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!!!***

Change is Inevitable

   Right now, I am at a "normal" weight. Some people say I am skinny, and I laugh because I don't relate to that word. I am not a thin girl. I am not tiny. Growing up, I was small, scrawny at times, but never one of those long-limbed gangley types. I was very active, always outside, always high energy. I played sports and I did taekwondo for most of my life. I was recently digging through a large box of photos my mother had given me. I was a cute kid. I was kind of awkward, a tomboy even, but always bright eyes and big attitude. It was interesting to go through these, to watch my progression from child to teen and so forth. Through these pictures, I could see my lifestyle changes, from being extremely athletic until age 15/16 and then my slow taper into angst and depression, and of course weight gain. There was a period in high-school where I sort of stopped caring about taekwondo and only went once a week. It may have been because my self esteem was low after breaking up with a guy on our competition team, or just being a grouchy teenager, or the fact that I fought with my parents constantly? I can't remember, but the important part is that I had quit the team and lost interest in going to class. I was unhappy, unhealthy, and eating my feelings. I guess I peaked around 170 some pounds? I don't know. I stopped using the scale at that point. At 5'6", I was a size 14, and I was depressed.

  I struggled to lose weight for ages, in all the wrong ways. I am not proud of things I did, but I am through it. I was bouncing around in the world of eating disorders, from anorexia to binging to purging to over exercising, abusing weight loss pills etc. I did HORRIBLE things to my body. There were periods where I was eating 500 calories a day, and then going to the gym for three hours, to the point where when I got home I would have tunnel vision and severe cramps. There were times when I would eat all day, constantly, and then force myself to purge and sleep and sleep and sleep. It was awful. I look back and I cannot believe how unhappy and unhealthy I was. I still suffer permanent damage from these decisions, and I will never be the same because of it.

   Looking back, and knowing what I know about Celiacs now, a lot of it makes sense. My intestines were damaged, causing nutrient deficiencies. I ate and ate and ate because somewhere in there my body was telling me I needed something more. I had terrible grades from ADHD which is argued to be a side effect of gluten allergies, which would have saved me a lot of trouble in my relationship with my parents if you catch my drift. My hormones were completely out of sync, which is yet another celiacs side effect, and when you compound that with the hormonal mess that are the adolescent years, you get an entirely different obstacle course. I had no idea that anything was wrong with my intestines. I had spent my whole life suffering and didn't know any better. I am happier now. I miss good pasta and real pizza, but I wouldn't trade those for the way it feels to wake up in the morning and not feel like I'm coming out of a coma. I wouldn't trade the fact that for the first time in my life, in spite of how many situps I could do in a minute as a teen, For the first time in my life I have a flat stomach. I lived the first 24yrs of my life BLOATED. When you add in the fact that I'm finally working out properly also, I am on the brink of being in the best health of my life.

So I'm going to show you some pictures today, just so you know what I mean.

 This photo is from my senior year of high school, I can't say if it was at my top weight or not, but you get the idea.

This is me today, I do not know my current weight or body fat percentage, nor have I been consistent in my workouts, but yea, you see? Big differences.

So, What are you eating?

   Right now, my diet is not exactly strict. It really should be. I made gluten free pizza this week, it was supposed to be a 1 night treat, but turned out to be WAY more dough than intended. In fact, it was enough dough for two deep dish pizzas. Great. Well, I let Tom make his own pizza, and it took me two days to eat mine, but I have been really half assing this whole healthy eating thing. I should have only eaten about a third of what I did, and I should have cooked it with less fat and carbs. I try very hard to eat healthy during the day, well, until about 9:00pm, and then I wrap my little grubby hands around a spoon and find something I should not be getting into... usually ice cream or peanut butter or cheese... and these are the moments in my life that keep me from getting toned.


