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.

Shrimp and Vegetable Shirataki

I love noodles. Who doesn't? The only thing I don't like about them is that they are HIGH in calories. What's even worse is that some are made with some unhealthy grains, which I try to avoid whenever possible.
That's why I love Shirataki noodles. They basically have zero calories. They are made with yam roots or something like that and are flavorless. That means you can add any seasoning you want! It tastes so good too, especially when you add the flavors you like.
So, here's my recipe for making Shirataki noodles. It's so easy to make and it's healthy and delicious. You can buy these at an Asian store or try looking at the health cold food section in a supermarket.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 bag Shirataki noodles
• 1 cup frozen Asian vegetables
• 1 cup frozen spinach
• shrimp (I used five)
• 2 tablespoon soysauce
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha hot chili sauce

Directions:

1. Boil the vegetables and shrimp together. 
2. Drain and rinse the noodles. 
3. In a wok or nonstick pan, stir fry the noodles, vegetables, shrimp, soy sauce and chili sauce together. 
4. If you want more seasoning, add some salt, pepper and sugar ( I didn't). 
5. Enjoy. 

Look how little the frozen asian vegetables are in the bag. 

I hope you guys enjoy this. It can serve 2, but since it's so low in calories, you can eat the whole thing without feeling guilty. You'll be really full after finishing it!

So, do you guys like noodles?

How do you like eating noodles? Asian? Stirfy? Spaghetti? Soup noodles?

Cravings: Iced Gem Biscuits

I remember as a little kid, my mother would always buy Iced Gem Biscuits for me and my sister at the local Chinese store. They were packaged in mini plastic purses, making them even more appealing to young girls. 

Once we arrived home, we'd devour these cookies. First, biting off the icing off the biscuit and then eating the biscuit. It was our favorite snack. I even remember a tooth falling out when I was eating these once. Oh, the memories. I haven't seen these cute snacks in stores here in California for 10 years. They totally disappeared. I miss these snacks. 

I know, these biscuits aren't the healthiest thing in the world but at least they're not the most unhealthiest thing. It's a craving I would definitely give into. It's been too long since I've last eaten these. 

I've seen these online available for purchase but I wish they would sell them in stores. I was so happy to find these when I went to China the past summer. I found them in my parents hometown, Taishan. We were at a grocery store in the town when I found them. I was so happy to have found them. I immediately grabbed the bag and bought them (after asking my mother, of course). We (I) finished eating them within 3 days. They were just so good! 

I know. This is an ugly picture of me but I'm holding the bag of iced gem biscuits we bought. I wish I bought extra to bring back to the states. I forgot to go back to buy some before leaving Taishan. They also had red bean kit-kats I wanted to buy too. Oh well. The only way now is to order these online. 

I'm really craving these biscuits right now. I should probably learn how to make these. I just wonder if I could get the icing on top just right. 

I'm so sorry about this rant. But, I just had to get it out there. There are so many childhood foods I used to like eating but they don't really sell them anymore. Especially these Iced Gem biscuits. Of course, there's Pocky and Hello Panda but they are still around. I wonder when Iced Gem biscuits will make their way back into the markets. In the meantime, I'll have to learn how to make these or possibly order these online. 

Do you like Iced Gem Biscuits?

What's your favorite childhood treat?

Greek Yogurt Cookie Cake

I love cookies. Don't you? Well, I don't like the fat and calories that come along with it. I also hate how much work it takes to make them from scratch. But, they taste so good!

So, what is a girl to do when she wants a cookie? Use cake mix of course!

Just kidding. Actually, not really. These cookies do use cake mix! But it does save a lot of time if you do use it. Plus, I used nonfat greek yogurt (the healthified part. Is that even a word?). Those are the only two ingredients I used (besides water) to make this. I also used dark chocolate chips too, but these taste good by themselves as well. 

These really did satisfy my craving without making me feel guilty. I also brought them to work today (because I'd eat them all if I hadn't) and everyone loved them. Austin said to me, "Helen. These cookies are amazing!" Nicole ate 3 (plus more) and asked for the recipe. Alex loved them and wanted to eat more but she made a New Year's Resolution to be healthier . They were surprised when I told them I used greek yogurt in them (well, yes and no. They know I'm into nutrition). Alex convinced herself to eat another one because they have greek yogurt in them. They were all gone in 4 hours! 

By the way, my sister also brought a few cookies to school and her friend Lucy loves them! Lucy is the one that introduced me to nutella, by the way. 

