Day 6 Health Challenge Update

Hey hey everyone.

I did very terrible today at eating. Here's my meal breakdown:

Day 6:
Breakfast:  1/4 cup oats, 1/4 cup protein powder, 1/4 cup pb2, stevia, ground cinnamon, water   235 calories
Morning Snack: Orange  50 calories
Lunch: brown rice sushi 300 calories
Afternoon Snack: almonds, peanut butter chocolate chip larabar, 1/4 cup oats, pb2, stevia, water  540 calories
Dinner: quinoa, tofu, veggies, shrimp 400 calories
Night Snack: oats, truvia, ground cinnamon, pb2, dark chocolate, orange, 2 slices of japanese cheese cake that was actually only 230 calories 700 calories

Total calories: 2225 calories

I can't believe that I ate the Japanese Cheesecake. It had 12 grams of fat, 4 of which were saturated.  It's ok to indulge once in a while, so I'm not too mad at myself. With my exercise level, the calories make sense. 

That's it for now. I'll have an article up tomorrow about supplements. 

How many calories do you consume? 
What's your favorite dessert? 

Day 5 Health Challenge Update + pb2 cookie recipe + pb2 protein oats recipe

Hey everyone! How are you guys doing today?

I'm doing fine, thank you very much. I went for a nice run around the creek and the park today with my dad. It was nice. The weather is cold but it's also sunny too. I love sunny weather (except when it's humid or burning hot).

After my run, I ate a delicious breakfast. It's something I created myself. I mixed together:

• 1/4 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/4 cup vanilla protein powder
• 1/4 cup PB2 
• 2 packets of stevia 
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup water

Serving: 1 recipe

Calories: ~ 235 calories

Protein: at least 23 grams of protein

I'm sure that if you leave it overnight, the mixture will become thick. I made it right after my run so it wasn't as thick. I was too impatient to wait even 10 minutes for it to thicken up even more (I was hungry!).

Now, here's my update on my health challenge yesterday:

Day 5:
Breakfast:RiseBar Crunchy Cranberry Apple  160 calories
Morning Snack: Orange and coffee 50 calories
Lunch: PitaPit Sandwich (whole wheat pita, spicy black bean burger, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, cilantro, shredded lettuce, craisins), unsweetened black tea 300 calories
Afternoon Snack: BumbleBar Chocolate Crisp, craisins 350 calories
Dinner: brown rice sushi, steamed veggies 422 calories
Night Snack: oats, truvia, ground cinnamon, pb2, dark chocolate 275 calories

Total calories: 1557 calories

This is how my night snack looked. It's suppose to be a pb2 cookie:

It actually tasted pretty good. I also added in a little vanilla extract to it. Here's the recipe:

• 1/4 cup oats
• 2 tablespoon pb2
• 2 packets stevia
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• a dash of ground cinnamon
•  2-3 tablespoon water

Just mix it all  together and it's ready to be eaten.

I also ate a sample of a green protein bar at Sprout's yesterday. It was like 1/10 of the bar, at most. The pieces were so tiny. It was really good though. I think it was the Greens Plus Chocolate-coated Peanut Butter Protein Bars.

Anyway, that's it for now. I have so many nutrition topics I want to talk about. Here's a list of a few that I will write posts on:

• Electrolytes
• Do athletes really need more protein?
• Are supplements necessary?
• What does low-fat, low-calorie, reduced fat really mean?

That's it for now.

Have you ever been tempted by samples at food stores?

What's your favorite protein food?

Day 4 Health Challenge Update

Hey hey everyone. I've had such a busy day today but I know that I should update you guys about yesterday.

As you know, this was my meal plan for yesterday.

Day 4:
Breakfast: protein powder, cocoa powder, stevia, milk (chocolate protein donuts and pb2) 245 calories
Morning Snack: Orange 50 calories
Lunch: multigrain rounds, boca burger, sriracha 210 calories
Afternoon Snack: almonds sprinkled with stevia and cocoa powder, craisins 300 calories
Dinner: Quinoa, baked salmon, steamed veggies 422 calories
Night Snack: nonfat Greek yogurt, truvia, ground cinnamon, pb2 175 calories

Total calories: 1402 calories

However, it changed a little. 

