Top Posts + 2013 in Review

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! I can't believe that tomorrow is going to be a New Year. 2013 went by so quickly!

My top 3 posts for 2013 are:

Tangyuan

Chinese Sponge Cake

Traditional Chinese Prosperity Cupcakes

And, for my 2013 in review, here is a list. I don't want to add pictures because it would make this post have too many pictures.

• I can't believe I visited Stanford in March! 
• I started interning for FoodCare, Inc in May 2013. 
• I went to visit Hearst Castle with my grandparents in July 2013. 
• I ran my first half-marathon on October 6, 2013.
• I made it through my semester of 19 units. 
• My group did well on our project about Nepal in my Social and Cultural Aspects of Food class. 
• Visited the U.C. Berkley campus

Oh, before I forget. This is going to be 100% unrelated to 2013 in reviews

At an Asian bakery near Berkely, I saw this Mocha Cream bun. It looked delicious! 

And at Target, I saw these Siracha Chips. 

Instead, I bought these Sweet Potato Tortilla Chips. 

and these:

• Botanics Tinted Lip Balm: Guava Sheer
• Botanics Matiffying Day Cream Shine Away Sunscreen 
• Cover Girl's Mocha Lip Balm  (hey, it was on sale for just over $2)
• And a brush. 

And, I guess that's it!

 My 2013 wasn't too eventful. I am happy that I did run my first half-marathon. And, it was my first race too! Boy, when I do something, I go big. 

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! 

Remember to head over to my new blog tomorrow. Hevil's Healthy Devil.
Also, follow me on my new twitter: @hevilhelen

Blog Update

Hey guys! It's going to be New Year and I decided to switch over to my new blog, Hevil's Healthy Devil. I've been talking about this for a while and now, it's almost here!
Be sure to head over to my new blog tomorrow at midnight (aka, the New Year). That is when my blog will go live!

Once you get there, be sure to subscribe for updates!

There, you will also see my new twitter. Be sure to follow me on my new twitter @hevilhelen

Thank you guys so much for reading! I will see you guys over at my new blog.

P.S. Don't worry. I will occasionally post here but it won't be as often.

Tip of the Week

Hey everyone. How are you guys doing today?

I am doing fine, thank you very much. I'm sorry for posting so late today. My family and I went to see the UC Berkeley campus today. We also went shopping at the Vacaville Shopping Outlet after. I bought two dresses!

Anyway, the tip for this week is to make realistic New Year's Resolutions. Set small goals instead of one large one.

For example, instead of saying "I will lose 20 pounds", say "I will lose one pound a week". That way, it won't seem as daunting.

Instead of cutting out all the "bad" food right away, make gradual changes. That way, you'll be more likely to stick with those eating habits. Each week, switch to a healthier alternative. If you eat white bread, switch to 100% Whole Wheat Bread. If you eat white rice, mix half white rice and half brown rice. Later on, you can switch to 100% brown rice. Switch to whole grain flour when baking. Use half all purpose flour and half whole grain flour. After getting used to the taste and texture, switch to 100% whole grain.

And here is the eating plan I said I would post. It is not 100% complete, but I do know what I will be generally eating. I won't be making up the meals as I go.

Wednesday, New Year, might be a little different since my relatives will be visiting for the New Year. But, hey. Things don't always go as planned. Just make the best of it.

How was your day?
How are you celebrating the New Year?

Weekly Goals

Happy Sunday everyone. I hope your day went well today.

So, I did pretty well on my goals for last week. I did do pilates, I enjoyed time with family and my new blog is almost ready. It will be ready by New Year. Remember that I will post the link of my new blog on the 31st.

My goals for this week are similar to last week's goals.

On unrelated news, here's something you guys should watch. This young man, Uudam, is singing a song, dedicating to his deceased mother. The song, in English, is called "Mother in the Dream". It is a really beautiful song that is sung in Mongolian on a Chinese version of America's Got Talent. His voice is so powerful and it really touches everyone's hearts, including mine. Watch and listen to it .You won't regret it.