  The forums on Bodybuilding.com are full of useful information on watching your Macros and your carbs and your protein and spacing out your meals... I regularly read these and intend on setting out a diet plan for myself. A strict, no joke, follow the rules and do it right, diet plan. I have armed myself with whey protein, almonds, spinach, lettuce, bananas, bags upon bags of chicken, and yogurt. I have my gluten free oats, my stevia packets, my fat free cooking spray, and my fat free cottage cheese. I keep rice milk handy for cooking/drinking, I have potatoes, I have green beans and onions and peas. I have a container of egg whites. I have my food scale, my electric grill, my food processor, my measuring cups... and ZERO desire to sit down and measure everything, but I have to. 

  I took a big step last night, cooking up and measuring out chicken into baggies. Half of them I baked in the oven on a cookie sheet with a little garlic, a little salt and pepper, and a tiny bit of low fat parmesan sprinkled on top. The other half I cooked on the stove with some Oldbay spice, some ginger, and some pepper. The biggest change was switching from olive oil to fat free spray. Things don't stay as moist, they stick to the pan more, but they have less fat. ::ponders:: I guess that's okay though. I weighed out 3oz of chicken per baggy, threw them in the freezer, and started to wonder if I should do the same with my veggies. Instead I played with my ps3. Yup. I am easily distracted. 


  From what I'm reading/learning, I eat pretty well. My portions aren't what they should be, I do treat myself too often (apparently more than one Reese's cup in a month is a BIG NO NO), but overall, the foods I am eating are the right ones. A lot of protein, a lot of nutrients, not prepackaged, a lot of veggies, and nothing fried of course. I used to keep a food diary on my phone, I know it helps a lot. I need to start doing that again. Diet is 80% of your journey to fitness. Abs are made in the kitchen. It is time to really live by these truths.

Come on Jess, Get with it.

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.

oh my gross...

So these fitness people... they eat weird things, right? So do I. I recently was on a forum where everyone was discussing their favorite ways to make cottage cheese taste better. I love cottage cheese, and I think it tastes great with just a little black pepper swirled in, but I am always up for trying new things. I recently found some Gluten Free** whey protein at my local Trader Joe's, Vanilla flavored. I took a half scoop of this, a packet of stevia, a little rice milk to help dissolve, and some cottage cheese, and mixed it in a bowl. I also added some Gluten Free granola with raisins and smooshed it all together. It certainly looked interesting... like vomit, and smelled like... diabetes. It smelled so so SO so sweet and vanilla-ful. It was like... candy vomit, and it was GOOD FOR ME.
   Did I mention I have a weird relationship with sweets? I love Jello, Ice Cream, Chocolate, Sour Patch Kids, Red Bull, and anything Reese's. I hate Colas, I hate jellies, I hate candied fruit, I hate sweet potatoes, I LOATHE sweet potatoes... I don't like pop tarts, I don't like barbeque sauce, I hate that dish people make with the cinnamon sugar carrots. I don't like sweet chinese food like orange chicken. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if it isn't candy, I don't want it to taste like candy. I don't like my breakfast to be sweet unless it's a damn donut, and I can't even eat donuts. If it isn't a pastry, a dessert, or an energy drink, please don't expect me to eat it. I mean, even the chocolate I like is "salty-sweet" with caramel or peanut butter. I only eat straight chocolate on certain days of the month if-u-kno-wut-i-mean.

So here i am, staring down this vanilla flavored monstrosity...

with raisins...

 ...knowing that no matter what it tastes like, I HAVE TO EAT IT.

   Why? Because I am pretty much broke, and buying whey powder is a splurge, and there are starving kids somewhere that would love to have vanilla mush cottage cheese with oats and raisins, lightly chilled and chock full of good for you. So I ate it, and it tasted like something a normal person would have liked. It tasted like candy, and had crunchy bits and good texture...


and I hated it.

But you can try it out for yourself if you want! I mean, if that's your thing. I will go back to my lightly peppered cottage cheesed with roasted half the sodium almonds and olives. and I just might dump salt on top of all of it.