My Weekend

Hey hey everyone! How are you guys doing today?

I'm doing pretty good, thank you very much. My weekend has been quite busy. Let's get down to business.

Yesterday, I went to the mall. I needed to buy khaki or white pants since I start volunteering at the hospital tomorrow. I'm so excited and so nervous at the same time! I eventually did find one at Sears! It was $19.98. It was one of the cheapest I found at the mall and it looked the best on me.

We spent 6 hours at the mall, going through stores and walking back and forth. It was quite a workout. I got a Vanilla Spice Latte from Starbucks, the skinny slice pizza from Sbarro and some ice cream from Coldstone Creamery. I ordered a dark chocolate and coffee combo with M&M's from Coldstone. It was so good! I'm glad I indulged. It was actually my first time eating ice cream from that place. Here's the pics.

The skinny slice was actually pretty good, especially for 270 calories! I loved how generous they were with the veggies and the crust was pretty decent.

Today, I showed my parents around campus. It was a nice day today. I bought them an Iced White Chocolate Mocha from EcoGrounds. My parents (especially my mom) loved it. I bought myself the Mayan Mocha with soymilk.

I also bought this Chocolate Heart Thrive Bar. I'm going to eat this sometime but I don't know when. It's vegan and it has simple, healthy ingredients. It's only 3 WW points, if any of you guys are doing Weight Watchers. These are so cute since they're heart shaped!

I also got my hair trimmed since it's been a while since I got it cut. The last time was actually in China. That was in July. I know, it's been too long.

We also went to Target. Here's a few of the things I got.

I got some Egg Beater's egg whites. I don't like the yolk of eggs, so egg whites are much easier for me to use. As for the Natural Jif, it was much cheaper than the Natural Skippy brand. I looked at the nutrition and this Natural Jiff is a bit better for you anyway. I guess Skippy costs a lot more since it's more of a brand name. Brand name things aren't always the best either. Also, I got Dark Chocolate Peanut M&M's. I needed a "healthier" fix for my sweet chocolate cravings. I hope I can control the servings. Wish me luck on that!

As for the No.7 Total Renewal, I hope it'll have an effect on my skin. A good one, at that. It's a brand from Britian and I've heard good things about it.

And, do you remember my Heart Rate Monitor Watch? I figured out that I burn about 1837 calories without doing exercise. Here's proof.

For jogging 17 minutes , I burn about 147 calories. That's not that much but I guess it's due to my size. Then again, I was just jogging, not doing my regular running.

I'm also surprised that I don't burn that much when I do Blogilates HIIT workouts. For one 10 minute video, I only burn about 50 calories.

Well, I guess that's it for now. My next post is going to be an Asian style black bean patty. Be on the lookout!

So, how was your weekend?
Have you tried using Heart Rate monitor watches before?

This Or That Survey

Hey everyone. I thought I'd post something new today for the blog. It's a This or That survey that I found at a fellow healthysELF member's blog, Arlene. I thought it'd be interesting to post. So, here it goes. 

This or That?

1. Coke or Pepsi? I rarely drink soda, and if I do, it's usually either diet soda or sparkling juice. 

2. Caramel Apple or Cotton Candy? I love caramel apple with chocolate!

4. Salt or Pepper? Does red pepper count?.

5. Pudding or Yogurt? I love greek yogurt! I can just add some sweetener and cocoa powder to make my own chocolate "pudding". 

6. American or Provolone Cheese? Provolone.

7. Cookies or Brownies? I love both but I always try to healthify them by using whole wheat flour, oats, and using apple sauce in place of the fat. 

8. Pretzels or Chips?  I rarely eat either of those. I'd have to say baked pita chips, if I had to choose. 

9. Cake or Pie?  Pie and cake! It just depends on the type of cake. If I had to choose one, it'd be hard. Can you see that since I'm still trying to answer this question? haha. Let me think...I guess I'll have to say pie! 

