Getting back on the horse

It's a wonderful feeling when you find an undiscovered potential within yourself. For the longest time, I never believed I could be a runner. I always thought you had to have an athletic ability to be a great runner but all you really need is strength and motivation. Once you start, you just keep going!

It is not easy at all but the struggle is worth absolutely worth it. The only time I am at peace is when I am struggling for air while running or when I feel the cramping in my legs. That is the only time I feel alive.

I am glad that I am getting back on the horse and I feel little ticked that I fell off of it in the first place. But sometimes we have to fall a little to recognize who we truly are.

Happy Holidays! Happy New Year! :-)

Going Soft During the Holidays (and Finals Week)

What in the world does that mean? It's quite simple. Holiday season means big family dinners, hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream on top, Starbucks' pumpkin products, countless hours shopping for Christmas gifts and (the best part) the lack of desire to work out!

The last 2-3 months are so hard to motivate yourself to get up and work-out. Trust me, I would know. But just because it is the holiday season does not mean you should give up. Lately, I haven't been motivated to go running so I supplement it with a 45-minute walk around the neighborhood and 20 minutes on Wii Fit doing strength and yoga exercises. Is the greatest workout? No, but for the time being it is sufficient enough until I get my mojo back.

Before you go and battle the chaos of Christmas shopping, go out for a little walk and lift small weights. It's better than doing nothing and your body will appreciate it once you go back into full-beast mode workout.

Don't forget to shout-out "IT'S CLOBBERING TIME!!!" before going into the stores. I'm pretty sure you will freak out a few mintues but that's less people in the store to deal with. ;-)

A Magical Tool

I have recently realized that I drink more when I use a straw. Knowing this, I can feel more full, have less calories, and drink more like I'm supposed to. I have always known that I drink more when I'm going out to eat and a lot of it has to do with the fact that you are waiting on your food and you are out with other people just taking your time. Another big factor is the fact that you usually are given a straw.

What also intrigues me about using straws more is that you won't yellow your teeth as much. At least, you won't yellow the front ones anymore.

The only disadvantage to drinking more is that you will have to use the bathroom more. That's not so fun, but your body will thank you for the fluids and you will thank yourself when you look into the mirror weeks later and see that you've dropped a few more pounds.

Happy drinking! ;) lol

I'm Going Back. I give up!

I'm going back to the original diet: Healthy Choice. It's the only thing that worked for me because: I looked forward to it, I liked it, tastes good, portion controlled, calorie and protein controlled, and it beats all of the other frozen meals out there. I have been looking around the market to see what's new and NO ONE beats Healthy Choice in price, protein, fiber, calorie, taste, and balance. Most other frozen products are more expensive, more in calories, and less in protein and fiber. Ridiculous!

The Great Value Lean meals come close enough, especially in price, but it's only 10 cents cheaper so I figure just go with Healthy Choice. Michelina's light meals come close enough and are only a dollar. And then of course, you have the 88 cents Banquet meals (only two of them are really worth it- the Chicken Pasta Marinara and Spaghetti and Popcorn Chicken).


But again I say, nothing beats Healthy Choice.

It's Clobbering Time!!!!

IT'S CLOBBERIN TIME!!!!!!!



Thanks to WWE wrestler and Fantastic Four's The Thing, this has quickly become a fun catchphrase to scream at the top of my lungs. It gets me pumped up before my workouts and homework (sometimes it depends on the assignment).

But if you want to get yourself motivated to do anything, just scream this catchphrase at the top of your lungs. Trust me, you will feel empowered and ready to face the world with whatever crap it is ready to throw at you.

I challenge you readers to say this statement for an entire week and see how much of a difference it makes for you. It doesn't necessarily have to be before a workout. If you need to motivate yourself to finish a homework assignment or do laundry, then scream out loud, "It's Clobbering Time!"

Don't worry about who is watching you or who is going to make fun of you. Don't think about them, just think about you! Remember, it's YOUR time to clobber something so go and do it!


