Fighting My Cravings, CREATIVE and FUN Recipes

FIRST RECIPE

You Know That Weird Jello Desert Your Strange Aunt Makes That is Always at Family Reunions?

yeah, that one... You Can Make a HEALTHY Version.

All you need is:

2 cups of Greek Yogurt (0% fat, plain)

3 cups of Sugar Free Jello (yeah, you've got to make it first)

3 packets of Stevia (like splenda, only better)

A few mixing bowls and some snack size Glad/ziploc/tupperware containers with lids

Some fresh fruit, AND

A Sense of Humor.

Alrighty my Mighty Chefs of Healthy Cuisine, This snack is not to be eaten EVERY DAY, but is a fun replacement for the ice-cream or pie deserts you may feel you are missing out on! This is an Anti-Craving Treat.


Step One: Make Sugar Free Jello (I like black cherry or orange) and Measure out 3 cups. (Give the rest to the boyfriend or kids or hubby, because sharing is caring)

Step Two: In Separate container, mix stevia with greek yogurt and your choice of fresh fruit. (I used strawberries since they are lower in natural sugars)

Step Three: Portion Jello evenly into 4 plastic containers, and then evenly portion greek yogurt/fruit mixture on top.

Step Four:  Enjoy, you've got 4 handy little treats for if the hubby/bf/kids have something fattening and you want to feel included! Only your treat is colorful, 0% fat, low sugar, and good for you. (and I bet the Significant other and Offspring will want to try it)

Step Four Point Five...: I really hope it goes without saying that you would have to refrigerate these... but I said it anyways.

ommm nom nom







NEXT RECIPE!


To Defeat The Crazy Cheese Craving!

This one is so easy, So fast, and so simple.... I don't even know what to call it without exposing all the ingredients, so we will call it:

!Fast Breakfast!

You Need:

3 egg whites

2 tablespoons of fat free cottage cheese

A pinch of garlic

A pinch of salt


OKAY, so you dump all this in a MICROWAVE SAFE bowl, and mix it around. Then you nuke it for 30 seconds. Then you mix it a little more, Then you nuke it again for 30 sec, then you mix it one more time, and nuke it till it's fluffy (about a minute more in my microwave) and then you let it sit for a bit and cool off, and then you eat it. It will taste surprisingly like you used actual cheese, and minimize your dish usage. I like to have it with broccoli... :shrug: but I'm special like that.

LAST RECIPE OF THE NIGHT!

Conquer The Chocolate (or peanut butter) Monster


Once again, this is a simple tool for fighting Cravings. It will be lower in fats and sugars than most 'low fat' deserts available, and will be high in Protein.

You need:

1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt (0% fat, Plain)

1 Packet of Stevia Sweetener

1 Teaspoon of  either Chocolate Hazelnut Spread or Peanut Butter ( I use Justin's Organics)

And you pretty much mix these all together until it is fairly consistent, Pop it in the freezer for about 5min to make it a little more solid, and have yourself a treat.

The Thing About Lapses

THE THING ABOUT LAPSES... see everyone has them. Even little miss "oh i'm in awesome shape here's my stats blah blah blah" aka me. I had a lapse. I had a bad lapse. It coincided with job training, excuse making, and a loss of focus. So here I sit, 5lbs heavier and feeling generally bloated and annoyed. It makes me disappointed to have let myself down like this, and everyone who has been saying "follow your crazy man-armed dreams!" (those supportive but not really understanding what I mean friends).
And Now We Normalize Our Failures (see following explanations):

What is a Lapse?
Why do Lapses Happen?
What Should be Done About Said Lapses?




What is a Lapse? Well, that's the easy question. A Lapse is that piece of cheesecake that becomes that night of drinking that becomes that hangover that becomes the reason you don't go to the gym and then that guilt that makes you feel awful and depressed so you eat more junk food saying "what the hell I already effed the plan!" and then you don't go to the gym again and then 2 days turns into a week turns into an issue. Lapses are totally normal, and can be any number of things for any number of people. It's a break from the plan, falling off track, stumbling into a coffee shop in a PMS crazed delirium and ordering a cheesecake muffin and a mocha made with real cream and whipped topping... and that brings us to...

