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Days 9 & 10: Eat healthier snacks

It’s time for a little bit of down and dirty honesty here friends and fans. I’m not the world’s healthiest snacker. GASP! AH! This future nutritionist and crazed health nut has a serious salt and sweet tooth, and when I’m in need of a snack, the first thing I grab is some candy, a salty bag of chips or chocolate, not a carrot or Kashi bar.

I’m ashamed. I really am. Even though the rest of my meals are very healthy, for some reason, when that mid afternoon hunger hits me and I’m needing something quick, the healthy options just don’t seem to present themselves. So to avoid these diet pitfalls [there are 160 calories and 30 grams of sugar in 5 Laffy Taffy’s!] and eat healthier all around, my mini-lution for days 9 and 10 was to eat healthier snacks.

This bowl is a sneaky little devil!

Luckily, along with the thousands of unhealthy options that are prevalent in my office, there are just as many healthy ones. Along with the jar of candy, my office offers bowls of fruit and Nature Valley granola bars, all of which are high in fiber, calcium, potassium, vitamin C & D and others. Stocking up on foods high in fiber keep you fuller longer, which is important when you are not planning to eat again until dinner.

Avoiding the sugar temptation of the candy bowl was not easy [it sits right by my cubicle!], but I manged to do it. To keep my eye from wandering too far, I kept my desk stocked with Nature Valley bars, almonds and light babybel cheeses, which kept my hunger at bay and my blood sugar at a healthy level.

If you aren’t a fan of almonds or granola bars but want a healthier snack, you are still in luck! Snacks are so versatile and flexible that you can mix and match any combination and still stay under 200 calories.  Check out a sneak peek, which is courtesy of Lady’s Home Journal for snack ideas all under 100 calories!  Mix it up and create your own perfect, healthy snack for when that 3pm hunger rumbles!

Category	Food	Serving Size	Calories
Bread, Cereal, Pasta, Rice, and Snack Foods
Breads	Bagel, plain	1/2 medium (1 oz.)	75
	Bread, white	1 slice	80
	Bread, wheat	1 slice	80
	Bread, light	1 slice	40
	Breadsticks, soft	1/2 (1 oz.)	75
	Cornbread	1/2 piece (1 oz.)	95
	English muffin	1/2 medium	68
	Melba toast	4	80
	Muffin, blueberry	1/2 (1 oz.)	80
	Muffin, bran	1/2 (1 oz.)	80
	Muffin, corn	1/2 (1 oz.)	88
	Popovers	1/2 (1 oz.)	65
Cereals, cooked	Grits, cooked	1/2 cup	70
	Oatmeal, cooked	1/2 cup	75
Cereals, ready to eat	Granola, low-fat	1/4 cup	95
	Oat cereal, toasted	1/2 cup	55
	Puffed rice	1 cup	50
	Raisin Bran	1/4 cup	50
Crackers	Animal crackers, plain	6	85
	Animal crackers, iced	3	75
	Graham crackers	1 sheet	55
	Matzoh	1/2 sheet	55
	Oyster crackers	23	60
	Saltines	5	60
Snack Foods	Snack cracker, butter	5	80
	Popcorn, air popped	3 cups	90
	Popcorn, microwave	1.5 cups	55
	Popcorn, microwave light	3 cups	60
	Popcorn, oil popped	1 cup	55
	Popcorn, caramel	1/2 cup	75
	Popcorn, cheese	1 cup	64
	Potato chips, baked	5	60
	Potato chips, regular	10	75
	Pretzels, twists	4 large	55
	Pretzels, twists	8 small	55
	Tortilla chips, baked	10 bite size	55
	Tortilla chips, regular	6 rounds	75

 

For the full list, including fruist, veggies, proteins and milk, click here.

Eat Skinny Be Skinny: A full day's meals

These recipes are staples in my pre-wedding nutrition plan. What makes these recipes so great are how easy, healthy and delicious they are! Please add/take away ingredients to suit your taste.

Breakfast:

Healthy Breakfast Sandwich

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 egg and 1 egg white
• 1/4 cup minced chives
• 1/4 cup minced parsley
• 1 whole-wheat English muffins
• 11/2-inch round slices Canadian bacon
• 1 large beefsteak tomato, sliced into 1/2-inch thick slices

Preparation

1. Crack eggs and egg whites into a bowl and whisk. Add chives and parsley and stir to incorporate. Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray.
2. Ladle 1/4 egg mixture into skillet and cook, omelet style, until eggs are cooked through, about 1 to 2 minutes per side. Slide omelet onto a plate and repeat with remaining eggs; cover with foil to keep warm. In same skillet, heat Canadian bacon until warm, about 1 to 2 minutes per side.
3. Toast English muffin. Fold omelet in to fit English muffin, then place omelet on 1 muffin half. Top with a bacon slice, then tomato, then top with other muffin half.

