Healthy Holiday Recipe: Heart Healthy Cheesy Potatoes

This Thanksgiving and Christmas I'm gunna stick with eating as healthy as I can. But I still want to enjoy it so, I have a low-calorie cookbook that I'm using to make my holiday season most enjoyable! The Books called "The ultimate low-calorie book" I'm gunna share with you some recipes i'll be using.

Heart-healthy Cheesy Potatoes
PREP: 15 minutes BAKE: 1 hr 5 minutes STAND: 10 minutes OVEN: 350 F MAKES: 12 servings

Ingredients: 

1 10.75- ounce can reduced-fat and reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
1/2 cup fat-free milk
1/2 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup finely chopped onion (1 small) or 2 tablespoons dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 30 or 32-ounce package frozen shredded or diced hash brown potatoes, thawed. (I think grated potatoes       would be okay too)
1/2 cup crushed cornflakes or crushed wheat cereal flakes

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 2-quart rectangular baking dish; set aside. In an extra-large bowl combine soup, cheese, milk, onion, sour cream, and pepper. Stir in potatoes. Transfer mixture  to the prepared baking dish.

2) Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir potatoes; sprinkle with cornflakes. Bake, uncovered, for 20-25 more minutes, or until heated through and bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition facts per serving: 129 cal, 3 g total fat, 11 mg chol, 20 g carbs, 5 g protein

ENJOY!

Recipe: Chicken Salad

Alright guys, it's recipe time! Yesterday I made dinner for my roommate and me. She wanted to try some of my healthier food, to see how good it was. Well, it was a hit! I made a delicious simple chicken salad over my even simpler carrot noodles. It's just a bonus that it's LOW CALORIE. :)

Here's what you'll need:

One large can of chicken breast. I think it's the 8 or 9 oz can.

1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese
1/2 a cubed avocado
2 cups of spinach cooked
seasoning of choice
3-5 Carrots
1/2 teaspoon per plate of Flax seed

1) Mix the chicken (after being drained), Cottage cheese, and avocado in a medium sized mixing bowl.
2) Mix until the chicken and avocado are smooth.
3) Add seasoning of choice, I added pepper, and sirracha. I'm pretty sure anything of you want will work.
4) Saute some spinach in a pan and add to the bowl
5) mix all together and tada! All done! :D
6)For the carrot noodles
I peeled about 3-5 carrots, depending on how thick your peeler peels and heated them up in a pan sprayed with cooking spray. If the peels are pretty thick it might take longer to reach the doneness you may like. I like mine to have a little bit of a crunch. I season those with pepper and a tiny bit of salt.
7)Top the dish with some flax seed, I do this for appearance and the omega 3s.

Calories: For 2 Servings 311 calories (including carrot and flax seed)

Enjoy. Tell me how it comes out. :)

Carbs and CALORIES

Hello again guys! It's been a great few weeks! Well, other than the fact that I've only lost 2 lbs in 2 weeks. A pound is a pound though, yay!

Today I've decided to explain possibly why I have only lost 2 lbs in 2 weeks. Too few carbs + too few calories= not a skinnier Kirsti.

I've increased my exercise regimen so much that the 1300-1400 calories I've been eating isn't fueling my body and is causing it to store all my food. Hence, no weight loss. It's quite frustrating, I've been leaving the gym dripping wet is sweat and it's not reflecting on the scale. So after the second week of disappointment, I took matters into my own hands and ask my trainer and nutrition teach (who's a registered dietitian) WHAT'S UP?! Okay, i didn't do it like that, but I really was wondering what was going on with my body.

My trainer first told me that I needed to increased my calories up to 1800 or even 2000! Let me tell you, that scared me so much! I've gone the last year eating less than 1500 calories, and to eat 2000, wow that's almost heart attack status. ( my thoughts were, "what if I start to gain weight?!") I asked my nutrition teacher what he thought and he said I need to think of my body as if I were an athlete, because I workout like I am. (Talk about confidence boost, I'm an athlete now) So, I've slowly increased my calories to 1600-1700 on light days and on intense days, I'm eating 1900-2000. I need to trust their knowledge and experience. I'll tell you guys if that helps or not on the next weigh in.