~Elizabeth

Author Announcement!

http://www.blogger.com/profile/00928380509828516875

Elizabeth, a good friend of mine, loves this blog and wants to contribute her own thoughts and ideas to it. I gladly accept!! She says that it will help keep her motivated and it will do the same for me. Let the co-blogging begin! :) This will be a nice change of things.

Check out her other blogs as well!

-Marie

Atkins Rankings

Atkins Advantage Bar- Chocolate Peanut Butter

18 protein
10 fiber
$1.30 each
240 calories
220 sodium
1 sugars
22 carbs
190 potassium
12 fat

In relation to all the other bars, it doesn't stand too well according to my specifications. It's high in fat and calories. It also doesn't have too great of balance with protein and fiber and also higher in salt.

However, my mother really likes them and chooses them over all the ones she has tried. It's not the worst bar, but it's not the greatest. An acceptable choice if it does the job for you.

P/F Health Bar Competition WINNERS!

Here are the winners!

Marathon Energy Snickers Bar- Crunch Honey And Toasted Almond flavor
10 protein
7 fiber
$.98 each
150 calories
125 sodium
10 sugars
22 carbs

Special K Protein Bar- Chocolate Caramel flavor
10 protein
5 fiber
$.58 each
170 calories
180 sodium
15 sugars
26 carbs

Promax LS Bar- Chocolate Fudge flavor
18 protein
14 fiber
$1.99 each
220 calories
240 sodium
9 sugars
33 carbs

These three bars compared to the Kashi bars I've been using

Kashi Granola Bar- Trail Mix flavor
6 protein
4 fiber
%.50 each
140 calories
95 sodium
6 sugars
20 carbs

So...Kashi may be better in all other categories than the three winners, however you must realize that when you add more protein and fiber, everything else goes up in amount as well.

Protein/Fiber Health Bar Competition

I've been doing some research on bars because I wanted to find ones that are better than The Kashi Granola Bars I've been eating. Naturally, it's really difficult to do this type of comparison because not only are there billions of bars available, but there are different flavors of each bar as well which can change things.

I wanted to find ones that had a good balance of protein and fiber, not suffer all the other nutritional facts, and also under $2.00. I personally don't think one is better than the other and care more about balance.

So, the yellow highlighted bars are the winners. All across the board the Marathon bars and the Special K bars are great. And guess what? Those are the ones from Walmart! Great in price, good balance of p and f, and everything else. The only reason why the Promax bar isn't the famed winner is because it costs $1.99. If you are willing to pay it, then it's the best one! There was another bar I found that I really liked, but it's over $2. So, it didn't even make it on the chart.

The blue highlighted bars are the worst ones according to my specifications.

Through out the chart, I highlighted blue what was the worst bar according to that specification: the Clif Energy bar was the highest in calories and for sodium, Classic Zone Perfect. At the end of the chart, I listed how many "strikes" each bar had against it. That's how I came up with the end result.

However, you can choose which bar you like according to what is most important to you. If you care the most about calories then go with Kashi or Flavor & Fiber bar. If you care most about sodium then go with Flavor & Fiber bar. If you care most about carbs then go with Kashi.

The only bar that I have not been able to compare yet is the Atkins bars. My mother likes those the best, but she says you have to get the right ones. They have a ton of bars so...once I compare them, I'll let you all know the results with those bars added.

Lost 2lbs!

Yahoo! I've started exercising again and I'm trying to watch what I eat as much as possible. Well, it's working for now so I gotta keep going.

The Miraculous Noodle

These Shirataki Noodles are only 20 calories a bag!! It's true!

So, add however much protein, fiber, vegetables, and goodness to them and you are in heaven with low calorie deliciousness! It takes ONE MINUTE to cook in the microwave after rinsing them and they are ready to go.

My brother, Chris introduced me to these noodles and to this meal so I'm sharing it with you. It's fantastic! I've had this meal quite a few times since he told me. I added a few items to my liking.

