Thursday, January 22, 2009

Exercise, Food and Etc

Okay, so I know that in order to fully reach my on-going health goals exercise is a MUST. Honestly, I hate exercising. It's not so much that I am too lazy to do it, it's just that I really feel overwhelmed when it comes to that. I've been looking at various places for gym memberships but the sites don't have the most important information on there: THE PRICE. That just totally turns me off because I don't want you to call me and try to con me into joining your gym. All I want is the information right in front of me so I can make my own decision.

Another reason why I'm afraid of exercise is because I don't want to lose weight. I am tired of being 105lbs. I'm 5'3 and I know I'm not that underweight, but I still am and I don't like it. I don't think I consume enough carbs and protein to give me some weight and yet not become fat. So if anyone knows any tips so that I can gain/maintain a healthy weight, I am SO there and yes I KNOW I have to do some type of exercise.

So I was looking online and I found a few kool websites with information regarding lactose intolerance and certain cheeses. Basically what they were saying is that I may be able to consume aged cheeses such as parmesan, romano, and cheddar because the lactose is gradually turned into lactic acid, which they say has no effect on people who are intolerant. Apparently I can eat feta and other goat cheeses too because they have a different form of lactose and protein that doesn't irritate those who are lactose intolerant.

I had spaghetti again for dinner but it was plain this time. I was in a lazy mood. However, I did make some celery-carrot-spinach juice, sweetened with one apple and one pear. It was really good. I think I will stop being afraid to make nasty juice and incorporate more veggies and leave out the fruit sometimes. Not that the fruit is bad, I just want to experiment with more veggie juices.

I added a bunch more books that I want to read. They are mostly vegan/vegetarian (as are the blogs I read), but I haven't quite made the committment to do that yet. At this point I don't think I'm going to be vegan; it's more like I'm deciding between a vegetarian or a flexitarian, but I'm open to all the healthy meal options.

OH YEAH. I remember what I wanted to talk about. So I started training at my new job, Smoothie King. It's not just a smoothie bar, but a nutrition center. They use all natural products, including turbinado instead of processed white sugar, and honey as sweeteners. And if you don't want the sugar at all, you can "Make it Skinny," which also takes off 100 calories. It seems like a lot, but I think most of the smoothies are designed to be meal replacements. Check out the website, they pretty much have a smoothie for everyone and I am so excited to be working there and I can't wait till we open on Sunday. We get one free smoothie per shift, so I will most definitely be doing reviews.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

La cena, cocinada por mi


So I was hungry and there wasn't really anything to eat so I made myself food!

It's wheat spaghetti, tomatoes and garlic. I seasoned with parsley, sea salt, and olive oil. It was THE BOMB! I ran out of spaghetti though and I'm pissed because it was sooooo good and so simple to make. So I guess I have to go to the store and get some more :)

So, I've been absent from the blog for a little bit, but I've started school so I've been busy with that. My mom's in school as well, so she has the laptop most of the time. I've been sucking at this eating healthy thing. Okay, well I haven't been sucking but I could be doing better. I'm kinda running out of food though. I forgot to refridgerate my bread so it got moldy, so I have nothin to eat for lunch. Unless....I juice and put some soy protein in it. Dinner? Dunno, really.

The other night my mom made baked chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. I just took the chicken and pan fried it with some eggs. It was very good. I'm gonna have oatmeal AGAIN for breakfast (lol) because it's already premade and I'm lazy. Maybe I can make some egg whites and a bagel, who knows. I'm about to run out of that too. I hope I can survive off whatever I have. I might have to give in and eat what my mom cooks, if its reasonable. She made pork last night, so that was NOT an option.

But I'm tired, I'll have to figure out this food thing tomorrow.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Mmmmm juice...

So.........today I juiced and it was awesome! I made apple/carrot/spinach juice and it was SOOOO good. Whatever I was craving, the juice made it go away. I think I was craving something sweet because my mom made sweet potato cheesecake and I couldn't eat it because I'm trying not to eat dairy.

