26 6 / 2012
PB&J FroYo for One
So remember how I said I was incorporating some peanut butter into my diet for today? Well, I love dessert and I love peanut butter. I also spend too much time on pinterest. Mix all this together and you get some pretty great ideas. Everyone’s been posting these pictures of frozen, mashed up bananas to eat as guilt free ice cream. I took this idea and ran with it.
I love cold desserts on hot days and after browsing pinterest and my fridge, I came up with a tasty treat for myself. The great thing about this is that I know what’s in it. I can’t eat high fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated oils or artificial color, etc, etc, etc. Nothing fake.
I also don’t like my desserts to be so sweet I feel like I’m getting cavities. This one isn’t very sweet but has a dessert-y feel. You could add a teaspoon of raw sugar to sweeten it up if you like it a bit sweeter. It’s creamy, mildly sweet, cold, fruity, peanut buttery, and just plain tasty.
I picked up all these ingredients at Trader Joe’s because they commit to having nothing artificial in products that carry their name but you could find similar items at any grocery store.
PB&J Frozen Yogurt:
1/3 cup Nonfat Greek Yogurt (40 calories)
1 Tbs. Valencia Peanut Butter with Sea Salt (100 calories)*
1 Tbs. Strawberry Preserves (50 calories)
In a small bowl or large ramekin, mix the peanut butter and yogurt until it reaches a uniform color. Add the preserves but don’t over mix. You want it to be well dispersed but NOT blended. Pop the bowl in the freezer for at least 3 hours but for up to 16 if it’s uncovered. If you make a larger amount and cover it, you could probably freeze it for up to a week.
*You could use ANY natural peanut butter. I prefer smooth and i really like the valencia peanut butter from TJ’s because it has a nice texture. I also like Justin’s and that would be great in this recipe. I’m thinking it would be nice with Justin’s Hazelnut Cocoa spread, which is similar to Nutella.
26 6 / 2012
1600 Calories and Short Walks: Day One
Yesterday was a good day. Yesterday was a first day.
I’m keeping to 1600 calories for the next four weeks. For the next two weeks, I’ll be taking short walks to ease into workout routines. Every two weeks I’ll either knock off 50 calories or intensity my work out routine.
My total yesterday came to 1592 calories and three short walks so hooray for a great day! My only issue yesterday was that I ate A LOT of vegetables. Sounds great, right? Well, let me tell you a little secret: when a majority of your food in a day has fewer than 50 calories per serving, you tend to get REALLY full REALLY fast while falling short of your calorie goal. To avoid having the same problem today, I’ve substituted some higher calorie items. For example, yesterday I got all my protein from almond milk (45 calories and surprisingly filling), tofu (70 calories per serving), and tilapia (only 27 calories an ounce). Today I’m adding in some natural peanut butter (just a half serving since I don’t want my calories to skyrocket) and swapping the tilapia for a couple ounces of chicken thigh meat (59 calories an ounce). I won’t be loading up on the thigh meat since it’s so high in fat, but just adding a two ounces to my dinner will help me get protein and a healthy number of calories for where I’m at right now.
So that’s where my health journey is at right now. I’ll update you soon on the rest of my life but this is what’s important to me today.
22 6 / 2012
L.A. Loves Fruits and Veggies
While something as commonplace as fresh fruit and vegetables seems too ordinary and mundane to spend a day celebrating, let alone an entire month — it’d almost be like saying, “June is Getting Stuck in Traffic on The 101 Month” — if you think about it a bit, eating a fresh piece of fruit or a crisp vegetable might be a little more unique that you’d think. Reflect back on your last few meals. When was the last time you chowed down on an apple, or an orange, or chard, or a carrot, something that wasn’t included in some kind of flash-frozen meal? Hopefully if you’re reading this blog, it wasn’t that long ago. But still, probably a bit too far in the past than you’d care to admit. So today, to celebrate Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Month, here’s a gallery of some local places where you can get your fresh produce and begin filling in some of those somewhat-neglected parts of the food pyramid.
See more photos here!
(Source: kcetliving, via katherinespiers)
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22 6 / 2012
tumblrbot asked: WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU ARE IN A BAD MOOD?
Going for small walks and finding new music. I have an intense love for music so I’m always happy to hear new things. Going for walks means that I can have some time to myself which is very important to me as an introvert. I often combine the two by listening to music on my walks.
22 6 / 2012
Why Am I Doing This?
That’s the question I’m asking myself right now. “Why on earth am I going to be so open about my life with strangers?” Well, partly because I will never show my literal face on this blog and partly because I will never disclose my actual name. Still, why?
Well, I’ll tell you. I need to change. All of my life I have struggled with weight problems. At my lowest my weight was 102 lbs. For a girl of no less than 5’8”, that’s a problem. At my current (and highest weight) I’m weighing in at 230 lbs. Also, not okay for a girl of 5’8”.
I love food. Oddly, not large amounts all at once which I think is what most people expect of someone who is overweight. My issue is that I’ll eat several extremely high calorie snacks throughout my day. It started as a way to get up to a healthy weight but I some how lost sight of that and went straight on eating dessert 3x a day because I like it.
Here’s my current frame of mind: I need to be healthy. I honestly don’t care what I look like anymore because I thought I was just as nice looking at 102 lbs. as I do at 230 lbs. (Note: by “nice looking” I mean that I can accept when someone compliments my appearance but I’m not really offended when someone doesn’t like my appearance, myself included.) Health, however, has never been on my side. I have Fibromayalgia, Diabetes runs in my family, and I have asthma. All of these things would be benefitted by exercise, clean eating, and weighing a healthy weight.
I’m considered to have a small frame (delicate, as my grandmother would say). At my height and with my frame I should weigh no more than 139 lbs. but no less than 126 lbs. My ultimate goal, therefore, is to weigh 130 lbs.
My goal for this weekend is to get my body ready to diet by scaling back my calorie intake a little at a time. The last two weeks I have averaged 2500 calories a day. I’m cutting myself down to 1600 calories starting Monday. The reason I’m waiting for Monday? Because I want to ease myself down to that over the weekend. So really, I’m starting my journey tomorrow morning.
I have a cleanse lined up for Monday because my digestion is totally messed up. I have literally been bloated for a week now. Let me tell you, it’s not awesome. I’ll also begin a workout regimen on tomorrow that will start out small, then grow and change in length and intensity as I go along.
My first weight goal: weigh in at 220 lbs. by 13 July 2012.
My goals for the weekend: scale back my calorie intake, walk to work and back (1/4 mile each way) every day to take advantage of having to work through the weekend.