Day 4:
Breakfast: protein powder, cocoa powder, stevia, milk (chocolate protein donuts and pb2) 245 calories
Morning Snack: Orange 50 calories
Lunch: multigrain rounds, boca burger, sriracha 210 calories
Afternoon Snack: almonds sprinkled with stevia and cocoa powder, craisins (I ate an extra serving of craisins) 430 calories
Dinner: Quinoa, baked salmon (ate half the serving along with some shrimp), steamed veggies 350 calories
Night Snack: nonfat Greek yogurt, truvia, ground cinnamon, pb2 (I also ate some dark chocolate) 375 calories

Total calories: 1610 calories

I know. I craved dark chocolate again. I really need to control my cravings. I love craisins too. 

So, today, I went to PitaPit for lunch with mi primo. I ordered the Spicy Black Bean pita with a whole wheat pita. I added shredded lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, cilantro, carrots and sriracha. I even added craisins. It was so good. The black bean burger itself was delicious too. I drank some unsweetened black tea along with it. 

We went to Sprout's after eating. Me and mi primo like to eat healthy, which is a good thing since no one else in the family shares my love of nutrition like he does. By the way, this may sound strange but I love grocery shopping. I like it better than clothes shopping sometimes (I know. Surprising!). It's just that current styles aren't my thing. Anyway,  I bought some LaraBars and this cool organic salsa. It's Sprout's Organic Chia, Quinoa & Flax Salsa, their own brand. I can't wait to try it out!

For breakfast, I ate one of the breakfast Risebars. I ate the Crunchy Cranberry Apple. I was pleasantly surprised with the size of the bar. I thought that it would have been small. It was a little dense too. It was chewy and it was sweet but not too sweet. There were whole almonds in the bar, which I enjoyed and added crunch to the bar. I would eat this again. I like it. I also love its short ingredient list. 

For one of my snacks, I ate one of the Junior BumbleBar Chocolate Crisp. It was really small but it was pretty tasty. Maybe it's because I love sesame. But, you do taste a hint of chocolate too. It was pretty chewy for a bar but it was good. 

My dad bought this. I haven't tried it yet but it isn't as bad for you as regular soda. 

It's Sparkling V8 Juice. 

At work today, I ate some oranges and had 2 cups of coffee. Finally, coffee. I don't get to drink it often but I drink it every time I get a chance to. They also had cinnamon rolls too, which I was so tempted to get. But, I had self-control and didn't eat it. =)

I guess that's it for now. 

What's your favorite granola bar? 
Do you like shopping?

Cocoa Covered Almonds, Overview of Vitamin E, and Day 3 Health Challenge Update

Almonds provide a lot of nutrients to our body. You know what? They also taste great too!
I can talk all about almonds, including that they are high in calcium, magnesium, folate, Vitamin E, protein, fiber and fat (healthy fats). But for now, I'll give a basic overview of Vitamin E before giving you guys the recipe to Cocoa Covered Almonds. I'll eventually  talk about the other nutrients in later posts.


Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin made of:

• Tocotrienol—biologically inactive form
• Alpha-tocopherol—biologically most active form

Functions of Vitamin E include:

• Primary role as an antioxidant
• Protects polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)
• Protects low-density lipoproteins (LDLs)
• Protects white blood cells
• Enhances immune function
• Improves absorption of vitamin A

I'm sure you guys have heard of antioxidants. But, what are they really? Antioxidant are chemicals that protect cells from damage from oxidation. Oxidation is the loss of electrons from a molecule. Many metabolic processes involve oxidation reactions and can produce free radicals.

