16 and Losing It

I may not have much to say today but I will not become one of those people who hardly ever blogs and then every 2 weeks comes back and says “Sorry I was gone for so long but I’m back now!”

So… I gained a pound. Yeah it sucks and I was kinda upset although not as much as I sometimes am. I kinda felt on the edge about how my week was going all week, honestly. True I did burn 4,700 calories last week I also felt like all I did was eat! I thinkI’m just going to have to get used to that feeling though when I[m home all day, because it kind of is all I do My days seem to go something like this:

Wake up, eat breakfast, run, shower, eat a post-run snack ( I’m always hungry after I run), sit around normally in front of my computer doing random things, eat lunch, do some more siting around, eat a snack ( I’m hungry and I need to the fuel for kickboxing/running at the gym for an hour), shower, eat dinner, watch some TV, eat dessert, go to sleep, Repeat

So Its not that I eat a lot its just that I don’t really do much else… But I am going to try to make my snacks a little smaller, or if I want more then have some fruit or veggies! I’m also going to have less of my Healthy Choice/Lean Cuisine because while they aren’t super high in sodium they are probably more than I normally have. So there is the possibility that some of my 1 pound was from retaining water, if only life as that easy…

I ran my 3rd 5k yesterday, hence why I didn’t blog about my weigh-in. I have run 2 5ks before this one and I ran them both in 31:12 ( yes the exact same time). SO I really wanted under that, and maybe if I was a good girl under 30 mins. I have been running a lot now so it seemed possible. So, I felt pretty ready when Sunday morning rolled around, despite the 85 degree heat and humidity, that’s New jersey for ya people! I had my brand spankin’ new 5k playlist with about 30 mins worth of my very best running music* ( I’ll put my playlist at the end of the blog if you’re curious!). The whole run I just looked at whoever was the next person ahead of me and I passed them, then did the same with the next person. And I finished in 29:53!!!! Yippee!! It was an awesome moment, I felt so good about what I had just accomplished I didn’t even care that I gained 1 pound!! ITs just one pound I’ve still lost almost 30 and 30p pounds ago I could not have run a 5k in under 30 mins! I couldn’t even run a mile

So i know I never mentioned before that I am from good ol’ New Jersey, so let me just say one quick thing about my home state. Before you go jumping to conclusions that all of New Jersey looks like this:

and that all New Jersians look like this:

Let me just say that while there may be a few of these fine fellows in my state you are more likely to see this:

and there are more horse farms than you can even imagine. In fact I have been going to a barn and riding/socializing/working my butt off for about 10 years. So don’t go thinking you know New Jersey just because you watch MTV. Ahh… I feel better now

Okay well as much as I have enjoyed this little post I have to go get ready to go kickboxing, I’ve got to burn 523 calories tonight which I can do but I’ll have to work!

More food/fun/and bordom to come!

Elli

* My  (about)30 min 5k playlist-

Probably not he best way for me to start off a blog if I want anyone to read it I guess. If my life is so boring what could i possibly have to say… Well it is boring and I’m not going to lie about that.

This week all it feels like I’ve done is workout eat and sit in front of my computer. I don’t like sitting on the couch all day so I just watch stuff on my computer.

I have accomplished my 1000 calories 4x a day goal this whole week ( I burnt 486 calories running and walking this morning and I’m going to the gym tonight). So I know that as far as exercise I have done well And I’m running my 3rd 5k on sunday! My last two I ran in 31:12 ( literally I ran the EXACT same time ) so I just want to beat that time and considering my last 5k was the beginning of april and I’ve only been improving since then I should be able to! Fingers crossed!

I think I have done well with eating also, but to be honest it feels like all I do is eat so it is hard to know… I don’t think I am eating anymore thatn normal its just that I’m not doing much else… I just eat then do nothing until it’s time to eat again! I have eaten some yummy stuff though. My mom and I bough all these microwave meals ( Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, and the like) and I actually like them. Healthy Choice is definitely my favorite though, because all the ingredients are all natural so there are no weird chemicals or preservatives just what you would think veggies and stuff! I don’t get any with meat in them though because I hardly eat meat anyway and I just don’t rust the “meat” in any of them! And then, being the amateur chef I am I have to add my own stuff to all of them. For example ( I wish I had a picture but I forgot) yesterday I had Lean Cuisine Mac and Cheese (280 cals) with roasted broccoli and tomatoes (which I made and added)… it was quite tasty!