Shirataki Meal:

Ingredients:
Half a bag of Shirataki noodles
Tomato Sauce
Canned mushrooms
Diced onion
One turkey pattie
Italian Spice
Shake Cheese or real cheese like mozzarella or grated cheese

I rinse the noodles thorougly and place them in the microwave for a minute to cook. After that, I cook the turkey pattie, then add in the mushrooms and onions. Then, sprinkle in some italian spice and add tomato sauce. Next, dump the noodles in and let them get coated in the sauce. Then I grate or sprinkle or shake some cheese on top and it's all set!

Where can you find these noodles?

Chris told me he found them at Winn Dixie. I don't have one around where I live. I found them at Publix in the vegetarian section with the produce. But, they are also online which I might do from now on because they have SO many more choices of noodles than just the one style: http://www.miraclenoodle.com/?AffiliateID=10054
These noodles on this website are a little different than the ones you find the store, but still effective and even BETTER than the ones you find in the stores because some of them are actually ABSOLUTELY NOOOO CALORIES.

Healthy eating!

Tempt You With A Drink

What is there to drink instead of soda and water?

We all would love to just drink soda. It's delicious and refreshing. However, it's not healthy. And water is way too boring. So what are your
options?

Tea- hot or cold or instant, watch the sugar amounts
Koolaid/Drink Substitutes- check the sugar. I have found a Walmart brand that has individual packets-to-go that advertise several health benefits like immune system.And I don't use the whole packet. I make sure to dilute it.
Lemon Water/Lemonade- My version of lemonade is more like Lemon Water. So that's what I call it. I put just a few drops of lemon and little sugar. Again, I'm diluting the lemonade.
Diet/Sugar Free Soda- And if you must, drink diet, or sugar free, or caffeine free or what is the best COKE ZERO! Coke Zero has no calories, but all of the great coke flavor. Coke is coming out with new flavors for Coke Zero like Cherry Coke Zero. I've tried it and it's awesome.
Iced Coffee- you know how to make it how you like it

If you are pressed for time to wait on certain drinks to get cold: Put it in the blender with some ice! It's NEVER a bad thing to dilute a drink,
except for maybe soda.The more water you can add to a drink, the healthier and more hydrated you will be. But this trick works so great with tea,
drink substitutes, lemonade, and coffee. It will make any drink cold quickly and still taste good.

Healthy drinking! ;)

Please share any other drink ideas you may have!

BBQ Chicken

Oh my goodness! I made BBQ Chicken yesterday and it was so good. I took the frozen chicken tenderloins and cooked them with some olive oil. Then I just added in a whole bunch of the Walmart Honey BBQ sauce. I love this sauce because it's only 50 cals for 2 tbls. That is so great and tastes so good! Usually sauces are in the 100s for just 1 tbls. So, that made me excited to know that I could have a lot of sauce. Then I let the sauce caramelize and get thick and the chicken a little brown. I served it over rice and with broccoli. You should try it! It's quick, super easy, delicious, and really low on calories. The only "bad"* or "real"* calories come from the sauce which isn't even that much.

*I really only count calories by the non-fresh items. I don't count the calories for things like: chicken, fresh hamburger, vegetables, rice, and potatoes. First off, I find it too much work to figure up the calories of these items, so I just don't. These things are good for you anyways and as long as you basically have more vegetables than starch and get enough protein to fill you up, you are all set in my opinion. The calories I do watch out for are: pasta, individually packaged meats like turkey burgers and boca burgers and hamburger patties, sauces, cans (sometimes), bread, and even some cheeses.

Healthy eating!

As you can tell...

I did not stick with the Anti-Flame diet. I found it difficult and it didn't make a difference with my back. So, what's the point? I'll just stick with what I've got going on already.

What I'm doing now:
I'm not going back to my original Healthy Choice diet. I am actually cooking and trying to think of the easiest and quickest recipes. Also, I have some of those cheap Banquet meals just in case I'm in a hurry and need something quick. I'll post recipes later on.

Hope all is well! Lots going on here. Keep up your healthy lifestyles!

RECIPES! Anti-Flame Diet

I've had requests for recipes with this diet. So here are some sites you can check out! In no order.

Epicurious

Associated Content

Mediterranean Book


Gene Smart

Optiderma

Healthy eatings!