That's it for now. I hope you guys had a great weekend.

Do you guys meal plan?
What are your goals for the week?

Fitness Friday

As you can see, my workouts have been on the lighter side recently. I am trying to incorporate pilates into my routine. I did pilates one summer and it transformed my body. But then, I stopped that and did other workouts. I am hoping this will change my body. 

I guess that's it for now. 

Before I forget, I said I would review that frozen Kashi pizza I bought a while ago. Here's how it looks. 

I didn't care for the mushrooms. That was surprising since I tend to like mushrooms. The pizza itself was very flavorful though. The crust was thin and crunchy, which I liked.

Anyway, that's it for today. Remember to keep a lookout for my new blog link. Remember the date, December 31. That is when I will post the link.

How were your workouts this week?
What are your plans for the weekend?

New Year's Resolutions

Every year, many people make New Year's Resolutions. People want to become a better person. They want to lose weight. They want the New Year to be a fresh start for them.

I have to admit, I am one of those type of people. I love setting goals for myself. I love the feeling of accomplishment. So, I am going to post my New Year's Resolutions (related to nutrition and fitness). 

• Take one rest day a week. It can be an active rest day. It's important for your body to recover. 
• Be more diligent on creating meal plans for the week. I will have my breakfast and snacks planned, at the least. My dinner will consist of brown rice but the rest of the stuff will depend on what my parents make. My lunches will either be brought home (brown rice, sandwiches on 100% whole wheat bread) or things bought on campus. 
• Meal prep every Sunday, no matter how busy I am. I will be even busier during the week. 
• Get up every 10 minutes and do jumping jacks, push-ups or squats for one minute. It's just to keep me moving throughout the day. If I am in class, I know I won't be able to do it. But other than that, I will be able too! 
• Try to incorporate pilates and yoga into my workout routine. I hear pilates does wonders to the body. It works the muscles differently than weight lifting.

That's it for now. 

Did you make any New Year's Resolutions? 

If so, share them in the comments below.

P.S. Just a reminder that I will be moving over to my new blog on New Year. I'll post the link on the 31 of December. I can post it now but you guys won't be able to see it until then. It's still a work in progress!

Happy Holidays!

Hi everyone. Merry Christmas! For those who don't celebrate, Happy Holidays!

This post is going to be a quick one before I head to bed.

 I made a cheesecake! I made one yesterday for the first time to try it out and it was so good! My mom loved it. So, I decided to make it for the family potluck. It's the holidays. It's okay to indulge just a little bit (don't judge me). I made it for my family potluck. My cousins loved it.

This Christmas was almost just like any other day. However, we did go to the state capital and walk around (with extended family as well). My aunts, uncles, cousins, and my cousin's children were there too. We took so many pictures! It's our family tradition to go there every year.

Sorry about my bad photography. I used my phone.

Anyway, we walked around, talked and just enjoyed each others company.

So, for Christmas, I got a gym bag and I got a blue dress.

And, here's me rocking the bag.

Yea. I showed you guys the picture before of the dress. That's when my parents bought it for me. Then, they wrapped it for Christmas.

Oh yea. Before I forget, I have to show you guys this Silk Seasonal Nog. It's basically eggnog with no dairy. It tastes pretty good! It's not as creamy as regular egg nog (of course) but it still hits the spot. Ellie mentioned this on her blog and I just had to try it.

Oh! And here is McDonald's Holiday Pie. 

It tasted alright. It was basically a custard pie. I wouldn't buy it again.

I guess that's it!

Happy Holidays and I hope you guys had a great day!

Christmas Recipes

Merry Christmas Eve Everyone!
And for those who don't celebrate Christmas, Happy Holidays!

I'm here to pop in and give you guys some ideas to make for tomorrow. =)

Baked Goods/Desserts

Baked Nian Gao
Best Healthiest Chocolate Chip Protein Cookie
Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
Fudgy Meringue Cookies
Coconut Macaroon
Greek Yogurt Cookie Cake
Vegan Brownies (a favorite!)