Nutritional Facts: 330 calories, 13 gm. fat, 25 gm. protein

Lunch:

Grilled Chicken Southwestern Salad

Ingridients

• Chicken breast
• 1/2 cup corn [canned]
• 1/2 cup diced peppers
• 1 cup black beans [canned]
• 1/2 cup whole wheat tortilla strips
• 1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar
• 2 cups of mixed greens
• 1/4 cup salsa

1. Grill marinated [with spicy seasoning] chicken breast, corn and peppers until slightly blackened.
2. Add chicken, corn, peppers, 1 cup black beans, shredded cheddar and tortilla strips over a bead of mixed greens.
3. I love this salad with salsa as the dressing!

Nutritional Facts: 320 calories, 9 gm. fat, 30 gm. protein

Dinner:

Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients

• 8 ounces uncooked spaghetti
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 pounds large shrimp (prawns), peeled and deveined
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped shallots or green onions
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons brandy or sherry, optional
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 tablespoons trans-free margarine

Preperation

1. Divide the pasta among warmed individual bowls. Top each serving with shrimp sauce and serve immediately.
2. Fill a large pot 3/4 full with water and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente (tender), about 10 to 12 minutes, or according to package directions.
3. Drain the pasta thoroughly.While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the shrimp and cook for about 3 minutes.
4. Turn the shrimp and cook until pink and opaque throughout, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer to a bowl and keep warm.
5. Add the garlic and shallots to the saucepan and cook until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add the lemon juice, brandy or sherry if desired, parsley, salt and pepper.
6. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the margarine and cooked shrimp. Toss to coat with the sauce.

Nutritional Facts: 500 calories, 20 gm. fat

Dessert:

Carrot Cake with Toasted Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake:

• 3/4  cup  all-purpose flour (about 3 1/3 ounces)
• 1/4  cup  quick-cooking oats
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  ground cinnamon
• 1  teaspoon  baking powder
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1  cup  granulated sugar
• 1/4  cup  canola oil
• 1  (2 1/2-ounce) jar carrot baby food
• 2  large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/4  cups  finely grated carrot (about 4 ounces)
• 1/2  cup  golden raisins
• Cooking spray

Frosting:

• 1/3  cup  (3 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1  tablespoon  butter, softened
• 1 1/4  cups  powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/2  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1/4  cup  flaked sweetened coconut, toasted

Nutritional Facts [p/serving]: 262 calories, 8 gm. fat, 3 gm. protein

Day 8: Add a bit of spice to my life

Who doesn’t want their life to be just a little bit more spicy? We could talk for hours about ways to spice up every aspect of life [probably will be coming in a few posts!] so to keep this on the short and sweet side, let’s just talk food. [Because really, that’s ultimately what this blog is about! Eating good food that is healthy and delicious!]

Adding a bit of spice to your dishes doesn’t add just flavor, it adds health benefits and fat blasting power! So which spices stack up in helping you achieve your weight loss?

Cinnamon: One of the main ingredients in Chinese Five Spice, this spice by itself also provides serious benefits. A study found that people who had cinnamon in their diet everyday had lower blood pressure. The cinnamon also helped to increase the body’s natural production of insulin!

Chili: This common spice is found in most hot sauces and can pack some serious heat! Other than burning your tounge this spice can burn up calories! The compound that makes chili, Capsaicin, has been shown to rev up metabolism, work as an appetite suppressant and can increase satiety, which means fullness.

Turmeric: This bright yellow spice does more than just add color to your dish. Turmeric, which is a good source of Vitamin B and potassium can lower cholesterol, help guard your body against cancer and can erase the symptoms of many gastrointestinal problems, such as Chrons’.

Black pepper: This spice, which is added into most foods you eat, works to stimulate the secretion of stomach acids, which improve digestion and help regulate the stomach’s natural acids. This works to help you feel less bloated and gasy. [Yuck!]

Cumin: This popular Indian spice [which is found in many Indian and Middle Eastern dishes] is rich in iron, which works to improve digestion, improve immune health and help to protect the stomach and liver from the formation of tumors!