10. Oatmeal or Cereal?  I have to eat my cereal! I always eat my cereal with almond milk. =)

11. Mexican or Japanese? Let me think, let me think. It's so hard to choose! If I were to go out to eat with friends, I'd choose Mexican since my family doesn't really like that type of food. 

12. Chinese or Italian? Do I really have to answer that? CHINESE!!! 

13. Surf or Turf? Neither. I don't know how to turf and surfing, it would be fun, but it's in the ocean....

14. Pizza or Pasta? Pizza!

15. Mustard or Ketchup?  I love mustard. 

16. Sandwich or Wrap? I love sandwiches. Wraps are good too but sandwiches are more of my thing. 

17. Apples or Oranges? Apples. I love Fuji apples. 

18. Strawberries or Raspberries? I love strawberries!

19. Blackberries or Blueberries? I can’t choose.  I love them both equally.

20. Rice or Noodles? Shirataki noodles, if I had to choose. Either that or brown rice (or quinoa!). 

21. Spicy or Mild? Spicy. I love spicy!

22. Salad or Soup? Salad. 

23. Soup or Stew? Soup, I guess. 

24. Salted or Sweet Popcorn? Sweet popcorn! chocolate and caramel popcorn. Yummy!

25. Cauliflower or Broccoli? Both!

26. Onion Rings or French Fries? Baked sweet potato fries!

27. Burger or Hot Dog? does a black bean burger count?

28. Popsicle or Ice Cream? Ice cream (or frozen yogurt!)

29. Coffee or Tea? Both! But, I tend to drink coffee more often. 

30. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate.

31. Sausage or Bacon? neither? I guess turkey sausage?

32. Peanut butter or almond butter? I love both equally. Both are also about the same nutrition wise.I usually get the Smart Balance Creamy Rich Roast peanut butter though. 

33. Salty or Sweet? Depends on my mood, but most of the time, it's sweet. I always try to curb my sweet cravings with a granola/protein bar (Clif Bars, Luna Bars, LaraBars, Kind Bars, ProMax). 

34. Fried or Scrambled Eggs? Scrambled. 

35. Waffles or Pancakes? This is tough. I like both. But, I guess I'd have to choose Van's Waffles. They're so yummy! 

And, now, you guys know more about my food preferences. Now, it's your turn to take this survey (if you want!). It's fun. =)  Or, you can just answer a few of them on the comments below. =)

Updates on my Life

Hey hey everyone. How's your life going? I know my life has been quite busy.

Just this past week, I had two exams! So much studying...One exam was for my US History class (for my GE requirement) and the other one was for my Methods of Psychology class (for my minor).

For history, I had to write two essays and respond to 5 terms (one paragraph each), all in one class period (1 hr and 15 minutes). We weren't allowed any notes. I got hand cramps (not good). It's a good thing I studied a lot before the exam. We were given the prompts ahead of time so that we could prepare. But, no notes.

For my psychology exam, it wasn't that bad. It was all multiple choice and we just had to apply the concepts we learned.

Now, I'm not sure if I told you guys this before, but I started lifting weights when school started. That was January 28th or so. I want to gain muscle and be stronger. I've been lifting hand weights and I have to say, I am getting stronger. I went from lifting 7.5 lb dumbbells to 12.5 dumbbells. I know that for some of you guys, 12.5 lbs is nothing, but for me, it's an accomplishment! I also leg press 160 lbs, though I started with 120. I'm so happy that I'm getting stronger. I hope it's worth it.

I also indulged a bit this week. At my school's bookstore, there is a cafe where they sell coffee and organic baked goods. I bought an organic blueberry scone. Here's how it looks:

I ate it with a cup of coffee. I know, it doesn't like that appetizing but trust me, it was delicious! There's an icing that contributed to the flavor and texture of the scone and I loved it. It wasn't too sweet but you could definitely tell butter was used (but not too much!).