Breakfast/Brunch

Chocolate Chip Scones
Cinnamon Rolls

Main Dishes

Spinach Dip
Pasta Primavera
Black Bean Salsa Quinoa
Brown Rice Sushi Salad
Quinoa Sushi Salad

Tip of the Week

Happy Holiday Season everyone. 

As you know, many people celebrate, bake cookies and what not during the holidays. After all, it's part of the celebration and traditions. The calories from those homemade cookies, gingerbread houses, and all of those sweets can really add up. It's no wonder that the average American gains weight around this time. 

The only tip I can give is to enjoy the holidays. It's okay to eat that one cookie that your aunt is famous for making. It's only once a year. Just eat only one cookie, not more. Don't worry. Your craving will be satisfied. You can have those holiday foods. Just make them healthier and control the portions.  

Happy Holidays, everyone! 

Weekly Goals

Happy Sunday everyone! How are you guys doing today? I'm doing fine, thank you very much. It's been a while since I last posted a Weekly Goals post. I've been so busy with school but now I have more free time due to winter vacation. 

I was so happy that I was able to do pilates yesterday. It hurt so good! I haven't done pilates in a while and I realized how much I miss it. It's a real core workout! 

Anyway, here are my goals for this week. 

Yes, I will be moving over to my new blog on January 1st. I will post the link on December 31 but the blog itself won't go live until the strike of midnight. I am so excited for my new blog. I've been working so hard on it since winter break started.

That's it for now. I hope you guys enjoy the holidays!

P.S. The total number of miles I've done combined with running/elliptical this year is 940 miles! There is still a week and a half left until the new year but this is an update on my mileage. 

How to Survive College

Some people called me crazy when I said I was taking 19 units the past semester. I have to say that I agree with them. 19 units kept me busy!

So, how in the world did I manage to get through 19 units while I was also interning, volunteering, and training for my half marathon half the time? Yes, that was a run on question. Well, here's how I did it.

• One of the most helpful things I learned while doing this is to schedule and plan everything as best as you can. Yes, you will have to plan when you wake up, exercise, go to class, study, do homework and all of that. That way, you will get at least things done. Trust me. If you don't do this, you will feel overwhelmed with everything that you won't know where to start. Things do come up unexpectedly but learn to work around it.  
• Be on top of your readings and note taking. For my Social and Cultural Aspects of Food class, my professor does the traditional write down everything on paper method. It's best to read the textbook beforehand. Then, go to class and write down notes. Then, either re-write your notes after class or type them up. I find it useful for me to type up the notes and then add in some things from the textbook. I use Google Drive to type up my notes so that I can look at my notes on my phone while I'm on the go. 
• If you need help, ask for it. Your professor won't know that you're struggling unless you go and talk to them. They'll be more than happy to explain things to you. Yes, that means going to their office hours to get some help. It's better to get help in the beginning before things start to build up and you end up getting even more confused at the end. 
• Study groups are a great thing. Before an exam, go study with your classmates. It does wonders. Your classmate might be able to explain something that you might not be clear on and vice versa. You might make a new friend too. =)
• Eating right, exercising, and getting enough sleep is really important. That way, you have the energy to get through the day. 

What are your tips for getting through college?

What I have been up to

Here's what I've been up in the past I don't know how many weeks! I've been so busy that I couldn't post everything while things were going on. It's a lot of pictures (especially of food!). Please bear with me.

There is always one food truck on campus every Tuesday and Thursday. I may have talked about this before but I so want to eat this again. They call it the pyrus or something like that. It's a grilled cheese sandwich with apples, almonds, honey and some other things. It's vegetarian. It sounds weird but it was so good! Also, I ordered it with sweet potato fries. AMAZING.

There's this fast food Indian place at my school called Mother India. My friend, Noelle, loves the food there, especially the samosa. She's vegetarian.  My other friend eats meat and loves the lamb curry. I decided to get the vegetable wrap one time and tried the tofu wrap the other time. I've been hooked since! It's wrapped in naan. My cousin's friend once found a maggot in their food so he doesn't go there anymore. That's why I didn't try it last semester. But, I finally gave in and I'm glad I did. 