Mustard: This spice, which is most commonly found in the liquid stuff we add to hotdogs, is much more than a condiment! Mustard seeds are known to protect against gastrointestinal diseases as well as work to lessen the effects of asthma and arthritis. Mustard is also a good source of omega fatty acids, iron, zinc and calcium, which all work to protect your bone, muscle and immune health.

So tonight, add a bit of spice to your dinner for an added kick in both taste and health!

Days 6-7: Not curse for 2 days

I’ll be the first to admit I have a very dirty mouth. I’m no sailor, but when I’m on a roll, they just pour out like a waterfall. These words spew out of my mouth like word vomit and once I start, well it’s hard to stop. I want to go a few days without saying a “bad” word for a few reasons. 1. I’m a lady and ladies do not swear [or so  I’ve heard] 2. Cursing makes me seem less intelligent, poised and confidant, all things I take pride in being 3. I’m getting married and when I have children, I’d prefer them not have my filthy mouth.

Day 6 was a little tricky because it landed on a Tuesday, which to me, it’s about as painful as a Monday. Tuesday’s are usually very busy for me at work and my job induces a lot of stress, which is an environment conducive to bad words. My mode of transportation in the morning, which is the Metro, is also a breeding ground for the F bomb, and riding that in the morning and evening without so much as a sh** under my breath was quite hard to accomplish. I’ll be honest though, my friends, fans and followers, I did let one slip. I got a particularly “annoying” email and without thinking, subconsciously, I muttered “You have got to be f***ing kidding me!” As soon as the last syllable left my lips I slapped my hand to my mouth and grumbled. But instead of letting them fly and beginning again the next day, I kept my promise to celebrate the rest of the day curse free. And I succeeded in that!

The next day was hard too, but I was able to go throughout the day without letting even as much as a da** out of my glossy lips. I wanted to, oh so badly, when I was ran into on the Metro or when I realized it was raining and I had no umbrella, but instead, I shook my head and continued on. Day 7 ended rather uneventful, but it was a triumphant day for me, as I didn’t sound like a truck driver or sailor!

There is no way this mini-lution can become a staple [sometimes, it just feels good to say f***! and is entirely appropriate!] but it did inspire me to watch my language. The last impression I want to give is that I have a small vocabulary, I’m in need of anger management or I’m un-educated.

Days 17-19: Get past my mental blockade

I realize I’m a bit ahead on posting this, but I had this epiphany as I began my training. The rest of the days will be updated this week 🙂

With a race about three weeks away, days 15-17’s mini lution came while I was running  attempting to run outside to train. I’m not a runner, never was a runner, however, have always wanted to be. I want to be someone who runs 5k’s, 8ks and even marathons. Someone who can conquer any asphalt or sandy beach that comes my way. So to put a deadline on my training, I signed up for a race. [You may recall from my post in late March, dictating the details of my race!] Well, that race is rapidly approaching and I needed to get a head start on my training, so on day 15, I did. And let me tell you, it was NOT easy. I learned something about myself that definitely needs some adjusting.

The hardest part of running for me is not the actual running part, one foot in front of the other, nothing that particularly tough. The hardest part is BELIEVING i can do it, and reciting in my head that it’s doable. I have a problem of thinking I can’t do it because i haven’t in a while and soon enough, I’m gasping for air and walking when I should be running. I’m what I like to call a self-fulfilling prophecy. If I say “I can’t do this” enough in my mind, sure enough, I can’t actually do it. So on day’s like today, when I’m running for the first time and am a little anxious about it, when my mind is telling me how I can’t run, well, my body takes the hint and makes it harder for me.

Well, this type of mindset is not going to get me through the race, or better yet, life so I need to learn to shatter through the mental wall my mind sets up and accomplish what my body knows I can.  So instead of reciting “I can’t” I’m going to recite “I can” and try to overcome the my mental blockade. It’s not going to be easy, but it has to be done. I can’t do anything if I don’t believe in myself right?

So on days 16 and 17, I hopped right back out there and ran my ass off. I still stopped and still didn’t run the entire way, but I made substantial progress from day 15. It’s shocking to see, first hand, how pushing through the mental walls can make such a difference in how you do something. I’m not going to win the race, or even probably make great time, but I’ll do it and I’ll know I pushed through all the cants that fill my mind. Keep your eye out for more training updates.

 

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