Elf 4 Health Day 3: New Workout Challenge

Hey everyone!

Today is Day 3 of the Elf 4 Health Challenge. I'm sorry about not posting yesterday, but yesterday was writing a Thank you note to someone.

So, for my new workout challenge, my Elf Buddy, Samantha, from Runningandcupcakes, said I should try this new workout.

http://www.runningandcupcakes.com/2012/10/31/30-20-10-hurricane-workout/

I tried it today after going on the elliptical and boy, it was more challenging than I thought it would be. I did the set 3 times, each about 10 minutes long. Thanks again for the workout. I can't wait for tomorrow's challenge, which is to get up early and mediate and reflect. I think it would be good for your mental healthy and reflect on how things are going for you right now. It'll help reduce stress, which I have a lot of right now.

Here's an article about benefits of meditation:

 http://www.project-meditation.org/benefits_of_meditation.html

Anyway, back to my life.

I forgot to mention that on Sunday, my cousins from SF came over to visit. We went out to Sizzlers to eat and it was delicious! I ordered the Lemon Herb Chicken with baked sweet potato and unlimited salad bar. It was delicious. Then, I ate some of my cousins sweet potato fries and fried shrimp. I love shrimp. After, I ate some ice cream. I was full but the food was pretty much good to me. I love sweet potatoes.

So, yesterday, I made some red bean paste and this time, it looked so much better! The last time I made it was about a year ago, but I didn't have a food processor to mush up the beans. This time, I did. It tastes so good.

I even ate some with whole wheat toast. My dad and I just like eating it by itself.


Also yesterday, I tried my other PowerBar I bought.

It's the Chocolate Peanut ButterCrisp PowerBar. I really expected more from this bar. It was rather plain and bland. I did taste the chocolate and the peanuts but there wasn't much to it. I surprisingly like the apple cinnamon a lot better.

Today, I bought Quinoa. I've been wanting to try it for such a long time. Finally, I am able to. I bought the organic kind at Costco.

It's hard to explain how this tastes. It's really light and fluffy. There is a bit of a nutty flavor too. Texture wise, it may be a little too soft for my liking but it's still pretty good.

So, what new workouts have you guys tried?
What's your favorite grain?

Elf 4 Health

Hey everyone! I'm an Elf!

I started the 6 week Elk 4 Health Challenge. It's basically to keep people on track on their health during the holidays. I'm so excited!

I found out about this because I follow the blog The Lean Green Bean.









 
So, today is Meatless Monday! I'll update this post as I eat my meals.

Anyway, for breakfast, I ate Chocolate Covered Cheerios with fat free milk.

For lunch, I'm having a Veggie Boca Burger with lettuce and Smart Balance Mayo on Whole Wheat Bread.

I'll see what I have later on in the day. Like I said, I'll update this post as I go along.


Seriously, though. You guys should join it. You get to meet cool new people.

And, here's the rest of my meals.

For a snack, I ate more chocolate cheerios and a cup of coffee. The coffee made me feel a little sick though. That didn't happen before...

After that, I ate the Alternative Baking Company Vegan Pumpkin Spice Cookie and some dark chocolate covered pretzels.

For dinner, I ate yam, tofu and green beans. I was going to make Buddha's Delight but plans change.

I admit that I ate a bit too much sweets today but I'm happy to say that meatless Monday was a success. I can't wait for tomorrow's challenge.

Black Friday Shopping, McDonald's Premium Classic Grilled Chicken Sandwich Review, and my day today

Hey hey everyone. How are you guys doing today? As you know, today is the day after Black Friday shopping. How many of you guys actually went Black Friday shopping? This includes waiting in line at midnight (or late Turkey day evening) and shopping later on in the day on Friday. Well, I actually did. We bought a treadmill, which is awesome. And then, at night, we went to Kohl's, Wal-Mart and Old Navy. At Kohl's, I got boots for $20. They were originally around $60.

I didn't buy anything from Wal-Mart, but we did eat at the McDonald's they had in there. I got the Premium Classic Grilled Chicken Sandwich, coffee and I ate half of my brother's medium fries.

I actually liked this sandwich. The bun actually tasted good, like a regular fluffy hearty dinner roll. I really liked it and I would eat it by itself. Surprising, the chicken was moist and tender. It was like real chicken. I was surprised. If I ever have to eat at McDonald's again, I'm ordering this. But next time, I may ask them to substitute the mayo or not add any at all.

At Old Navy, I bought a tank top. That's about it. We looked at the sweaters, which were cheap, but the sizes for the sweaters are always a bit on the large size. I need an extra small, which is rare. The tank tops fit just fine though.