I tried those steel cut oats for breakfast. They were alright. I put cinnamon, nutmeg and honey in them. I don't think the first two did a damn thing to help the flavor and I'm pretty sure I didn't put enough honey in thre because it really wasn't that sweet. But, I did enjoy the texture very much. It was chewy and nutty, just as others described it. I made enough for tomorrow, but the bf liked it so much that he ate the rest. Oh well, at least it only takes 10 minutes.

In a few hours I have to take the bf to the train station to go back home so I'm probably not going to feel like making anything. I don't wanna just eat nothing so I will probably have a bagel with earth balance and some rice milk.

I also have to go to the eye doctor and hopefully I can get an exam before I have to go to school tomorrow at 12:30. Luckily the campus is only 10 minutes from my house, but I can't go to school if I can't see. If I can't get an exam when I need to, then I guess I will be going there with one contact squinting at the board LOL. It's the first day of class so I hope she doesn't keep us the whole time.

sidenote: Me and the bf tried to make guacamole again and it was a complete disaster! I didn't know yoou weren't supposed to put avocadoes in the fridge and so it was hard and we tried to blend it and it wouldn't work so I put water in it and it tasted like sugar honey ice tea and the taste is still in my mouth, ugh. So we had to trash it.

Anyway, haven't updated about my hair in a hot minute. I washed it today and detangled with my Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle conditioner. The Denman brush is my best friend when it comes to detangling. I use my fingers first, and then I go through my hair with the brush to further detangle and get out all the shed hair. It was the bomb and the conditioner left my scalp tingling. I put my hair into these 4 dookie twists and put a scarf on. I'ma take it down tomorrow and put it in a puff or something. I need a trim REALLY bad. I've dusted my ends a few times, but I want a stylist to do it but I'm scared they're gonna get scissor happy. Maybe when I have some extra money I'll go back to the Aveda salon and let Jennifer trim my ends. I love that place because their hair dyes are 93% natural and are plant-based, which = less damage, yay!

I'm off to "nap" before I have to start my day. *sigh*

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Shopping Trip!

So after work, me and the bf went to Trader Joe's and I picked up a buncha stuff. I got:
  • 3 containers of TJ's quick cooking steel cut oats (I really wanted to try the regular steel cut oats, but that's not convenient for me right now)
  • 2 guacamole kits
  • granny smith apples
  • brown pears
  • celery
  • 2 bags of baby spinach
  • 2 bags of whole carrots
  • Ezekiel bread (sesame)
  • flaxseed tortilla chips
  • desert mesquite honey (never had it, thought I'd give it a try)
  • clover honey
I'm soooo excited that I have some stuff to juice with and some breakfast stuff. I asked if they had millet, but they didn't so oats for me! Or I can probably go to Earth Fare or something, but I think I have enough oats to last me a while. As usually, I didn't really spend that much money, a lttle under $50. I know I broke, but I think my health is worth the investment :). Man, I should have bought some berries! Oh well, I think I'm just gonna go to the farmers market on Saturday. Everything has been grown within 50 miles of my town and they have a lot of organic stuff, so that will be really kool. Damn, nevermind, I just looked at the site and berries are not in season, so Trader Joe's I go. At least I can get my kale from there and get some other greens.

Breakfast: TJ's Goldenflax cereal
Lunch: none, I woke up late yet again and had to go to work. I did drink a lot of water with lemon though while I was there.
Dinner: Veggie sandwich from work on dry pita (they usually slather a bunch of butter on it) with lettuce, extra tomatoes, cucumbers, hot peppers, and greek olives. No dressing
Snack: 4 oz Odwalla green drink

Now that I have some of the basic foods I need, I can have more complete meals. For tomorrow, this is just a preliminary meal plan, it may or may not change.