Now, I'm going to give you this healthified recipe. These are adapted from my Yummy Cookie Cake recipe.

Servings: 27 cookies

Calories: ~ 70 calories 

Ingredients:

• 1 box yellow cake mix (you can use any, but I like this kind)
• 1 cup Nonfat Greek Yogurt
• 1/4 cup water (use less if you want a less sticky dough) 
• dark chocolate chips (optional) 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
2. In a bowl, pour in the cake mix. 
3. Add in the yogurt and water. Mix. 
4. Mix in the chocolate chips if you want to add them. You can also add other things if you want to. 
5. Now, make 2 tablespoon dough balls and place them on a baking sheet. 
6. Bake for about 15 minutes. 
7. Take them out and enjoy. 

Everyone loved these cookies. They are more cake-like though. So, yea. If you like cake-like cookies, you'll love these. 

And now, here are some of my eats! 

My dad bought these Dandy's  Almond Crackers at the Asian store the other day. 

They are like regular sweet crackers with slices of almonds on top. It's a nice treat. They're not the best but they were bad either. 

As you can tell, I've been obsessed with sweet potatoes and hummus:

I love eating these as snacks (and sometimes as part of a meal, along with some fruit). They're so addicting but delicious and full of nutrients. 

Also, you should try nonfat greek yogurt with honey and Kirkland's Cashew Clusters (from Costco). It's so good. 

And today at work, I brought my own lunch. I brought this:

Brown Rice California Roll and a Sprite Zero. I had already eaten 1/2 the container of sushi and the oranges I brought when I remembered to take a picture. And, yea. Soda. I gave in to my soda craving. At least it's zero calories (less than 5 calories a serving), right? 

By the way, here are some shirts my grandmother sent me from when she went to back to visit China a couple months ago. 

The material is so comfortable but these are a little big on me. I just love how the English words are spelled incorrectly in the first shirt. 

So, do you guys like cookies?

Have you tried baked goods made with greek yogurt before? 

What's your favorite snack?

Almond Nutella Recipe + HoW 2

I love nutella. Who doesn't?

My friend first introduced it to me a few years ago and I've been hooked since. Sweet, chocolatey and creamy, it's delicious!

However, I don't like the fact that it's high in sugar and calories. It's actually really unhealthy. Have you seen the nutrition label?

from the  Nutella Website

It's crazy! There's 21 grams of sugar in just one serving of nutella. On top of that, there is 11 grams of fat, 3.5grams which are saturated. We are suppose to limit our intake of saturated fat. Take a look at the ingredients list: 

from the Nutella Website

 The first ingredient is SUGAR. That's not a good sign. On the ingredients list, the first ingredient is the predominant ingredient and then goes down in descending order. In English, the first ingredient has the most while the last one has the least.

You can learn more about reading nutrition labels from eatright.org and from the FDA website. It's really important to learn how to read nutrition labels so you know what you are putting in your body. 

Anyway, my homemade almond nutella is healthier. Here's the recipe and the nutrition facts. 

Servings: 8

Calories: 120 calories

Sugar: 8.5 grams

Fat: 7.63 grams

Saturated Fat: 0.5 grams (all foods with fat naturally have some saturated fat, some more than others)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup roasted almonds (unsalted preferred)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoon water

Directions:

1. Pulse the almonds until finely ground.

2. Add in the honey, cocoa powder and water. 

3. Pulse until a creamy texture comes together. 

Unfortunately, my food processor is not strong enough, so it only got to the paste part. The creamy part comes after the paste, once the almonds release their oil.  

And, now, it's ready to be eaten! 

Can't you see? The panda wanted some too! Even though it didn't get to the creamy phase, it still tastes delicious!

By the way, the nutrition label reading is the HoW. 

Also, it's important to have rest days, from personal experience. Your body needs time to recover. I know from personal experience that if you don't have a rest day a week for your body to recover (especially if you do intense workouts), your body will burn out and you'll feel tired doing the workouts you've been doing. 

Your rest day doesn't mean not doing anything. It can be an active rest day. Go for a leisurely walk or bike ride. You can also do yoga, which helps stretch the muscles and destresses you at the same time. 

So, do you like nutella?

What's your favorite nutter butter?

Do you have rest days? If you do, how often and what do you do on rest days?

P.S. Remember to check out my friend's band, Revolt With Reason, =) They're an awesome alternative rock band from the L.A. area.