Why do Lapses Happen????!!! I WANT IT SO BAD, WHY DID I GO OFF TRACK?? Yup. That's probably part of the problem. You might be going too hardcore ass-kicking workout plus no treats or days off and not only will you be mentally burnt out, but your body will start showing signs of overwork and just give up on letting you continue at that pace. It's science, trust me. You will wake up one morning for your regular 6 mile run plus calisthenics plus cross training, eat your regular egg whites with protein shake and pre-workout  vitamins, pop in your headphones for some adrenaline pumping music, and READY.... SET.... feel like shit after 1mile and wind up exhausted and winded despite your training. IT Happens. You need variety. You need to switch up your workouts. You need days off. This applies to the Diet portion too! If you do not allow yourself a reasonable cheat meal here and there (REASONABLE IE: SMALL HEALTHY PORTION ONCE IN A WHILE not a whole tin of brownies) you are going to find yourself feeling extremely deprived. My lapse started with peanut butter. Little by little I went from eating a teaspoon a day to grabbing the container and scooping some out every time I was cooking, and then to just eating half the container one day. Why? Because I had decided that was the only treat I could fit into my diet plan, one teaspoon of peanut butter. I love treats. I love peanut butter. I was not giving myself enough variety in my food. I was not having anything sweet or treat-like. You will have cravings, you will cheat here and there, you do not want to live your life feeling like you don't get to have anything "yummy" ever. So...

What Should be Done About Lapses? Coming out of a Lapse in diet or workout routine can be difficult. I know that I am guilty of throwing my hands in the air and saying, "Well, the plan is ruined. The week is ruined. Let's eat ice cream!"  This is wrong. This is where it helps to reassess your goals, your motivation, and talk to your support group. I have to luck of having not only a wonderful understanding boyfriend, a crazy personal trainer, and a bunch of online bodybuilding.com forums, BUT I have a friend who is doing the same kind of crazy stuff I am, and we have a Text-if-you-need-me policy. 24/7 if I am staring at a pie, I can text Lydia and say, "why am I staring at pie?" and she will say, "because you aren't gonna eat it because we are going to be on stage together!" or something like that. What I am saying, in my round-about way, is that you should build a support group. Do not involve the toxic likes of friends who say, "oh well, it's only one night at cheesecake factory, have fun!" or "what do you mean you have to work out? Let's go shopping!" but instead look for someone who understands WHY you are doing this, and that you need them to be there for you! They will help you out of your ruts. The most important thing to do about a Lapse is to get out of it!  Do not dwell in your oops and oh well! Close the book on the Lapse and start fresh!

***note, if you have overworked yourself physically, this is a sign to take it easy for a few days and ease yourself back into a routine. Be careful, do not injure yourself!!!***

A free 3 day pass!

Well, there is a 24hr Fitness Super Sport club right around the corner from my apartment, so to celebrate another job interview, I decided to sign up for that free 3 day pass they offer. It is a very nice gym, lots of brand new everything. I really liked my old gym in Maryland, though. This gym out here doesn't have as much free space, which means less privacy when I do my stretching. No big deal of course, I can always do my stretches in the privacy of my home, but I liked having that Quiet Room at my old Golds. I liked having the ladies only room as well. Not because I'm shy about working out with guys, but because it was quieter and less grunting and slamming and high fiving. Now, their training packages are more expensive also, and so are the memberships. It's nice and all to have towel services and a lap pool, but that's not stuff I am super concerned about. I'm concerned about how crowded together the circuit training equipment is. I'm concerned about why they only have 3 ab machines, none of which do torso twists or back extensions, which are machines I need for my back therapy. I will bring that up with the membership guy... maybe I can complain them into buying some. Maybe I just don't cope well with change. I was a Gold's gym member for YEARS, and I only went to that one gym of their hundreds, but I loved it. It was perfect for me. Granted it got a little crowded now and then, but it was my gym, and I knew where everything was and exactly what machines to use etc etc etc. I checked out the Gold's out here, and it is little, and old... and in a sketchy building... and I don't think Tom would feel safe with me working out there alone. In the words of a very thoughtful bear, Ponder, ponder, Ponder.