I also discovered an awesome snack that I will be enjoying personally in about and hour and a half… banana “ice cream”! Maybe some of you have heard of this but I think its pretty awesome…

Cut up a banana and then freeze it in a plastic baggie for a few hours until it’s pretty hard. Then put it in a blender or food processor until its soft and creamy, 1 banana takes like 2 mins or so. I have added a few different things to try, cinnamon and vanilla are obvious but yummy, cherries, blueberries, and coco powder are also really good! I tried chocolate chips… they are ok but they don’t really melt again in your mouth so they have a funny texture. Then pour it into a bowl and freeze it again, how long you refreeze it depends on how soft you want it but I leave it in for like 2 hours and it’s like regular ice cream!This was my first one, just some vanilla and cinnamon with a few chocolate chips on top.

I also discover this recipie for Pumpkin Cranberry Muffin Tops ( here’s the link to the recipe: http://www.fannetasticfood.com/recipes/pumpkin-cranberry-muffin-tops/)

I just made them and had one for dessert after my lunch… it was really yummy! If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice you can just use 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon,  3/4 tsp of ground ginger, 3/8 tsp (thats 1/4 + 1/8) of allspice of ground cloves, and 3/8 tsp of ground nutmeg. I also just used plain whole wheat flour instead of pastry flour.

And I tried to figure out the calories ( as accurately as  I could) 1 top is about 80 calories so that is really healthy! There is almost no fat at all in them, and they are pretty big considering  how few calories there are in them! But make sure you get 24 of them or the calorie count in each top goes up!

Well thats about all I have for y’all right now! I wish my life were more exciting (believe me), and hopefully it will be soon ( I go on my first vacation: camping in northern Wisconsin the week after next!)

Happy Travels!

Elli

So during the summer I have this thing that I eat pretty much everyday, and I live for it in a way I live for no other food on the planet. Its healthy, satisfying, delicious, and low calorie… what more could a girl ask for in a dish! This dish is fruit and yogurt… it may seem simple but it is the food of the gods. I have 2 kinds I love. For both I use either 0% and 2% greek yogurt or 0% greek yogurt and 4% cottage cheese. But I never even need a whole serving so there is very few calories but plenty of protein and other good-for-you things! The first is for all summer long and it is strawberries, blueberries, and about 1/2 a banana. The other is what I have been eating daily for the past few days because I can only have it in early summer when the cherries are in season. Its cherries, blueberries, and a peach! OMG I can’t even tell you have delicious this is! Here are some pictures to make you drool!

I start off by cleaning the fruit to make sure there is no dirt or pesticides because I don’t want to eat them!

Kinda blurry sorry… Then today I put some 4% cottage cheese and some 0% greek yogurt in a big bowl… I don’t use a lot just enough to make the fruit all creamy. This keeps it low cal too…

Yum! So then I cut the peach into wedges…

And then I cut it into smaller bite sized bits and add it to the yogurt and cheese.

Next I pitted the cherries with my handy dandy cherry pitter… this thing is truly amazing cherries are near impossible to pit without it!

I cut them into quarters and added them and the freshly picked blueberries to the bowl! Then I finished it off with a drizzle of honey!

And tada! My favorite dish of all time… seriously its amazing i can’t even describe in words how much I love it… you just have to taste it! Its sweet and tart and creamy and just plain fan-freaking-tastic!!!

Whats even better is that there is absolutly no guilt involved!!

Elli

Yesterday my mom and I went blueberry picking. It was lots of fun but it was almost too easy, being that it is prime blueberry season the bushes were literally packed with fruit!

In less than 45 mins my can was full with probably the best blueberries I will ever have… I admit it I had a few straight off the bush. Doesn’t get much fresher than that!