Free radicals cause damage to:

• Cell membranes
• Low-density lipoproteins (LDLs)
• Proteins in the cell
• Genetic material (DNA. Damage to DNA may cause cancer, depending on which gene is affected)

They are linked to diseases such as:

• Cancer
• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Arthritis
• Cataracts
• Kidney Disease
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Parkinson’s disease

One of the main concerns is heart disease. How does it reduce the risk of heart disease? 

• It prevents oxidative damage to LDL
•  It acts as an anticoagulant to prevent blood clots (vitamin E is an anticoagulant)

The oxidation of LDL marks the beginning of clogged arteries. 

So, now you know a little more about Vitamin E. Now, here's the recipe for Cocoa Covered Almonds. By the way, cocoa has a lot of benefits too! 

Serving: 1 recipe

Calories: ~180 calories

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup almonds
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 packets stevia (2 tsp)

Directions;

1. Place almonds in a small Ziploc bag. 
2. Pour in the cocoa powder and stevia. 
3. Seal the bag and shake it. Enjoy! 

That's such an easy recipe, right? It's also delicious and healthy. 

 Here's what I ate for day 3:

Breakfast: protein powder, cocoa powder, stevia, milk (I made chocolate protein donuts with this) 250 calories

*By the way, cooking protein powder does not diminish its benefits. The proteins are just denatured, just like cooking egg whites. Either way, before proteins reach your muscles and other parts of the body, it has to be digested. Before even leaving the stomach, the proteins are denatured due to the stomach's acidic environment. Then, it gets broken down to its amino acids. 

Morning Snack: (4) Orange 200 calories
Lunch: 2 Nori Sushi Sheets, salmon, sriracha (I ate it with tuna/hummus instead of salmon and I ate an avocado salad) 273 calories
Afternoon Snack: LaraBar 220 calories
Dinner: Quinoa, baked salmon, steamed veggies (This totally changed. I ate 5 pieces of brown rice hawaiian sushi roll, some tofu, chicken, shrimp patty and some vegetables) 400 calories
Night Snack: nonfat Greek yogurt, truvia, cocoa powder, ground cinnamon (I added some pb2 and I didn't add the cinnamon. I also ate some dark chocolate) 370 calories

Total calories: 1713 calories

I know. I ate the brown rice sushi! I can't believe it. I gave in. Oh well. We all have slip ups. My slip ups could have been worse. At least I didn't eat a calorie, carb, fat loaded pizza.

For today, here is what I plan on eating. I already have eaten my breakfast, morning snack and lunch.


Day 4:
Breakfast: protein powder, cocoa powder, stevia, milk (chocolate protein donuts and pb2) 245 calories
Morning Snack: Orange 50 calories
Lunch: multigrain rounds, boca burger, sriracha 210 calories
Afternoon Snack: almonds sprinkled with stevia and cocoa powder, craisins 300 calories
Dinner: Quinoa, baked salmon, steamed veggies 422 calories
Night Snack: nonfat Greek yogurt, truvia, ground cinnamon, pb2 175 calories

Total calories: 1402 calories


Hopefully, I can stick to it the rest of the day. Wish me luck!

I also did a new HIIT treadmill workout today. It was really hard. I was so tired at the end. It was good to try a new workout. It challenges the body.

I also have a LaraBar Review. I finally ate a Peanut Butter Cookie LaraBar.

It tastes like a real peanut butter cookie! The texture is a bit chewy too, which I like! You can't tell that these have dates in them. I was so surprised. This is one of my favorite LaraBars (surprisingly, I hate the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough LaraBar). What I like more about this bar is that it only has 3 ingredients. Can't you believe it? Dates, Peanuts, and Sea Salt. That's it.

Here's the PB2 that I've been talking about. I poured it into jars since I knew it wouldn't stay fresh for long in the bag.

Also, here's how the donut looked with the PB2 and how it looked in Greek Yogurt. 

This is how it looked by itself:

Do you guys like almonds?

~I love dark chocolate covered almonds

Do you guys like peanut butter? Or do you prefer almond butter?

Have you tried HIIT workouts?

