The New and improved life: neither here nor there

So I want to take time to address what happens when you've lost the weight. Now what? How do you maintain this? Unfortunately our adult life is all about maintenance. You buy a car, tune up that car. Have a house I'm sure it needs a fresh coat of paint. I spent last Saturday driving all over town running errands, buying groceries, filling gas, cooking, cleaning--maintaining. Maybe I'm not the best example of "adultness" since I usually put all this off for weeks! Laundry (as I sheepishly admit) will sit till I drive back to my parents house for a visit...what can I say, their detergent just smells better ;)

So I went shopping with a friend today and she asked me what was smart eating. I explained that life isn't meant to be unhappy. Life is about love, desire and fulfillment. Its about fasting and good choices for the right reasons. What we do makes a statement about ourselves, and while no one thing could fully define the complexities of any single person...each decision needs to contribute to better. So those of you who say this, "its just one day" need to realize that today is all we have to change tomorrow.

Back to this friend, I'd ask her "what do you want to eat?" "I want to eat chips" she said. --Ok that's easy! Rather then regular chips that are fried and full of sodium, how about veggie chips with carrots, plantains, sweet potato's and casava? Low sodium baked or fried in sunflower oil.

"What do you want to eat?" "I want to eat cookies!"--ok how about brown rice crackers or rhye crackers dipped in guacamole? lower in carbs, higher in fiber and gluten free.

"What do you want to eat?" "I want to eat nuts"--Ok how about roasted walnuts, berries and raw almonds from the bulk bins, unsalted and organic. Walnuts are the super nuts of the nut world, high in antioxidants and contains the good fat that helps blast away free radicals. Berries help lower high blood pressure that plague many diseases esp those with kidney issues.

The list goes on and on...so I ask you, "what do you want to eat?"-- I promise you there's a better yummier alternative out there that will knock your socks off!

One last question was, "What can you eat to aid the oval office issues?" --well lets think of this, some wise fool once said, "you are what you eat." What he really should have said is you poo what you eat! Think about this, if you eat soft deep red and green colored foods, what color and texture will your junk be? If you eat a dense fatty hot dog, chances are your gonna have some dense, hard, dark floaters. So ask yourself, "is this item that I'm eating today, contribute to a better tomorrow?" If you really can't decide this on your own then just eat some prunes, and thank me in the morning ;)

--Now this is all in consideration for a relatively healthy individual. If you are already eating healthy and still have issues, then I'd have to refer you back to Dr. Nancy Le. Since I am not equipped to recommend meds or supps.

My healthy food adventures have been quite dull I eat the same thing everyday and haven't had any time to branch out to something new quiet yet. Therefore I have no recipes to blog about since I've not spotted anything. For this I apologize. However this blog is also dedicated to those who are wanting to know how to be healthy.

I can't stress enough that the first step is a desire followed by a good mental health. I've been playing games with myself and it showed up in my weigh in last week. Although I lost 4lbs of fat and gained 4lbs muscle in 2 weeks...my real goal is to loose wt and be healthy. If I keep evening out its a sign I'm doing something wrong. So I realized that sometimes there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. While you'll never hear anyone say "your eating too many veggies!" There is such a thing as eating too many nuts and fruits, so I really have to stick to my serving size and quit after. The trick is to pre-measure out food. It makes me feel like a OCD freak when I do this. I'll do it the night before, and the perk is the next day I don't have to think about how much and what I'm eating. I just grab my baggies and go.

And the one and only thing that could seduce me more then food?...don't be naughty, its SLEEP! so on that note...goodnight ya'll happy eatings!

Brown Rice porridge/ A day in the life of optimal health

So I apologize to anyone who has been following Recipe Spotting. This is the first time I've taken any days off of posting. I have never been so busy! I tried to make some gluten free cupcakes and failed miserably. My cupcakes taste salty and baking sodaish, my frosting taste like...I can't even say. I guess its more of a delicate procedure then I cared to admit. I was tired and felt worn out, baking was suppose to help relieve some stress. The ordeal made me want to give up....such an expensive endeavor to fail at. However I can't give up. It not in my vocabulary. So...I'll just have to figure out how to adjust and try again when things aren't so busy.

I've committed to trying to run and do Bikrim yoga everyday that I'm home. So far I did two out of 4 days. Not too bad. Considering two of those days I was in the hospitals PACU 24/7. I use to run this route at home in the summer. When I started it was 40 mins for 2.2 miles. by the end of summer my friend and I got it down to 30. Today I ran it and I made it in 20! I ran with my dogs and the poor pups barely kept up. I hope to keep going next time to see my potential for beginning my marathon challenges.

So with that combined with what my erratic sched's been like lately I've lost about 3lbs since Thursday. Maybe more I weighted after eating. If you want to know how to achieve some weight loss for yourself, check out Today's eating and workout sched, then ask yourself how serious are you about getting healthy? Because to be skinny is to be healthy and to be healthy, you have commit to moving and eating.

A student asked me yesterday, "How can I loose weight?" I told her to come back to me when she's serious. She adamently said, "BUT I AM SERIOUS!" So I began with my morning routine, immediately she complained. Then I said again, "Come back to me when your serious."