Anti- Flame Diet

I'm switching over to a new diet, The Anti-Inflammatory Diet or The Anti-Flame Diet as I'd like to call it. I'm doing this to help reduce my back and leg pain. These foods will reduce the flame and keep me from pain. I just rhymed! It sounds good to me! It's a normal diet full of all the normal foods that everyone should eat (plus or minus a few).

Here are some websites to learn more about the diet:

#1-THE BEST ONE-

#2

#3

#4

#5

Bad news...

Bad news everyone, pain is back. Some back and leg pain have sneaked their way back over to me. I've been trying to think of some reasons why and here is what I have come up with (possibilities):

Bad shoes- need better shoes like New Balance
Bad workouts- need to step up the workouts. it's time.
Bad foods- need to eat anti-inflammatory foods

Anti-inflammatory foods:
Alaskan Salmon (wild)
Fresh whole fruits, vegetables
Bright multi-colored vegetables
Green tea
Water
Olive oil
Lean poultry
Nuts, legumes and seeds
Dark green leafy vegetables
Old fashioned oatmeal
Spices, especially Turmeric and Ginger

Inflammatory food:
Sugar, from any source
Processed foods
French Fries
Fast Foods
White bread
Pasta
Ice Cream
Cheddar Cheeses
Snack Foods
Oils such as vegetable and corn
Soda, caffeine and alcohol



SO, I guess no more Healthy Choice for me. :( I guess I will have to kick it out of my diet for good now. Oh well...

Also bad news, that game, Your Shape is terrible. Real big disappointment. You can't choose your exercises. The game chooses for you. It would be great for someone who can physically do all the exercises. I can't because of my back. I choose the pre-programmed exercise plan to strengthen my back and use a yoga ball. I sat down and watched the whole plan and no where did it introduce the yoga ball. I couldn't do most of the exercises because they required you to bounce and hop. I can't do that. So, why do they make you do those exercises for the back if it hurts the back? I haven't figured out any way to make the game work for me yet. Hopefully one day I will. Therefore I won't feel like I wasted 20 bucks on it.
Here's hoping for a good weekend ya'll!

She's baaaccck!

Hey guys!

It's been a while, but I'm back. I gained almost all my weight I lost back during Christmas (of course). So, I'm back on the ol' diet and exercise. I've lost almost 3 pounds this first week back. I've already found some new snacks and foods too. I'm not only having Healthy Choice and Kashi this time. I'm venturing away a little. I'm having only 1 or 2 HCs a day though one Kashi bar for a snack like usual. Also, I have a new Wii game coming. I can't wait! I get to use my yoga ball and weights with it. It's cheap, but it looks like it could be a really great game! The best part is that it comes with a camera so you don't have to use a remote.

My back is doing alright. I've been trying to keep up with the exercises I learned in therapy (which I've been able to do through wii by the way. super convenient).

A lot is going on. I've moved in with my sister and almost have my room done. In another week my room will be finished. I've straightened a lot of things out. School is back in session and I'm taking 5 classes again. 4 of them are online. It makes me a little nervous, but I should be fine. I'm taking: World Religions, Intro to Educational Technology, Art History 2, Another education class, and Social Science Survey. Now I have to focus on graduation and then my next adventure: UCF.

I'm going to be writing a lot this year because I need to get a book finished. The book I want to be written is one that would possibly be a hit right now. The market is perfect right now for it. The subject is growing popular rapidly.

Here is one recipe I'll give you.

Triscuit Snack:

1 serving of Reduced Fat Triscuit Crackers - 120 cals per 7
Shredded Cheese - near 90 cals for 1/3 cup
Sour Creme or Creme Cheese - 40 to 60 cals per 2 tbls
Optional: Garlic Powder, Italian Seasoning, Sweet basil or chives
Total cals: near 260 cals depending on amounts and brands
sounds like a lot, but if you use reduced fat brands
and small amounts then you will be fine

Spread out 7 crackers (1 serving) on a plate and melt the cheese on them. Then you place a little of the sour creme or creme cheese on top of them. If you like, you can sprinkle a little garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and sweet basil or chives.

Happy New Year!