Chocolate Protein Donuts, Day 2 Health Challenge Update, HoW 3, WIAW Week 1

I love donuts, don't you? Donuts are delicious! However, they're not healthy for you. With all the sugar and fat, it's something that should be consumed rarely (if at all).
However, these donuts are much healthier than the ones from the donut shop. They are made in a mini donut maker and have a much higher protein content, keeping you full longer. I ate these for breakfast and it still pretty much sticks to my meal plan. It makes enough for 2 breakfasts. Here's the recipe. I hope you guys enjoy!



Servings: 18 mini donuts
Calories:~ 25 calories for 1 donut


Ingredients:

• 1 cup vanilla protein power
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 5 packets (teaspoons) of stevia
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons nonfat greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup nonfat milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. 
2. Mix in the wet ingredients. 
3. Preheat your mini donut maker. Spray with nonstick spray (I use PAM Olive Oil). You can also bake these as mini cupcakes or donuts in the oven (preheat to 350 F). 
4. If you're using a mini donut maker, you only need to put in about 1 to 2 tablespoons of batter into each mini donut hole. Coo as directed. 
5. If you're baking them in the oven, bake them for 15 minutes. 
6. Take them out and enjoy. 

You can drizzle these with honey or make a chocolate glaze if you want. It's up to you!

*I liked the taste of these raw better than cooked. It's up to you how you decide to eat it. It's safe to eat raw. *

*By the way, cooking protein powder does not diminish its benefits. The proteins are just denatured, just like cooking egg whites. Either way, before proteins reach your muscles and other parts of the body, it has to be digested. Before even leaving the stomach, the proteins are denatured due to the stomach's acidic environment. Then, it gets broken down to its amino acids. 

I might make a peanut butter frosting with  pb2 when I eat the rest tomorrow. I ordered pb2, BumbleBee Bars and Rise Bars from Amazon 2 days ago and it arrived today! So quick and efficient. I can't wait to try these. The Rise Bars came with:

• 3 Crunchy Cashew Almond
• 3 Crunchy Macadamia Pineapple
• 2 Crunchy Cranberry Pineapple
• 2 Crunchy Perfect Pumpkin
• 2 Crunchy Honey Walnut

So, how did my health challenge go yesterday?

It pretty much went well. I'm happy to report that I didn't eat the sushi. I was really tempted to though! I also substituted tofu instead of eating the boca burger for the nori sushi roll. I ate some sweet potatoes along with the rest of my meal for dinner. I added some cashew clusters to my greek yogurt and I ate some dark chocolate.

Based on my activity level, the amount of calories I ate is just about right and I did do better than yesterday, which is a good thing. I'm hoping that today will be better.

So, here are some pictures for WIAW. It's my first time doing WIAW, What I Ate Wednesday, from Jenn's Blog, Peas and Crayons.


For Breakfast, here are some of my eats: 

My morning snack was an orange (no picture).  My lunches are 2 sushi rolls. The picture is just the ingredients I used. Also, an unpictured avocado salad. 

For afternoon snacks, it's either been almonds, fruit, or carrots+hummus. 

My dinner has been quinoa, salmon (or tofu), and some sort of steamed veggies. 

My night snack has been greek yogurt, stevia, cocoa powder, ground cinnamon and some crushed cashew clusters: 

That concludes WIAW! I love this because it really makes you think what you REALLY eat in a day, or a week. That's also the HoW of the week. Try to track what you eat for a week to see what you really consume. You'd be surprised!

I have one last thing to say. You guys remember that I went to China the past summer, right? I climbed/hiked the Great Wall of China. As it turns out, after you do walk it, you can purchase something that says that you have climbed/hiked up the Great Wall.

Yea. It's in Chinese. But, it's like a scroll thing. It's awesome! I just thought I'd like to share this. 
So, what have your eats been lately?  Do you like donuts?

Day 1 Health Challenge Update (first vlog!)

Hi everyone. For my day 1 Health Challenge update, I decided to do a vlog. It's my first one and I was a little nervous. Hopefully, I don't look or sound too bad in it.