Breakfast: oatmeal with some honey
Lunch: apple-carrot-spinach juice OR a turkey salami sandwich w/ vegenaise
Dinner: veggie sandwich from work OR brown rice I made earlier this week topped with TJ's Pav Bhaji (indian food)
Snack: Raw trail mix or gucamole w/ flaxseed tortilla chips (if I am not too lazy to make it)

Well, I'm off to bed, it's almost 3am. I really should stop going to bed so late. I also have not been to my chiropractor in two weeks, I think I'm gonna go on Monday after class.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

I bought a juicer!

I wasn't really all that hungry yesterday, so for breakfast I had a multigrain bagel with some Earth Balance. To drink, I had a big glass of water. I probably could have drank some rice milk too, to get some added vitamins and stuff, but I guess I wasn't thinking about it. For a snack, I had an apple and Odwalla's green drink. For lunch/dinner (I woke up late so breakfast was at like.....3 or 4pm) I had a turkey sandwich with vegenaise, rice cheese, mustard, and jalapeƱos. Very delicious. With that I also had a big cup of water.

My sister made these really good-smelling teriyaki chicken wraps, topped with provolone cheese. OMG I wanted to eat one so bad but I couldn't. The teriyaki sauce had a bunch of sugar and hydrogenated oils, etc. So, thanks but no thanks.

Today I bought a Juiceman Jr from Wal-Mart. Hopefully, it does a decent job. It's not the Vita-Mix I want, but I can wait until I am more established to get one of those. Now I can get the veggies and fruits I desperately need everyday. I also bought some MSG-free seasonings so I can enjoy my food, yay! Me and my mom bought these flavored sea salts (which I believe are mostly natural). I know it's not like organic or anything like that, but I really don't plan on using that much.

Also, I am going to take Chi-Chi's advice and try some oatmeal or millet porridge for breakfast and maybe having a little cereal as a snack sometimes. The oats and grains would provide much of what I'm missing in my current diet. This is so exciting :)

I have some organic soy protein powder, I think I should drink some sometimes with my rice milk, maybe in between a meal or something like that. That should help me meet my protein requirements for the day.

::sigh:: This seems like a lot of work, but I think it's worth it. Once I find out what works for me, I'm sure it will get easier. My only concern is that I will probably have to cook more, because like I said, I live with my folks and I can't control what my mom cooks. I want to try and promote health in my house without being too instrusive. But, at the same time, I don't think she's really going to change. She's making fajitas tomorrow (and it's probably gonna be sooooo good), but I don't know if what she's using to season it has MSG or anything like that and I annoy her with all my questions LOL. So we shall see. If so, I will probably just have some tilapia and leftover brown rice for dinner.

I ned to go to bed, it's almost 6am. I'm going to set an alarm for 12 because I have to go to work and I would like to get something accomplished before then.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Brown sugar?!

Yeah....I did not know brown sugar was refined. I guess no more TJ's Honey Nut O's for a while :(. Golden flax cereal it is. Oh well, I should have read the labels before I bought them. But then again, this whole "cutting refined sugars" thing was really random. I'm wondering if maybe I can just eat a little bit of the cereal and be fine. But I'm really not trying to eat a bunch of sugar like that. It says it has 10g of sugar per serving, which is 3/4 cup. What is the suggested maximum amount of sugar per serving?

I really don't wanna be super-paranoid about my food, but I do want to make sure I'm at least starting to go about this the right way. I would appreciate anyone's input, thanks!

Wow, it's 3am, I need to go to bed.....

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Dextox?

Okay, so apparently this whole "giving up refined sugars" thing is a lot harder than I thought. I didn't realize how many foods in my house have high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, maltose, sucrose, and the list goes on with everything that ends in -ose. It's kinda hard to choose what I eat because I still live at home and my mom shops at Wal-Mart and buys whatever. Fortunately, I got some extra money and went to the health food stores and bought some stuff.