After watching Catching Fire with my friends, we went to the food court of the mall to eat. I decided to get some Mediterranean food. There's lentils, there's a pita with falafel and there's tabbouleh.

The Superfood Veggie Patty from Costco is the only vegetarian "hamburger" they have at the Costco I go to. They used to have Boca but now it's only this they have. At least it's delicious! I just don't like the price that comes with it.

I went to Panera with a few of my classmates to study chemistry. I ordered the black bean soup and the Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich. They were both good!

These are my cousins, 2nd cousin (cousin's kids), and uncle playing around while the whole family went for a walk on Thanksgiving.

I bought this Greek yogurt with honey at Starbucks while working on a group project with a group mate. Then, we went to find some fenugreek seeds, just in case we would use it for our project.

I ordered this almond paste scone from Fluid one day and it was delicious!

I went to the mall and found this dress. I ended up not buying it. How does it look on me?

While shopping at the mall, we ended up eating a late lunch at Johnny Rockets. They actually had a veggie burger and a wheat bun! I ordered it with sweet potato fries but they gave me regular ones at first. I told them I had ordered sweet potato fries, so I ended up with two batches of fries. I LOVE sweet potato fries.

I ended up snacking on these cinnamon graham bears at school while studying for finals.

I saw this dress at Target and had to try it on. How does it look? I want honest comments, please.

 I also ended buying this other stuff at Target. I got Amy's Organic Soups, Annie's Organic bunny grahams, and some other things for my face. The bunny grahams are all gone...whoops.

They had this at work yesterday so I just had to drink some. I had an 8 am final yesterday and then I went straight to work after. Then, I wanted something sweet to drink. I got Zevia. At least it's not regular soda, right?

 I love pizza but I don't like going to the pizza store and ordering it. I'd rather bake it right in my own oven. So, I decided to buy one of the healthier frozen pizzas. I decided on Kashi Mushroom Trio & Spinach pizza.

Then at Costco, I tried the Spinach & Parmesan Greek Yogurt Dip sample. It was good! So, I decided to get it and I bought crackers to eat along with it at a different store. It's so good!

That's it for now!

Finals=Accomplishment

I am happy to say that I completed all of my finals as of today. I am so happy and relieved!

I do feel accomplished that I made it through this semester. It's been busy and stressful but I persevered and made it through.

I questioned myself many times why I put this onto myself. There were times were I just wanted to give up and drop a class. But, I knew that it wouldn't feel right to me. I'm really not the type to give up.

Anyway, my vacation finally starts and you'll be seeing more posts from me! You MIGHT see changes in the blog. I have bee thinking about having my own domain and changing the banner. We'll see!

Do you feel accomplished after taking your finals?
What are your plans for the winter?

Life Updates (Finals Week coming up)

I can't believe it. This semester is almost over! It went by so fast. Then again, I have been so busy with my 19 units that it was hard to keep track of time.

I am also sorry that I haven't been posting a lot lately. I've been so busy. My group and I were preparing for our huge presentation today and I have to say. It went well. We practiced a lot late last night and it paid off because she loved it. The only comment my professor made on my section was my Asian accent (apparently, it's common for Asians). Funny thing is that my whole group is Asian and she didn't comment on theirs. Anyway, we spent countless hours on the project and I can't believe we're finally done with it. We were the last group to present! I'll talk more about my project later on (if I feel like it).

And, guess what. Next week is finals week. Fun.

Well, I am doing my best to keep calm but I am stressing so much about finals. It does NOT help that I am taking 19 units and then finals are coming up.

I am  mainly stressing about my chemistry final. I hope all goes well for that final! I'll be studying my butt off this weekend. The final is Monday night.