To sum it up, I mainly stuck to my meal plan but I consumed too many calories. I snacked on a lot of things because I got hungry. Almonds, cashew clusters, another Clif Bar, and I added almond butter to my Greek yogurt. 

Thank you guys for the support.

Health Challenge

Hey everyone! As you know, I'm studying to become a Registered Dietitian (RD). I'm planning to minor in Psychology.
So, with this in mind, I want to challenge my eating habits. If you were to see a dietitian, you would want them to look physicality fit and healthy, right? It would make sense since they are telling you want to do so that you're eating a balanced diet that is suited for you. That is why I am doing this challenge. Even though I do eat a mainly healthy diet, I do have a sweet spot for baked goods. And, with the holidays, I've gained a few pounds (I think).
What am I going to do? I am going to eat cleaner and healthier. I hope it'll make me feel better about myself. But what makes it harder is that  my parents buy some packaged, processed foods that aren't good for the body and the health. It's so tempting but I have to learn self-control. I have to do a lot of meal planning, meal prepping and have to make do with the foods I have here at home.

They even bought these yesterday from the store:

They bought huge blueberry muffins from the store bakery. I can't believe it. They are so delicious but they are so full of sugar and fat. I'm happy to report that I haven't eaten these. I was so tempted to eat them though.

Here are some things that we bought yesterday at the store too:

Well, we didn't buy the Dark Orange Chocolate, salmon, or tofu yesterday but they are part of my meal prepping. Life Cinnamon Cereal (so yummy), LaraBars, Truvia, Zoi Greek Yogurt and baby carrots (to eat with hummus).

The LaraBar flavors are Peanut Butter Cookie and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip. I haven't eaten the Peanut Butter Cookie but I have eaten the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip. The Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip is delicious! I'll have to get back to you guys on the Peanut Butter Cookie once I eat it.

I also found these at the store:

I was so tempted to buy them, but I didn't.

Anyway, back to the challenge. It's going to last one week. I will try to continue after 1 week but we'll see how my budget goes. Some of these things can get quite pricey. I have already cooked my meals and put them in the freezer/refrigerator so that I won't be tempted to eat the foods that have added sugar, salt, oil, you get the gist. I also already created a meal plan for the next 7 days. Here are 3 of the 7 days, just so that you guys get the idea of what I will be consuming.

Day 1
Breakfast: Clif Bar Peanut Butter Crunch
Morning Snack: Orange
Lunch: 2 Nori Sushi Sushi Sheets, 1 boca burger, tuna mixed with hummus (to make a sushi roll)
Afternoon Snack: carrots + hummus
Dinner: Quinoa, baked salmon (with spices and a sauce made with sriracha and balsamic vinegar), steamed vegetables
Night Snack: Greek yogurt, truvia, cocoa powder, ground cinnamon

Day 2
Breakfast: 2 eggs with mixed vegetables, salsa, sriracha
Morning Snack: Orange
Lunch: 2 Nori Sushi Sheets, 1 boca burger, tuna mixed with hummus (sushi roll)
Afternoon Snack: carrots+hummus
Dinner: Quinoa, baked tofu (with spices and a sauce made with sriracha and balsamic vinegar), steamed vegetables
Night Snack: nonfat Greek yogurt, truvia, cocoa powder, ground cinnamon

Day 3:
Breakfast: protein powder, cocoa powder, stevia, milk
Morning Snack: Orange
Lunch: 2 Nori Sushi Sheets, salmon, sriracha
Afternoon Snack: LaraBar
Dinner: Quinoa, baked salmon, steamed veggies
Night Snack: nonfat Greek yogurt, truvia, cocoa powder, ground cinnamon

If I'm still hungry and want more snacks, I'll either snack on almonds, dark chocolate, or fruit.

I'm going to do my best to stick to my plan all week. Hopefully, it works out!

So, I challenge you to eat cleaner and healthier for a week. Let me know how it goes. I'll be posting updates everyday.