So between the 2 of us my mom and I picked… (drum roll please) 9 POUNDS OF BLUEBERRIES!!!! Our fridge is packed with blueberries right now… we don’t know what to do with all of them! It’s a nice problem to have when you love blueberries as much as I do

So for the next few days I will be eating a lot of blueberries… oh happy days! Did I mention that I love summer

Elli

I lost 2.8 pounds this week! Those 2 pounds from last week are history!!! Oh I can’t even tell you how good it feels I had an amazing week with both eating and exercise so I really felt like I would have a goo weigh-in but I figured like maybe a pound not almost 3 pounds. Not that I’m complaining… So now I’m back to 158.0. I hope that now that it’s summer I can keep having good weeks and soon I’ll get to 156 which would be 30 pounds lost! I just need to keep up what I’m doing and hope my body cooperates!

Today my mom and I are hopefully going blueberry picking which is great for me because I get to be active all afternoon and I absolutely looove blueberries. I’m still going to go to the gym for a bit though and get in a run.

I’ve decided to have an exercise challenge for myself this summer. 4 days a week I will burn 1000 calories or more which will be my 30 min morning run + kickboxing or another longer run at the gym + some other exercise during the day like yoga or strength. Then I will still take one day off a week and on the weekends I will burn 500 calories or more. So I need to get some running or something in today so I can have my 500 or more for the day.

On a slightly off topic note… I thought I would share another recipe with you guys. This one hopefully is not as intimidating as the last one might have been for anyone who doesn’t normally cook. Its a salad which is great for those summer nights when its hot out and the last thing you want is a hot dinner. For protein you can add beans, any kind should work but I think chickpeas or black beans would be the best or grilled chicken would also be really yummy for all you meat eaters. I like adding fruit to my salads also, I think they  add some different and yummy flavors to a salad but if thats too weird for you they can be removed. Don’t forget that this is a salad so you can change up the veggies/fruits to fit what you like. This salad can get pretty big too but I don’t use much dressing so it is quite low calories especially for how much food you get. I don’t really know how much of certain things I use but just use as much as you think you will need. I make this salad to feed 2 people so keep that in mind.

So here it is… My Gigantic Rainbow Summer Salad!!!

Mixed Greens ( you can use the stuff from a bag or you can buy lettuce and chop and wash it yourself which is what I do but it is more time consuming.) You will need less than you think of these because there are so many other things going into he salad.

1 red/yellow/green/orange pepper ( they all taste amazing although green peppers are less sweest and will add less color) cut off the top to remove the seeds and then cut into 1 inch squares

5 to 10 quartered cherry tomatoes depending on their size

Broccoli-steamed but not to the oint of being super soft (you can use fresh or frozen)

Sweet corn ( again fresh or frozen is fine)

1 orange ( I’ll describe what I think is the best way to cut it under the recipe)

a handfull of fresh blueberries (make sure you wash them well)

a handfull of cherries (if they are in season) pitted and cut in half

4 teaspoons of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

1 tablespoon of red wine vingar

a tiny sprinkle of salt and some black pepper

Mix all the ingredients in a big bowl and serve. You can put cheese in if you want but beware of using to much b/c cheese is not low calorie.

How I cut up my orange:

1.) cut off the top and bottom of the orange so that you can see the fruit inside

2.) set it on you cutting board so that it is sitting upright and cut the white part off by cutting down the orange so all you have left is the actual fruit and not white outside

3.) hold it in your hand and cut into the orange so that you are cutting out the individual wedges that form naturally but make sure that the skin stuff separating the wedges is left behind.

4.) you should have wedges cut out that have no skin stuff on them, for this salad you can either leave them this size or cut the into smaller 1 inch pieces.

Hope that makes sense! Enjoy!

Elli

Hmmm… so I’m kind of in a funny mood because I just watched this incredibly depressing movie so I apologize now if I’m a little off.

Today was the last day of school. Its always a weird day, the last day. You’re happy, because its summer now and you don’t have to do homework every night, and wake up at the crack of dawn. But is sad too. There are those friends you have because they are in your class but you aren’t friends really outside of school, and its sad because if you don’t have a class with them next year you might never see them, and you might not be friends next year. Its just an odd day with a lot of mixed feelings. But I’m soo happy to be done with school!