For my food preparation class, my final is at 8 am in the morning. It's bright and early in the morning! My Social and Cultural Aspects of Food class final is on Tuesday. I'm going to stress about the chemistry final before stressing about the rest. Those are just some of the classes. My government final was a take home essay and I finished that already. My two other classes will be online, thank goodness.

I also registered for my classes today and I am on the waitlisted for two of the classes I really want to take. I hope I get in! Hopefully, the professor adds more students (she's also my current professor for the Social and Cultural Aspects of Food class).

Adios!

How is your week going?
Do you like giving presentations?

Weekly Goals + Elf4Health Recap

Happy Sunday everyone! How are you guys doing today?

This post is going to be a really quick one since I have studying and a project to work on.

Last weeks goals were pretty much simple. I did review some Spanish the past week, which was pretty cool. My friend gave me a new workout to try. He's an exercise maniac! I did study for my chemistry exam, which was a lot of fun. And, I tried to smile more. But it was hard yesterday because I watched a sad movie for one of my classes.

Here are my goals for this week.

As for my Elf4Health Recap, here were the challenges for this week.

• Monday: Handwritten Note
• Tuesday: Eat the Rainbow
• Wednesday: Makeup free
• Thursday: Workout buddy
• Friday: Operation Beautiful
• Saturday: Fridge and Pantry Purge
• Today: Gratitude List

I pretty much did all of the challenges this week except for yesterday's challenge. We did go grocery shopping, if that counts! I also was unable to do operation beautiful since I was busy with classes and working on the project. Other than that, it's been a good week. I'm enjoying these challenges! We get our new elf buddy today. My elf, Danica, has been great! We talked about the challenge and discussed how we would be completing it. 

What are your goals for the week? 

Fitness Friday

Happy Friday everyone! I decided to take it a little easier this week on my workouts. I wasn't feel too well this week. I plan on running 6-8 miles on Sunday. We'll see! The weather has been freezing this week! It makes you feel like staying in bed all day!

Back to good things. I am happy to say that I passed my ServSafe exam. I took the exam today and I passed! I'm so happy!

Anyway, I have been so busy this week and I will continue being busy. Group projects, exams, chemistry homework, it's a lot. Finals are coming up soon and I have to study for those too!

That's it for now!

How were your workouts this week?
Do you like cold or warm weather?

Tip of the Week

Do you exercise? If so, why do you exercise? 

I read this post and it really opened my mind to a lot of things. It's a great read. I want you guys to read it and comment below your thoughts 

http://wellfesto.com/2013/11/19/10-things-i-want-my-daughter-to-know-about-working-out/

image from http://wellfesto.com/2013/11/19/10-things-i-want-my-daughter-to-know-about-working-out/

Next, name at least 3 reasons why you work out. Please try to leave out the reason "to look good in my swimsuit."  The ultimate goal of exercise is to be healthy. Once you're healthy, you will eventually be at a healthy size. 

Here are my three (I have more reasons why I workout but these are just a few). 

1. For my health.
2. To be able to do everyday things with ease (strength, flexibility). 
3. Relieve stress.

What about you? 

Weekly Goals

Happy Sunday everyone.

I hope you guys are doing well today. I am assuming that most of you had a long break and now, there's either work or school tomorrow. Don't worry. It's life.

Last week's goals weren't too bad. The chemistry exam is pushed back until tomorrow and I have been studying like crazy for it! I enjoyed my Thanksgiving with my family. We had a family potluck and we walked around the downtown area, which is nice. As for yoga, I am incorporating yoga stretches after my workouts but I haven't had a full on yoga session.

Anyway, here are this weeks goals.

I have a chemistry exam tomorrow and then another the 11 of December. Then, the final is on December 16. It's on a Monday. I also have a big group presentation on December 12. Things are coming up quickly!

I went to Starbucks yesterday and I got this while working on that same group project I mentioned. It's the Greek yogurt with honey parfait and it was delicious. And, I'm also going again today for a study group for the chemistry exam on tomorrow. This is the life.

That's it for now.

What are your goals for the week?
Are you ready to go back to work/school?