I'm getting sick of people asking me for advice and finding out that my advice is going to the back burner. I will no longer give my pearls to swine. I have given Dr. Nancy's info to sooo many people, and not one has called. so people, just come back to me when you're ready to commit...Cuz this girl don't do flings ;)

My Saturday Routine:

6-7am wake up Drink protein shake within 30 mins
8am Eat banana and strawberries (drink 8 oz water)
9am eat small handful of plantain chips (drink 8oz water)
10am Eat another banana and go to Bikrim yoga (100 mins of sweating your nuts off) drink 32
oz water
12pm Eat lunch, Spinach mixed with brown rice porridge YUM
130pm Run 3 miles (drink 16 oz water)
5pm Drink another protein shake
7pm Eat 1 Banana, carton of blueberries, and various other berries (drink 16 oz of water)

STOP EATING AFTER 6 OR 7pm!
RECIPE FOR BROWN RICE PORRIDGE

Ingredients:

Brown rice
Low sodium organic chicken broth
Green onions
Black pepper
1 Ginger
Cilantro
Chicken (optional)
Any other fun additives are welcome such as white onions etc.

Directions:

Wash the rice
Chop green onions and set aside
Chop cilantro and set aside
peel ginger and slice thinly
in a large pot throw in rice, ginger, broth and optional chicken. Bring everything to a boil. then reduce heat to low and cook for 30-40 mins or until at desired soft consistency. Stir every so often so the rice doesnt stick on the bottom.

**for my meal I mixed in spinach. This way the rice was not the star but rather an accompaniment to my spinach.

When I was young Vietnamese porridge was a treat. Only made for me when I was sick and couldn't hold down solids. Its so warm and comforting, it was a yummy treat that would always cheer me up. However I can't add all those salty ingredients that make it "Vietnamese porridge" but I'm still comforted knowing that I can still take something I love, and make it healthy. I feel lucky that I don't have to necessarily ax this from my life, but that I can modify and moderate.

Vietnamese porridge to a true Viet person is just as synonymous as Pho. I cherish this dish and its hard for me to resist porridge restaurants that server this stuff gourmet style. yum. Some photos below are not my own, they are a quick collection of various types you might find.

Sweet Potato mash with chives

I consider my health a gift. I consider weight loss as a happy side effect of being happy and healthy. So I was put off by a friend of mine who gushingly commented "ohh your life must be sooo different now. Everything changes once you slim down. Be careful, your WHOLEEE life is about to change."

Dear friend who subscribes to superficiality, your claim is warranted and some what true. But not entirely so let me explain:

I admit we live in a world the subscribes to the aesthetically pleasing. I am certainly one who may gravitate towards something pretty. However it has not necessarily rocked my world . I am truly convinced that your life is what you make of it. I use to go to the Glam Hollywood parties, and I never felt left out. Confidence and self assurance can take you just as far. I asses what is the core components in my life and no, being slimmer has not made me more God fearing. It has not made me more charitable, patient or kind. It has not made me love my family and friends more. It has not made me more driven or happy. I think I was always these things. The thing that it has done is make me more and more grateful for everything.

What my "new" life has taught me is to appreciate simplicity. So inspired by this I made this simple "go to recipe" on days I don't know what to eat but I want something simple and good. This recipe is an ode to the hidden super food. The sweet potato! Once I spotted this amazing food, I knew instantly it needed to become apart of my life. It's not as starchy as the regular potato. However it still has a higher carb count then a head of broccoli, therefore 1/2 a small potato per serving is more then enough. Accompany that with some grilled asparagus with salt, olive oil and red pepper flakes and you have yourself a healthy fun meal.

Sweet potato has more nutrition then spinach and is ranked higher then most green veggies. I serve this mashed and add 3-5 grams of butter for two reasons. One because it taste yummy. But you'll never guess that in order to better absorb the certain nutrients that are in the potato such as beta carotene you need some fat mixed in with the food.

Sweet potatoes don't have to take a long time to prepare. Cutting them into ½" slices and Healthy Steaming them for just 7 minutes not only brings out their great flavor but helps to maximize their nutritional value. And you can add cinnamon, nutmeg, and/or cloves for extra flavor and nutrition.

For more nutritional queries refer to WHFoods

Sweet Potato Mash

Ingredients:

2 Medium to large sized sweet potatoes
1 bunch of fresh chives
1 dollop of butter
pinches of sea salt

Directions:

• Peel the potatoes and slice into quaters

• boil in water or steam for about 10 mins. When you stick your fork into it and it goes in smoothly it's ready to go. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Don't over cook, it'll be stripped of its goodness.
• Chop chives and add to the potatoes, pinches of salt, add the butter and mash until smooth.
  

Tips:

If you are eating this as your main course like I am. You might want something to give your mash some funk. I took out one quarter of a potato while it was undercooked. I minced in to cubes. It retains a slightly crunchy texture. Therefore when combined with the soft mash, it gives it some contrast. Almost as if I added crunchy bacon to it. Yum!

Honestly you can serve this warm or cold its all good! enjoy. Yamas!