While I'm not eating enough calories my carb intake is way too low. I know that I need to eat on the lower end of the daily recommended carb amount because it's better for my body but it was way too low for how much exercise I do. Before talking to my teacher I was eating 100-120 grams of carbs a day, well, my body needs at least 150-170 a day. No wonder I was having headaches! Carbs fuel my body, which helps me burn calories.

So after every workout I need to eat carbs and protein. (PB sandwich, yum!) While I need to eat 150 or so grams of carbs 130 of them need to be eaten before my afternoon snack. Hello to carb loading before 2 pm.

Here are some good foods for carbs:
Oatmeal, of course
Whole grain bread
brown rice
Wheat tortilla
Fruit
Peanuts
BEANS- really good source of fiber.

To reach my 130 carbs in the morning I eat oatmeal, bread, rice, fruit, peanut butter. And for after my afternoon snack, for dinner I have beans, and veggies.

I know this was kinda a boring post but for some people they might be working out really hard, but depriving there body of fuel. You're not gunna lose weight if you don't fuel your body properly. Learn from my mistake and drop the pounds. :)

Side note: The detailed information referring to my daily caloric intake, and recommended carb intake are for me, please look at this post to determine the amount of calories you should eat. And the recommended amount of carb intake for a person is 46-65% of your daily calories. Please talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before considering anything less.

Till next time enjoy the good carbs and leave the gym with no regrets.

Recipe: Breakfast of champs! Perfect for me.

Hello hello! I'm getting settled and use to school, moving in a week and been wanting to share with you guys the most important part of my day. Well, one of the most important parts of my day. BREAKFAST! I tell everyone to eat breakfast, it's so important. You're breaking your fast between dinner and lunch, telling your body that it doesn't need to store lunch as fat because it's not in store-all-the-food-because-i'm-not-gunna-get-anymore-for-a-while-mode. Breakfast revs your metabolism for the day, and it's gets going to burn calories.

Time to tell you what I do for breakfast! Warning, I have little variety but you can be as adventurous as you want. I eat this because it's a solid breakfast and quite tasty. Why change it? Here's the basics:

Peanut butter, whey protein, and oatmeal, plus some fruit, and unsweetened almond milk

Ignore the items not mentioned in this photo, those will be mentioned in another post. :)

Morning oatmeal:

1/4 cup of dry oatmeal

water to cover the oatmeal

1/2 scoop of whey protein

1 tbsp of peanut butter 

Unsweetened almond milk for consistency wanted. 

Fruit of choice

I heat the oatmeal in the microwave with about enough water to reach the first knuckle on my index finger. Cook for 1 minute and then add half a scoop of whey protein powder, don't mix once the why is added. Add the tablespoon of peanut butter (Make sure the peanut butter has low sugar, I think mine has 3 g) then mix a little bit to see what the consistency is. It's normally too thick for me and I like thick oatmeal, so I add a little bit of unsweetened almond milk. Once you've added the milk, mix it around and enjoy. :) 

I like to add a little bit of fruit, one because I need it and two it's nummy. 

A few strawberries, or berry of any kind is good. And I LOVE these mini bananas, they are PERFECT for me. Just big enough to fill my banana craving but not too much sugar. 

Now that I've shared how I make my Breakfast of Champs I'll explain why I'm eating it.

So oatmeal is a really good food to keep you full, a little goes a long way and it's a good source of fiber and grain protein.
I add the peanut butter for taste, extra calories and protein which is also why I add the whey. I didn't start doing this till I met with my trainer and started weight training. I need lots of protein to feed my muscles and more calories to keep my metabolism going. I need to eat more calories to lose more weight, specially since I'm doing so much cardio and interval training. If you're not weight training a few times a week or partaking in daily workout classes you probably don't need 20 grams of protein like me. Just oatmeal with unsweetened almond milk and fruit should do the trick.