So I thought I would take a stab at cutting back on refined sugars. I have also been trying to cut back on dairy because I am lactose intolerant. Maybe it's only supposed to last a little while, but I haven't been feeling well since I started and it's only been like 3 days. WARNING: bodily function descriptions ahead. So I have been having a lot of gas and it isn't very pleasant to the nose.....like it makes me want to walk away from myself. And usually I don't get gas like that unless I have consumed some type of dairy. And don't even get me started on the bowels. I've been going like twice, sometimes three times a day and the stool is usually very soft. Is this normal? I don't know if this has anything to do with it but I have also been eating TJ's Golden Flax cereal for breakfast with rice milk, which is also fortified with other vitamins. Okay, I just read online all the benefits of flaxseeds and it seems it does keep you regular. Maybe I will just have the cereal every OTHER day instead of everyday. I can alternate with my fake Honey Nut Cheerios by TJ. No refined sugars :)

I seem to be feeling the affects of my sugar withdrawl. I have been trying to curb my cravings by eating fruits (apples, pears, tangerines), and raw trail mix (raisins, cashews, almonds some other nut Ican't remember). Yall, this crap is hard! I hope this gas goes away soon. I'd hate to be in a public place just funkin it up.

So my last concern is veggies. I KNOW I have not been eating enough vegetables. I have eaten 0 veggies today and it's really sad. I'm about to go in the fridge and eat 2 carrots and then there will be no more. I need some suggestions on some cheap veggies that I can just eat on the go and don't have to cook. Maybe like some brocoli or some snap peas or something like that, but I want to know what more I can eat. My goal is to eat several servings of veggies everyday.

You know, I am going to drink like 30 gallons of water because I accidently ate some food with MSG in it -_-....For dinner I made myself some Jasmine brown rice with tilapia. I used Goya's Sazon to season it. I guess I should've read the label before I used it because the first ingredient was MSG. So pissed.....I mean it tasted good, but damnit, I'm trying to avoid stuff like that! I need to go shopping again and find some seasonings that don't have MSG in them or dextrose or any of that other stuff. Guess I'll be taking another trip to the health food store when I have some money.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

New Years Resolution Time!

I know I'm a bit late, but Happy New Year! My resolution this year is to give up pork and I am going to try to stand firm by that. It's not really that hard for me because I really haven't had pork in weeks and haven't had the desire for even pepperoni pizza. My next resolution, which is probably everyone's, is to eat healthier.

I work at a really crappy restaurant and make NOTHING, but I already had money from Christmas and stuff so I decided to take my whole paycheck and buy some healthy things. I went to both Trader Joe's and Earth Fare because those are two of the only health food stores in the area. Trader Joe's is cheaper so I always go there first and try to find everything I need and then I go to Earth Fare to buy the remainder.

From Trader Joes (total cost $31):
  • Trader Joe's spelt bread
  • TJ's Honey Nut O's
  • some other honey flake cereal I can't remember the name
  • TJ's guacamole kit
  • TJ's Go Raw Trek Mix (pack of 10)
  • Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread
  • TJ's pita crackers
  • I'm probably forgetting something, but if so, I will update the list later
From Earth Fare (total cost $37):
So that is my list. Now I am able to have breakfast and snacks and stuff with no problem. My mom coincidentally went grocery shopping today too, so she brought all the fruit. We have green apples, pears, oranges, and tangerines. She also bought me two more rice milks so I am set at least for the next month or so.

The boyfriend and I made guacamole dip from the TJ's kit (2 rip avocados, 2 tomatoes, garlic clove, and an onion) and just added a few pinches of Celtic sea salt and it was THE BOMB! We didn't eat all the rest, but I put in in the fridge so I can eat it as a snack for the rest of the week with my pita chips.

So for my next shopping trip I would like to buy more vegetables but I don't know what I'm going to do with them. I can't see myself just sitting at the table eating some kale and cabbage by itself. I want to incorporate more vegetables in my diet (because those are like those most important thing besides protein) but some vegetables are just gross. I need a juicer, but all the good ones cost money. What I REALLY want is a Vita-Mix 5200, but I know that's not going to happen anytime soon. If anyone knows of a good juicer that is not $450 that I can use until I hit the lottery, please feel free to let me know.