions are yummy!

Portion and Nutrition
Each shake is 14 fluid ounces!  That's almost 2 cups!  It takes a while to drink, and it keeps you satisfied since it's a large amount of liquid.  The shakes are lactose free, high in protein, and low in sugar.  They also have 24 vitamins and minerals.

Here is the nutritional breakdown of each shake:
Calories: 170
Total Fat: 6g
Sodium: 330mg (chocolate has 390mg)
Potassium: 310mg (chocolate has 475mg)
Total Carbohydrate: 6g
Dietary Fiber: 3g
Sugars: 2g
Protein: 25g

I tend to grab one for breakfast on days that I don't have time to make something else.  I also pack one in a lunch bag with ice on days when I will be out running around for a long time.  It keeps me from stopping somewhere and getting something else to eat/drink that would be much worse for me!  

I also like it for days when I'm going to the gym, but I'm hungry!  I don't want to eat a meal before the gym, but working out with a grumbling tummy is only going to make things worse!  A shake is the perfect solution for me.  Quick, easy, yummy, and doesn't hang around in the stomach too long to cause discomfort while exercising.  

My Game Plan

I've decided not to join Weight Watchers this time around.  While the program worked for me, I don't want to spend the money and dread the meetings.  I loved going to my meetings for a very long time, and then eventually some new people joined who, quite frankly, annoyed me.  Think what you will, I speak the truth!

What I did learn the most from WW is that I need to track what I eat.  I'm going to use myfitnesspal in order to keep track of what I eat as well as my exercise.  There is also a social part of myfitnesspal, so if you want to give it a try, my username is Gogasa.  I'm not quite sure about the social part of it since I've never used it, but it can't hurt!  Feel free to add me as a friend on there!  The reason I chose myfitnesspal is that has a free app as well as a website.  A few other apps only exist as apps.  I like being able to access my information on my phone as well as on my computer.  

While I am focusing on my calories, I am also trying to eat the least amount of processed foods as possible.  I'm not talking about buying only organic foods or anything like that.  I (luckily) enjoy cooking, so I try to keep my shopping to at least 75% produce and fresh proteins (fish, poultry, etc.).  This step alone keeps my food intake much healthier.  I find that on days where I cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner from scratch, I end up way below my recommended daily calorie intake.

I am a "normal" human being, though, so I do have convenience foods stocked up in my house for times when I don't want to cook or when I just don't have the time.  I also have my share of artificial sweeteners and the like, because sometimes you just need the fake stuff.  

I'm also getting my butt to the gym at least 3 times a week, usually more than that!  Right now, I'm limiting myself to the elliptical.  I'm doing the Dirty Girl 5K Mudrun (woohoo!) this weekend, and I don't want to be unable to complete it if my body is too sore from starting a new routine!  After that, I'll start weight training and going back to yoga as well.

I've also gone to another doctor to see if there's anything that can be done to make my knee "normal" again.  It's never been the same since I tore my ACL and meniscus, and it really limits me.  It doesn't hurt, but it gets tired, achy and swells up very easily.  I pretty much wear sneakers all of the time since any other shoe just makes it worse.  

So far, so good.  I will be posting more pictures, recipes and weekly weigh-ins as I go along.  Thanks everyone for your support, it means more than you know!

Quinoa

I've had a love/hate relationship with quinoa.  I would make it, it would be just okay, and then the bag would just sit there forever because I didn't really want to eat it.  Until I found some delicious recipes!

For those of you unfamiliar with quinoa, it's a seed and although it looks and cooks like a grain, it's actually a member of the same family as spinach, swiss chard, and beets!  It has a higher protein count than other "grains."  Quinoa is a good source of calcium, fiber, iron, magnesium and phosphorus.  It's also gluten-free!

Important quinoa cooking information- before you cook with quinoa, make sure to rinse it thoroughly in a fine mesh strainer.  This will remove any residual saponins (part of the natural seed coating that can cause a bitter taste).  In my early quinoa days, I don't think I rinsed the seeds, and that might be part of the reason why I never really developed a love for quinoa.

I have yet to develop my own quinoa recipes, but here are 2 that are sure to win you over!

Skinny Taste Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

This salad is my new summer obsession!!!

It's light and refreshing.  I used regular tomatoes instead of cherry since that's what I had in the house.  Also, NEVER use pre crumbled Feta, or any cheese for that matter.  It looses so much of it's flavor.  It's not hard to buy a block of feta and chop it up yourself, and it will taste a million times better!  A generous cup of this salad only has 145 calories!

Skinny Taste Quinoa and Spinach Patties

These made for a very different breakfast!  I will say that these were heavier than I expected them to be, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.  It means that one fills you up, no need to eat another!  I served mine over baby spinach with a poached egg on top.  

I also sprinkled parmesan cheese on top for a little salty flavor.  

Each patty has 188 calories.

What are your favorite ways to enjoy quinoa?

It's been a while...

It's been a little over a year since my past post, and what a year it has been.  I think this has been the most difficult year of my life in many ways.  The school year started with many changes that stressed me out and continued throughout the year.  

Then, Sandy hit.  Most of you, I'm sure, know that our house was flooded.  I left with the dogs, and came home to this:

This is about 9 hours after the storm had passed.  I couldn't drive to our house, because the roads were only passable by boat (not joking!).  I had to park a few blocks away, and trudged through the water to get to my home.  It was surreal.  I wish I had thought to take video of me making my way home.  It felt like a war zone.  You would drive down a block and eventually hit a tree, power lines, or water, and would have to turn around and find another way.  It was like a huge maze, you had to find the one clear path.

Our house, luckily, is built up on our property, but the historical storm surge was just too much.  The water only came in about an inch or two, but that was enough.  Between the corrosive salt water, spilled water tanks, sewage, etc., we knew it was going to be a mess.

The rest of the year was spent arguing with insurance companies, banks, and contractors, and we're still not done.  The silver lining is that our house will be pretty much brand new, but I haven't been able to see that positive aspect yet.  Maybe when we are done with everything, I will be able to breathe.

Between work, the storm, and life in general, I can honestly say that I became depressed.  A few doctors suggested that I go on medication, but I didn't because I'm stubborn.  I probably should have.  I didn't want to be social, I ate lots of crap, and just shut down.  And I didn't care.

This all brings me to this week.  I knew I had to wake up, I knew I gained a lot of weight, but I really just didn't care enough to do anything about it.  Until now.  I finally got on the scale yesterday, and I can't believe how much weight I put on.  For the first time in my blogging journey, I am not going to post my weight, because I'm just so embarrassed.  

Instead of further beating myself up about it, I'm going to use it as incentive to get my butt back in gear!  Back to the gym I went, and out to the grocery store right after.  I forgot how much less it costs to buy healthy food then processed garbage.  My cart was full of produce and lean proteins, and I was sure it was going to be another $80 trip to the store, as many of my pasts trips have been.  It was half that, $40!  And so much good food!

To my friends who stood by me during this difficult year:  Thank you!  Thank you for understanding, helping, and supporting me.  We will be having a big party once the house is done!!!

So, the adventure begins again.  I'm back!!!