Then, today, I went to Six Flags with my cousins. It was fun but most of the rides were closed since it's the Holiday Season. They mainly opened just to show how they decorated the park. It was nice though and the dolphin show was nice. It kind of sucked because we only went on 4 rides, but it was fun to hang out with my cousins. We, of course, went on Medusa.

After that, we went out to eat at a Chinese Restaurant, which was fun. The food was delicious.

What have you guys done so far this weekend?
What did you guys buy on Black Friday?

Pumpkin Pie

Here is a slice of pie. It's pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie is one of my favorite pies.
Pumpkin pie is a traditional pie that is eaten on Thanksgiving. I ate some yesterday and the day before and I don't regret it. I'll just have to keep my diet in track until Christmas time.
Anyway, before I give you guys the recipe, I'm just wondering. Did you guys go Black Friday Shopping? When I say that, I mean, did you guys wait in a long line at night just to get the "best" deals? I know a lot of people have but I'm curious if there's even more or less due to the economy. Anyway, I think it's better to go shopping after the mad rush in the early morning (midnight, 4 am. I think you guys get what I mean).

So, finally, here's my recipe for pumpkin pie.

Ingredients: 

• 15 oz canned pumpkin
• 12 oz fat free evaporated milk
• 3/4  cup sugar (I used white sugar but next time, I'm going to try it with brown sugar!)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp pumpkin spice
• pie crust

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 425 F.
2. In a bowl, mix together the sugar, pumpkin spice and salt. 
3. Mix in the eggs and the pumpkin.
4. Then, mix in the milk. 
5. Pour the mixture into the pie crust. 
6. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 F. Then, lower it to 325 for 40 minutes. 
7. Take it out and let it cool completely. Serve it immediately or refrigerate the pie.  
8. Enjoy. 

 So, the day of Thanksgiving Eve, I had to go to class. We didn't learn much though since the professor knew not many people were going to show up. I knew the stuff already though. Anyway, before class, I went to the gym. I had a great workout on the elliptical. Then, I remembered that we were talking about exercise in my nutrition class and that stretching is important before and after exercise. I haven't been stretching much after my workouts so, I decided to do that. It felt great to stretch out my muscles. It relaxes me. Also,  I am still very flexible too, which I am surprised about. My head can still touch the ground when I do the straddle stretch while sitting on the ground.  I  bought 2 PowerBars at my school's store after my workout. They were on sale for 2 for 2 dollars.

 I bought the Apple Cinnamon Crisp PowerBar and the Chocolate Peanut Butter Crisp PowerBar. As I was in the fall/autumn mood, I ate the Apple Cinnamon Crisp PowerBar. Here's how it looks:

It tasted delicious too. It was a bit softer than I thought it would be and it was chewy. It smelled like Apple Pie and it tasted like it too. It was delicious. I should have bought more. Well, maybe next time.

Also, do you guys remember me talking about the SaraLee 100% Whole Wheat with Honey Bread? Well, it's delicious.

I love eating it with Almond Butter and honey. I also like making Turkey Sandwiches with Smart Balance Mayo. Both of the sandwiches are delicious. What I don't like is that the bread is a bit high in calories. 1 slice is 100 calories. So, that would be 200 calories worth of bread for a sandwich. Once you add the fillings, it will be about 300 to 700. It depends what you put in and how much. But, it's delicious and healthy. I still like the MultiGrain Sandwich Rounds better (or sandwich thins), since each "slice" is 50 calories. For a sandwich, it would provide 100 calories and then the rest are fillings.


So, what's your favorite pie?

-I have too many favorite ones that I can't list them all. Apple Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie, Lemon Pie, Banana Cream Pie, Chocolate Pie...the list goes on and on. I love desserts. 

Do you stretch after your workouts?

What's your favorite type of bread?

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I hope you guys had a great turkey day. I know I had a good one.
For one thing, I spent most of the day with my cousins, aunts and uncles. It was really nice. In the afternoon, we all walked along the river, talked and had a great time.
Then, at night time, we all had a potluck. I baked pumpkin pie to bring (I will post the recipe tomorrow!).  Everyone else brought Chinese dishes. Well, at least there was turkey. That's how my family's Thanksgiving Dinner's are. Turkey and Chinese dishes. It's nice though but sometimes, I want to eat sweet potato casserole. I love my family though. We all have someone to talk to and rely on. It's a really nice feeling. We've all managed to stick together.
However, literally right after eating dinner tonight, people left for Black Friday shopping. I don't blame them. I mean, the TV's are pretty cheap. Other than that, I'd wait for another sale to buy other items. I guess it's just for the experience.