Alas, I did workout, and I left feeling my biceps twitching. I did 12min on the stair machine on the Cardio Setting, a full circuit on the weight machines, and I did a 2000m row (just under 10min) on the rowing machine. I've really atrophied. My arms were struggling around the 40lb range, even on Lat Pull downs, which are usually one of my strengths. I could only do 20lbs on my triceps. I try to hit 3 sets of ten reps on each machine, at one point I was super-setting 3 sets of 30 reps at 40lbs each, I need to get back to that range. WEAK WEAK WEAK. My legs were okay, my core needs some work but I was still able to do my leg and knee lifts on the captain's chair. I attribute that to my running, resistance ball, and lunges at home. Like I've said before, I really have trouble getting a good arm workout from my little collection of dinky dumbbells. My rowing was probably the only thing I didn't feel entirely outmatched in. I was able to easily keep up with the very fit guy next to me, I had a shorter range of motion since he could have been around 6inches taller than me at least, but I was going stroke for stroke with him for a good 4min before he got off. Ah yes, did I mention I am VERY competitive? If you want to see me bust my ass, put me on a machine next to someone in better shape than me!


But I am home now, and wondering if I should do some twists while I'm still in my workout gear...

or if I should just let netflix win...?



Hmmm... yes, I think it's time for a random movie. Maybe, just maybe, I will do some more abs while I watch.

Getting by without a gym membership requires commitment

In Maryland, I was a die-hard Gold's Gym fan. I was there every other day, I was working with a personal trainer, and I was busting my booty. I was so familiar with where everything was and what times were less crowded. I was a gym-person. Deep down inside, I still am. Deep down in my wallet, not so much.
See, working out without a gym membership requires commitment. You either need to have a commitment to signing up for a different "trial membership" and drive way out of your way every week, to visit every gym in the county, (which i've considered and can't afford the gas) OR you need to figure out some way to work out at home without getting distracted. I'm sure it's easy if you can afford to purchase your own equipment and have the space to set it all up, but that does not describe my current conditions.
   Our spacious 1br 1ba apartment isn't small, but there are two of us here, and we have a lot of stuff. If I could afford a Stairmaster, we'd probably have to nix the kitchen table. Erm, no. So how am I making this work? Not very well. This is a huge adjustment for me. I own a bike, 3lb weights, 5lb weights, 4 resistance bands of varying strengths, some 1lb wrist weights, a 3lb mini medicine ball, a big purple resistance ball, a yoga mat, and two sets of ankle weights (2.5 and 2lbs). As you can imagine, we aren't really looking at a heavy iron pumping routine here. Also, biking safely in LA is... difficult. The safest thing you can do is avoid the designated bike lanes at all cost, forget being able to maintain a consistent speed, and accept that if you want to do hills, you'll probably get hit by a BMW. Now I understand the popularity of shitty 1 speed hipster bikes.
  Don't get me wrong, I'm trying. I have been wrapping my resistance bands around the support beam of our kitchen cabinets and trying to do rows, and I was finally able to achieve minimal soreness/burn 2 days ago by doing sets of lunges around every square inch of free space in the apartment. I've been using my kitchen step stool for step ups, and I've been doing my ab work to the best of my ability in our tiny living room while Thomas giggles and makes comments.
I am in terrible shape right now. I was going to work out but I got distracted and decided to blog about how hard it is to work out at home instead. That, my friends, is the hardest part. This bites. I can't wait to get my first paycheck so I can join a gym.