I also had my 3 hour long night class yesterday and I got hungry. So, during the break, I went with a friend to Gorditos Burritos and ordered a shrimp burrito. It came with black beans, rice, lettuce, chiptole cream sauce, chips and salsa. It was alright. The description of the burrito they gave sounded better than how it actually tasted. It was decent though. I ordered the rice on the side since I didn't want it in the burrito. I ate the chips by itself during class, without the salsa. Maybe I should have ordered the burrito as a burrito bowl, without the tortilla. Oh well. It still tasted pretty good!

As you see, it's okay to indulge once in a while. Remember, everything in moderation.

I also bought trail mix at school to snack on since I'd be at school for 12 hours.

It's Planter's Sweet & Nutty Trail Mix and I really liked it. The nuts were crisp and fresh. I also loved the chocolate covered dried fruit!

I also finally ate my Apple Turnover Uber Bar (by LaraBar).

I have to say, I was disappointed with this bar. I love apple turnovers and apple pies but I just didn't like this. The texture was weird and there was barely any flavor with it.

Another update is that yesterday, I finally got my Polar FT40 Women's Heart Rate Monitor Watch. I'm wearing it right now to see how many calories I burn in a day without exercise. I'm taking today a rest day (a much needed one) to calculate how many calories I burn without exercise. Here's how it looks: 

Also, today, I went grocery shopping and spent a total of $16.17. Whenever I go shopping, I always buy stuff mainly for myself. My parents do their own grocery shopping and I buy things that they won't buy (since I love buying "expensive" health food).

• The Agave was $2.95
• The Organic Chocolate Koala Crisp was $2.28
• All the bars (LaraBar Peanut Butter Cookie, Chocolate Almond Fudge Clif Bar and the ProMax lower sugar Peanut Butter Chocolate) were 98 cents each ($0.98)
• The Blue Diamond Habanero BBQ almonds was 78 cents ($0.78)
• The Garbanzo Beans and Lower Sodium Black Beans were 68 cents each ($0.68)
• The Amy's Organic Lentil Vegetable Soup was $2.53 (a bit pricey, but it's okay)
• The Diet Shasta Cola was 35 cents ($0.35)
• And, the Chocolate Cream cookies were $2.30 (they're for my siblings, not me, even though I might eat some with almond milk)

This buy was actually unplanned but I have to say, most of it is healthy (a few indulgences, which is okay). What I normally buy is Kashi cereal but I noticed that the Chocolate Koala Crisps were on sale, so I bought that instead. I also always buy Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, which I eat with cereal. I sometimes buy greek yogurt but not all the time. Quinoa and Costco's Multigrain Rounds are a staple too. My parents always buy the fruits, vegetables and protein. 

My life has been quite busy and sometimes fun. I'm really enjoying this semester. I'm meeting great people this semester and I'm really enjoying my classes

Another thing is that I signed up for Lindsay's Foodie Penpals. I'm so excited. Here's the link to Lindsay's Foodie Penpal page. She created the program and you can sign up for it on her blog. It's a great way to try new foods from different parts of the country. Go to Lindsay's blog for more information. 

So, how's life?

Do you have anything planned for the weekend?

           I plan on going out this weekend. The weather's going to be great here. Going to the park, shopping, it's going to be spontaneous. 

Quinoa Hummus Cakes

I love hummus. Who doesn't?

Well, I bought hummus the pass weekend and I've been wanting to cook with it. An idea came into mind while I was cooking some quinoa. So, I decided to make quinoa hummus cakes! I just looked around the kitchen and put in whatever I had (of course, making sure the combination would make sense). I'm happy to say that it came out pretty tasty! My sister even likes it and she hates quinoa. She's a white jasmine rice eater.

Though these are yummy, they do fall apart easily, especially when it's hot. When it's cooled down, it won't break as easily. Anyway, here's the recipe.