Last night’s dinner was pretty disappointing actually The place we were originally going to go to was having some kind of fundraiser there so we couldn’t eat there (of course that just has to happen the night we want to eat there ugh). So we went to this other restaurant my mom and I had been to and enjoyed that was nearby. I was kind of annoyed because I was starving and I had planned out whatI would eat so that I could stay healthy and now I had no idea what I would eat! So we get there and sit down, and I’m trying to find the healthiest thing I can on the menu. My initial choice was a pork chop with mashed sweet potatoes and something  else that I can’t remember. But instead I went with tilapia (which is a really light fish that naturally doesn’t have much flavor but I don’t mind it and it’s healthy) with roasted potatoes, and spinach. I thought that it would be light and probably pretty tasty because the fish just takes on the flavor of whatever is on it and I love potatoes and I don’t mind spinach. The problem was there was no sauce or anything! It was just plain fish and it was so plain and unsatisfying I could have cried, and I almost did to be honest because by that time I was tired and hungry and PMSing really bad :/ I had to basically pour salt onto it to give it any flavor! I was so angry…

Ok got that out

I am kind of nervous for the next few weeks… I will just be home by myself all day. In about 2 weeks (I think) my mom and I are going on our annual camping trip to northern Wisconsin with family friends who live in Chicago. But until then we have nothing planned so I am just home all day. Which I hate. I hate being home all day ding nothing, it’s depressing and boring and I just hate it. Also its really hard as far as eating is concerned because a lot of times when I’m bored I end up eating and I can”t eat to much nor do I want to. My plan is to run for about a half an hour in the morning before it gets hot and before all the kids I know in my development (non of whom I like) are out doing whatever it is they do. Hopefully the exercise in the morning will help me wake up and feel good so that I will be less inclined to munch. I did this last summer and it did seem to help some. In addition to the running in the morning I’m still going to go to kickboxing Monday-Wednesday nights, and I’ll run probably Friday-Sunday again at the gym for longer and with intervals like I do now. My hardest time as far as eating is between lunch and my afternoon snack. So hopefully i can make it through these next few weeks. I’ll still post but it will mostly just be my thoughts or whatever because I doubt much will be going on but one never knows what kind of unexpected things can happen!

Elli <3

Today I had my last 2 finals! Yes! I’m am almost through sophomore year, possibly the hardest school year I’ve ever had! And I finished with straight A’s (I think my english teacher hasn’t out up my final average yet but I probably got an A). Oh, I can’t even tell you how good it feels to know that it is practically summer. The last day is tomorrow but its really a pointless day for people to sign yearbooks and take pictures and stuff.

To celebrate one of my best friends, her mom, my mom, and I are going out to dinner. She is a senior so it even a bigger deal for her because this is the end of high school for her… lucky. I have already checked out the menu online ( I love that you can do that now), and I’m going to keep it as healthy as possible because I want/need a decent weigh-in this week!

So summer is almost here, and I can’t wait! Thats the general feeling I have right now!

Happy Summer everyone! (if you are in the northern hemisphere that is )

Elli

So I admit it… I’m pretty smart. I’m in mostly honors classes, except math which I will never take honors! I like to learn and I can figure out things pretty quickly. I’m in no way a genius or anything, but I’m smart. So why is this a problem? Well about 3 perfect examples of this have occurred in just the last hour…

Let me first say that everyone is obviously studying for finals right now… the last 3 times i’ve gone on Facebook someone has messaged me with questions on finals. I don’t mind answering their questions (if I can). But its like all they care about is my help they don’t want to chat ( I do get that they might not want to b/c they’re studying). But a few of them aren’t even people I might necessarily talk to in school, so I know they are only messaging me so I’ll help them… it’s getting kind of old. One person even asked me if this book we had done in english would be on the final, luckily i knew b/c I asked our teacher just today. But if I hadn’t the only person who could have answered this was THE TEAHER! That s when it gets really annoying. I’ve had people ask me how a teacher will grade something… now why would I know that people??? I may be smart but I can’t read minds!!!! Sorry but after stuff like this happening all year its getting really old.

Ughh… this is what 2 hours of studying chem does to you, you become crabby and mad at anyone who asks for help. I need a break and a snack pronto! Ok… rant over.

Elli

But sadly it’s not that big of a deal because today was an easy day. Tomorrow is going to be the worst! Chem may kill me.