This is the breakfast I have everyday. Mixing up the fruit really helps me not get tired of eating oatmeal everyday.

Once a week I have my "nutella" on toast. Here's the recipe. Warning its super good and personally I think so much better than nutella, just because it has so much protein in it.

Protein nutella:

1/2 scoop of chocolate whey
1 tablespoon of peanut butter
Unsweetened almond milk for consistency.

In a regular bowl mix the whey and peanut butter, then add almond milk till it's the consistency you like. Finally put it on a slice of bread. This breakfast option has less carbs then oatmeal. I like to use Dave's Killer Bread 21 Whole Grains. It has 6 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber per slice! Hearty and yummy!

Breakfast is my most important meal of the day, and oatmeal has so many options. You can add eggs to it, honey, spices, fruit.. whatever you want. :)

There's a little look into my daily routine. I'll soon share with you what my morning consists of, and how I prepare my food for the day. :)

Till then, eat breakfast and live with no regrets.

The good foods!

Alrighty my fellow friends and weight loss buddies. It's time to get down to business. I have read many places online that while it take working out and eating right to live healthy and lose weight, it really matters what you are putting in your body. It's not about eating the amount of calories you're suppose to and saying "Yay I didn't gorge my  mouth with way too many calories!" it's about filling your body full of nutrients so you can feel healthy, look healthy and be healthy. Isn't that what we all want? I know it's what I want. I once read "abs are made in the kitchen not the gym." I think it's true. Today I'm going to tell you a boat load of different kinds of food you can eat to start your road to success. Yay!

Veggies

Okay I know the whole heart picture of veggies is a little much, but I recommend having a good relationship with veggies, you'll be eating a lot of them. Here is a short list of the endless veggies that are good to eat:

• Spinach
• Zucchini
• Squash
• Carrot
• Avocado
• Broccoli
• Mushrooms
• Peas
• Celery
• Cucumber
• Cauliflower
• any other veggies you may want. :)

Fruits

 

Oh how I love fruit! Really when it comes to eating healthy it's the easiest when I can eat fruit, I just love it. But unfortunately I love it so much I have to watch how much I eat so I don't consume too much sugar. Ugh. Everything in moderation... remember that about everything. Anyway fruit is pretty much just like veggies you can eat anything you want. But I think you have to watch the amount of sugar you consume.

• Apple
• Banana
• Grapes
• Strawberry
• Blueberry
• Raspberry
• Mango
• Orange
• Pear
• Anything not listed... list here. Like coconut, or cantaloupe... you got the idea. :P



Legumes

 

This list isn't so long, but there are still some that I have found to be yummy.

• Lentils (any form)
• Black beans
• Pinto beans

 

Meat

 



I'm sorry if you find the above photo to be gross... what photo of raw meat isn't. Anyway, next is meat, meaaat. All kinds of meat, correction lean meat. Every time I type the word 'meat' I say it like a big bulky guy MEAT! Hah. I think one of the most crucial things to know about choosing a meat is, make sure its lean. No fat, skin, or anything that isn't red... or white or whatever color the meat is.

Fish:

• Salmon
• swordfish
• Shrimp
• Scallop
• Talapia
• etc

Other meats:

• Chicken (skinless, fat removed, boneless is good too)
• Pork- lean
• Red meat (fat removed)
• Veil
• Lamb

Grains/carbs



 

 

Yummy yummy yummy carbs, yummy! Hah. I love any form of carb, so delicious. Rolls, bread, noodles, potatoes, all so good. Here are some that are actually the good kind.

• Whole grain anything. (pasta, tortilla, roll, etc.)
• Oatmeal
• Brown Rice
• Couscous
• Sweet potato

 

Nuts

 

Nuts are the easiest snack! Lots of healthy fat and protein, some of my favorites words!

• