Green Smoothie

1 1/2 cups of Spinach
1 1/2 cups of white grape juice
1 Orange (cut off orange part, leave white healthy stuff)
1/2 Banana peeled
2 cups of ice
Teaspoon of Honey

Blend until liquidish.

I Heart My Vita Mix

My mom gave my husband and me an early wedding present called the "Vita Mix" which has since then, but an absolute staple in my cooking routine.

The Vita Mix makes delicious smoothies, hummus, soups, and even bread dough! It has an amazing level of destruction power and will destroy anything you put in it to pieces so small in order to liquidize it. And then, to clean it, you simply put a bit of soap and water and mix it again and wa-la, it's clean! The plastic it is made out of is nearly indestructible by usage means as it is the same plastic the windows from a plane are made out of! That's neat!

I've been experimenting with the Vita Mix and the various ways I can use it to sneak healthy vegetables into it for my husband and myself. Most recently, I put some carrots into a mix of orange juice, frozen strawberries and blueberries, and banana and you couldn't even tell there were carrots in it (except for the texture which was a bit different), I then tried the same mix but added celery too. That was a bad idea as the celery texture and taste were both so strong, it made the drink taste "too healthy." My most recent creation was inspired from the Costco man advertising the Vita Mix while I was there to pick up fruit and a rotisserie chicken. I couldn't remember everything he put in it so I improvised, but the important thing was only HALF a banana - which would account for why it did not come out in this weird quickly solidifying liquid wanna be form. I put in a couple handfuls of spinach, green grapes, white grape juice, half a banana, an orange (with the orange part cut off but the white stuff still on as that is where the nutrients lay!), and some ice. In a mere seconds, I had created a fun green healthy smoothie with enough fiber that it kept me full until about 11:45 AM (drank it around 8 AM) which is pretty good considering I didn't have any wheat toast to supplement it with.

In the past, I've also made hummus in my Vita Mix (canned beans, olive oil, some salt, and done) which took about 2 minutes and lasted us for about 3 weeks and went perfectly with celery and carrots, and even as a spread on sandwiches. I plan to make a variation of the hummus by adding in cilantro, tomatoes and whatever else my lil heart desires!

The Vita Mix is just so easy! It's unfortunately not sold on TV, only at Costcos and comes in white and black (we have black to match the rest of the kitchen appliances... absent our yellow stove).

It is so easy, even a kid could do it (with adult supervision of course) and when my niece came into town, she was evidence of that! She was so excited to help me put in the different ingredients and with me holding the lid on, was able to use the mixing stick and actually help make it!

Remember When Bagels Were "In"?

Bagels used to be a huge craze! Everywhere you went, bagels were "in," and you couldn't escape the trends of bagels! Bagel for breakfast, bagel sandwich, bagel for dinner, bagel for a late night snack.... Goldstein's, Western Bagel and Noah's Bagels were among the famous nearby bagel stores we frequented often and in our home, bagel breakfasts were an exciting day! We had Sara Lee, Thomas Muffin and even bagels from Ralph's. Cream cheese came in regular, whipped, strawberry, salmon, garden, jalapeno, etc.

And then, I found out how bad bagels actually were for you. In essence, it was as if someone took a loaf of bread, crushed and compacted it into a bagel, and then said, add some cream cheese for more fat. But man, how delicious they were!

So recently, when I found a smaller bagel, advertised as "toast size," I was excited! The bagels were only 160 calories (normally half of a normal sized bagel get you to around 180 calories) so I grabbed that, some low fat whipped cream cheese, and wa-la, I have been eating bagels for breakfast almost everyday! YUM!

Part of eating right is portion control, so I'm grateful for the smaller bagels... because in the past, even though a half of a bagel filled me up, sitting there, I would feel the other half taunting me to just eat it! And then... after eating it, I'd feel remorseful and too full. For people like me who are unable to just put it aside, it's important to just get it in the right size in the beginning.

Yay for bagels!

Avoiding The Marriage 15

There seem to be key moments in my life when weight gain was inevitable. The first was "Freshman 15," gained during the first year in college or university when the dorm food's cafeteria buffet style options were hard to resist and ice cream was an everyday option. The second was my first year out of college, which was coined as "Audit 20" but later renamed to be "Busy Season 20" (as the weight gain was consistent during the busy season days we worked 11 hours at a minimum and ordered in for lunch and dinner).

There also seemed to be pivotal moments in my life when weight loss was unavoidable. Usually, this stemmed from increased loss of appetite following a heartbreak and most recently, as a bride to be. The former is self explanatory while the latter was one I had heard happened, but always imagined it would be because I was actively trying to. Instead, my routine work out sessions became less regular as time seemed of the essence and over the course of 4 months, I wittled down approximately 13 pounds and everybody but me seemed to notice it. Eventually, I realized the pants were starting to get loose and the epiphany of my weight loss hit me. Looking back, I am quite confident the smarter eating slowly progressed over the course of the four months between getting engaged and getting married and I attribute the weight loss fully to that as the "stress" of wedding planning was definite but minimal as I had the help and support of so many wonderful people.

Now that I've been married for about two months, I can already feel the pants getting a bit tighter than before. I know this is due to the anticipated "Marriage 15" which I refuse to add to my list of tag line weight gain moments.

Instead, I will make an effort to track how I change my healthier eating habits and how I make time for interesting work outs (on top of a full work day, cooking, cleaning and don't forget the post wedding tasks, organizing the house, etc.). Lastly, once that is all in order, I will use this blog as a testing ground to post my exercise experiments. The first will be.... dun dun DUNNNNN... Skechers Shape-Ups or Reebok Easy Tones - do they really work?

I'm excited about where this blog will take me and look forward to sharing with everyone the joy and woes of making healthy a part of my lifestyle and not just a fad. Join me in celebrating a healthier me .... let's see where I land in another four months.

To give you an idea of why we're heading for the Marriage 15, here's what I ate last week for dinner:

Mon - Costco slice of supreme pizza and frozen yogurt
Tues - quesadillas on white tortillas with red, orange and yellow peppers, grape tomatoes, chicken, and shredded pepper jack cheese
Wed - Ding Tai Fong dumplings, broccoli, chicken soup
Thurs - hamburger patties on hotdog buns with lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup
Fri - Saladang family style dishes: pak kee mow, satay chicken, pineapple fried rice, green curry with brown rice

Say Yes to Healthy Substitutions

I love it when magazines and the morning news compares food items and shows me that if I eat smart, I can eat a lot more than if I eat dumb.

For example... eat a slice of veggie pizza, a small salad, a cookie and a drink for about the same amount of calories and fat as a slice of sausage pepperoni pizza. But what if I simply like the sausage pepperoni pizza more?

So today, I am here to encourage you to eat what you want but eat it smart and seek healthy substitutions.

You like sausage pepperoni pizza more? Then go with turkey sausage, or wheat dough. Substitutions are key and help you maintain a lower caloric intake while gaining the same satisfaction had you eaten the sausage and pepperoni pizza. Still don't like the way it tastes? Well, it taste much better to be skinny than fat. It tastes much better than buying new clothes because your big butt won't fit into the jeans you use to wear before your metabolism slowed down!

Substitution is key!

Say no to fried chicken, croutons and heavy creamy dressings on your salads and yes to grilled chicken, vinaigrette, and fruit atop your salads! Say no to heavy food items and opt for the lighter side.... for example no to heavy fruit cake but yes to airy sponge cake! You can also substitute your vegetable oil for EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) or your regular sugar in baking to Splenda sugar. Every little bit helps!