Servings: 10 cakes
Calories per cake: ~120 calories


Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup dried quinoa (2 cups cooked)
• 1 cup hummus 
• 1/4 cup organic tamari sauce (It's like soy sauce)
• 1/2 cup fat free refried pinto beans
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 carrot, chopped
• garlic powder
• chili powder
• dried basil
• paprika
• oregano

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients into one bowl. For the spices, I just sprinkled them on. 
2. Heat up a non-stick pan and spray with non-stick spray (or grease it with olive oil). 
3. Each cake needs about 1/4 cup of the mixture. Form the cakes with your hands and place in the pan. Cook for about 3-4 minutes on one side and then flip them and cook for another 2-3 minutes. 
4. Be careful when flipping them since they'll fall apart easily. 
5. Serve and enjoy. 

This is the organic Tamari sauce I have. 

I hope you guys enjoy these!

Do you guys like hummus?
What's your favorite food?

Healthy SELF and my week's eats

I bet you guys have been wondering what this button on my blog is about. If you haven't seen it already, it's on the side!
HealthysELF is a continuation of the Elf4health Challenge that Lindsay and Elle created.

What this basically is, is that we are given health challenges to do (sent through email and posted on their blogs!). It's a great community where everyone supports each other. There's even a facebook group that helps keep us in touch, encouraging each other and giving advice. 

What's even great is that for HealthysELF, there is going to be monthly newsletters with health articles and  reminder of the month's challenges. I am honored that I've been chosen to write an article for the first healthysELF newsletter. Thank you so much Lindsay and Elle! I hope you guys enjoy my article once it is sent out. 

Anyway, back to business. The past week has been quite hectic for me. Then again, I've just been busy. But, I'd like to post some of my week's eats. 

I finally tried one of the About Time protein powder samples I received. I tried this Chocolate Peanut Butter About Time Protein powder with Greek Yogurt. I have to say, I'm pretty disappointed with the taste of this protein powder. It didn't mix well with the greek yogurt and there was barely a peanut butter taste. The aftertaste was even less desirable.

As you see, I bought some groceries. I bought the Kashi Heart to Heart Honey Toasted cereal, Van's 8 whole grain waffles, Kashi GoLean Crunch Honey Almond Flaxseed, Laughing Cow cheese, honey roasted almonds and Dave's Killer Bread. Just to let you know, the honey roasted almonds are delicious!

Dave's Killer Bread is amazing! The 20 whole grain bread is delicious. It's all organic and I love the texture. It has bits of seeds within in the bread and I love it.

I tried eating this bread toasted by itself, and it tasted so good! I also made a turkey and cheese sandwich with it. Even better! It goes good with any kind of sandwich you like. I even tried eating it with peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk!

 I got hungry at school, so I bought some honey roasted peanuts. They were only 50 cents at the my school's bookstore. My school's bookstore has a cafe where they sell organic pastries too. I love that place, They cell 50 cent coffee too! Anyway, these peanuts were pretty good. I love honey flavored things.

The Kashi Heart to Heart Honey Toasted cereal is so good! I love eating it with almond milk. My sister says it looks like dog food and tastes a little like dog food. But, I disagree. Then again, I am born the year of the dog.

 I have a night class once a week, so I get pretty hungry and sleepy. Mi amigo bought this Alternative Baking Company Gluten Free Cinnamon Burst Cookie and  Mayan Mocha with soymilk from EcoGrounds during our 15 minute break (I love that place!). Thanks, amigo. I owe you one!

I can't say these Quaker Chewy Bars are the healthiest but there could be worse things you can eat. I like these chewy bars. I just wish that they were a bit bigger for their calorie count. The snacking nuts from kirkland are pretty good but I don't like how one pack is 330 calories. The juice is an indulgent thing. The Aidells teriyaki and pineapple chicken meatballs are all natural. They are so good!

I went to Fluid again, the coffee place near where I work. I've been going there every week. They have vegan pastries and most of it is organic. This gluten free peanut butter cookie was the bomb! It was soft but still a bit crumbly and crunchy. I loved it. I also decided to try a new drink, the Aztec one. I suggest not trying it. There's too much chili powder in it and it overpowered the chocolate taste.