Anyway, I'm thankful for many things. Here's a few of the many things I'm thankful for:

1. My loving family
2. My friends
3. music
4. coffee
5. delicious food
6. life
7. health
8. my internship

So, what are you guys thankful for?

Fiber One 90 Calorie Brownies, Starbucks GingerBread Latte, Peppermint Frappuccino

Hey everyone! How are you guys doing today? As you know, Thanksgiving is coming up. I just love the holidays with all the delicious food *dessert*. Pumpkin pie, apple pie, pecan pie, sugar cookies, apple pie, sweet potato casserole, you get the idea. I love sweets. It's the perfect time of the year...for weight gain. I know the holidays means food and weight gain, but at least there's time after the holidays before Spring comes to lose the weight we gained.

Anyway, even though it's going to be Turkey Week, I still have classes to attend. I even have to give a presentation tomorrow in my Public Speaking Class. It's a persuasive speech I have to give. My topic is about exercise, and how people should exercise. But, is there such thing as too much exercise?  At least it's not going to be too bad. We get Thursday and Friday off (even though I don't have any classes on Friday...).

So, my family went to Costco today and we bought some oven roasted turkey breast, boca burgers and chocolate cheerios. Finally, I get to eat my veggie burgers again. It's been a while since I've eaten the veggie burgers. We also went to Starbucks today. Buy one get one free. Well, it's a sale for the holiday drinks. I ordered the Starbucks GingerBread Latte. I ordered it with soymilk and only a little whipped cream.

It actually tasted like real gingerbread. I love the taste. It was creamy and smooth as well.

I also tried some of the Peppermint Frappuccino.

It was pretty good. It definitely had a minty taste to it. That's all I can say about it. I like the gingerbread one better.

My last review will be this:

the Fiber One 90 calorie Brownie

One thing I can say is this: the brownie is small, but it's rich, chocolatey, and delicious. It may not be the best brownie in the world (my brownies taste better) but for 90 calories, it's pretty darn good. That, itself, was a contradiction. It's a good low calorie brownie but it isn't as good as regular ones. 

So, do you guys like brownies?
Do you think there's such thing as too much exercise? If so, how much is too much?

Dark Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Hey hey everyone. How are you guys doing today? I'm doing fine, thank you very much. I had an interesting day today. I had fun. For one thing, I ran at the gym's indoor track. I ran for 35 minutes. And, guess what. I was ahead of everyone and passed everyone up! I was so happy. It's not always like that, since there are faster people that do run around the track once in a while, but I was happy today I was ahead. Then, I went on the elliptical for half an hour. I had a great workout. Then, I stretched. Boy, does it feel good to stretch.
After that, it was class time (around noon). I ate dark chocolate covered pretzels for a snack that I made yesterday (I'll post the recipe later on this post). Then, I went to PitaPit and got the Falafel with tzatziki.

It was delicious!

Anyway, I have 2 review to give before I give you the recipe to my dark chocolate covered pretzels.

The first review is the Clif Iced Gingerbread Bar.

I actually enjoyed this Clif Bar. I wish I bought more! It was a bit on the soft side for Clif Bars, but boy was it good. It tastes exactly like a gingerbread cookie but better! I like how they had nuts in them too. It gave the bar a nice crunch. Maybe I like the bar because there's the nice holiday flavor with the cinnamon and nutmeg. Delish!

The other review is Justin's All-Natural Chocolate Almond Butter.

This almond butter is delicious! It tastes like nutella but better and healthier for you. The texture is thicker and not as creamy as nutella, but you can definitely taste the chocolate. It's also a little sweet too. But, it's delicious and healthy. I can't wait to buy a jar of it one day. I ate it with the Multi-Grain rounds from Costco.

Now, it's time for the dark chocolate covered pretzels. I added dried coconut to mines.

Ingredients:

• mini pretzels
• 1 bag dark chocolate chips (2 cups)
• dried coconut (optional)

Directions:

1. In a microwave safe bowl, pour all the chocolate chips in. Microwave for 1 to 2 minutes. 
2. Once it's done, stir the chocolate chips. It will melt. 
3. Coat a pan with wax paper. 
4.  Next, dip the pretzels into the melted chocolate and place them on wax paper. 
5. Sprinkle the dried coconut over the already dipped pretzels (or anything you want). 
6. Let it sit for a few hours until the chocolate has hardened. Don't place them in the refrigerator! 
7. Now, they are ready to be eaten. Enjoy!

I've been craving chocolate covered pretzels for such a long time so I was finally happy to be able to make it!

Do you guys like chocolate covered pretzels?
What type of chocolate do you prefer?
Do you like the coconut chocolate combination?