Because of finals we have all half days at school, which means that I get out at 11:20 instead of 2:12. So I’m eating lunch at home now. I like this because it means I can have more variety. Normally its just your basic Pb & J, but today I had 2 pieces of toast with cottage cheese, cinnamon and sugar, and raisins mixed in. I also had a banana with some peanut butter (about 1 tbs so only 100 cals). It’s nice to mix it up but often when I finish any meal I want more! I’m not hungryI just like eating At school there’s nothing I can do about it but at home I can take a little snack… this is BAD and I have to stop it! I want this summer to be good. Summer can either be a time when you lose weight because you have more time to work out or a time to gain because you have more time to eat. I want to lose weight! I’m sick of all this gaining I want, no I NEED, to have a few good weeks of losing. It doesn’t even have to big losses, just losses. I know that for me its eating. I work out plenty, and I’ll work out even more over the summer. But that won’t matter if I’m always snacking!! I know that i can lose weight, I have lost almost 30 pounds although I’d like to hit that 30 pound mark. I can’t seem to get there I can get to 29 pounds and then whoop! and I gain weight… grr. But IT WILL HAPPEN!

In other news, yesterday my mom and I went to the book store! I got 2 new books to read: Peony in Love by Lisa See, and Beside a Burning Sea by John Shors (I think that’s his name). I also got this book of writing exercises (it was on sale for $4!). I love to write. I used to write all the time before my parents split up ( I live with my mom, but thats a story for another blog). Now I almost never write. But for english this year we had to write a short story and it reminded me how much I looove writing, if only I could actually write anything!! So I’m going to try to do the exercises in the book, they seem pretty interesting and not at all boring. Maybe if any of them turn out worth reading I’ll post them.

Just out of curiosity… is anyone actually reading this? Maybe that is a silly question, but I guessI have no idea if people are actually reading what I’m writing. That was dumb… I’m sorry

Ok well I guessI should go try to study for Chem although I have no idea where to start!

Au Revoir!

Elli

This pasta is healthy, yummy, and it looks like something you would get in a restaurant. Better yet its really easy! it will probably take between 30 and 45 mins. I hope this tastes as good as when I made it, I don’t normally use recipes so I don’t know if the amounts are quite right. Feel free to add any other veggies you might like, and ask me questions if something doesn’t work out right!

Linguine

1 medium onion, cut in half then sliced

14 oz. can of petit diced tomatoes, drained of the juice

1 cup of frozen spinach

2 medium to large cloves of garlic, minced

3.5 oz. of whole-wheat linguine

½ cup of white wine (this can be really cheap stuff!)

3 tbs of balsamic vinegar

1 tbs olive oil

1 small Italian sausage (I use soy sausage but you can use whatever you like)

1 tbs red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

grated parmesan cheese

Roasted Zucchini and Squash

1 small zucchini, sliced, sliced into ¼ inch thick rounds

I small yellow summer squash, sliced into ¼ inch thick rounds

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp olive oil

salt and pepper

Instructions

1.)  If you are using the oven to roast the zucchini and squash set this to 400 degrees, if you aren’t using the oven, so if you have one of those small toaster ovens, skip this step.

2.)  Cook the pasta, be sure to put plenty of salt in the water it adds tons of flavor.

3.)  While the pasta cooks, put the olive oil, onions, and a pinch of salt in a large pan on medium to high heat. When the onions start to get soft and floppy, add the garlic.

4.)  After about a minute pour in the wine and the balsamic vinegar, it’s going to make a lot of noise and boil right away but that’s ok.  Next, add the tomatoes. Let this boil for 5 to 10 mins or until the alcohol cooks ff and it’s reduced significantly.

5.)  Next, roast the zucchini and squash: in a medium bowl mix together all the ingredients and spread out on a pan covered in aluminum foil. Put this in the oven and let them roast for 10- 15 mins or until they are getting dark on top.

6.)  Cook the sausage, you can do this however, suits you. I cut mine in half length-wise and cook it in about 2 tsp of canola oil in a small skillet for 5 mins, flipping it every minute.

7.)  When the pasta is done strain it and put it in the pan with the tomatoes, onion, wine, and vinegar. When the sausage is cooked, cut it into bite-sized pieces, and add this to the pan too. When the zucchini and squash are done pour them onto a plate with a paper towel on it to take off the extra oil, then add to the pan. Finally, add the red wine vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste.

8.)  Serve with grated parmesan. Bon Appetit!

Makes 2 servings