After a while, I got hungry again so I ate this Nature Valley Trial Mix Fruit & Nut bar. It was delicious! Sweet, chewy and a bit salty. I loved it.

 The Van's 8 Whole Grain Waffles are delicious! I tried this with sweetened condensed milk and it was delicious!

I don't know what this says because the writing is in a different language. But, I do know that this is chocolate with almond pieces. It was delicious!

This Justin's Hazelnut Butter Blend is delicious! It doesn't taste like Nutella but it has a chocolaty and nutty taste to it. It was yummy!

I also go this organic tamari sauce from the Asian store. Yummy!

So, how are you guys doing?
Have you tried any health challenges before?

Love Your Body Week

It's Love Your Body Week. 

I noticed it today at the gym. In the locker room, all the mirrors were covered with paper and had sayings that said to love your body. One of the things it said was "The scale measures your weight, not your worth." 

I have to say, that is right. You are worth so much more than just a number. Everyone is. The number means nothing if you feel miserable all the time, right? Learn to love yourself. It's what makes you, you. 

Here's the link to the website. 

http://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org/

It has a lot of great information. This actually reminded me of a women who avoided looking at mirrors for one year before her wedding. It's inspiring. Here's the link to the story. 

I just had to write this post right when I saw the mirrors covered in the locker room today. It's better to love your body than to criticize it. Love your body. 

Vegetarianism?

"Are you getting enough protein?" "That's not healthy." "You need to eat meat for energy."

These are a few of the many comments I received when I ate vegetarian for a few months last year. I actually enjoyed being a vegetarian, despite the fact that my friends and family didn't support it. I felt better about myself and I had more energy. 

Well, what are some benefits of eating a vegetarian diet? Here's a list from vegnutrition.com (highlighted in green) with a few things I added (in purple). 

• Plant foods provide phytochemicals. These are compounds found only in plants; some of these have significant impacts on risk for heart disease, cancer, and other diseases.
• Plant foods contain fiber, which is associated with a lower risk for cancer, heart disease , and obesity. Animal foods contain no fiber and people who eat typical American diets based on meat and dairy generally do not get as much fiber as experts recommend.
• Plant foods contain no cholesterol. Even lean meats like shrimp and white chicken meat are high in cholesterol . Cholesterol is important but consuming too much is bad for cardiovascular health. 
• Plant foods are low in saturated fat . Most of the saturated fat in American diets comes from meat and dairy foods. Saturated fat is linked to a risk for heart disease and possibly for cancer as well.
• Some plant foods, like olives and nuts, are high in total fat, but they typically contain healthful types of fat. Unlike saturated fat, these plant fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats) are linked to reduced disease risk when they are consumed in moderation.
• The type of iron in plant foods is regulated by the body in a way that guards against iron overload, which may be linked to chronic disease .
• Plant foods are excellent sources of nutrients, such as folate, potassium, and chromium, which help fight chronic disease.

Even with these benefits, vegetarians and vegans are at risk for vitamin B12 deficiency as well as Vitamin D and Iron. However, supplements can help with this part. 

Eating vegetarian doesn't mean you're not getting enough nutrients you need for the body. As long as your diet is balanced, you will be healthy. Nuts are a great source of protein for vegetarians, as well as legumes and quinoa. It's so easy to consume protein now a days, compared to our prehistoric times. 

Anyway, the reason why I bring this up is that I'm thinking about going vegetarian again, but I'm still unsure if I should or not. I really enjoyed it when I was vegetarian. The only problem is that the people around me don't necessarily support it, especially due to my culture (that loves meat and think it's important). Don't get me wrong. Eating meat, especially lean meat, can be part of a healthy diet. It's just not really for me. 

Do you guys have any thoughts on this?

Have you tried going vegetarian? If so, how was your experience with it?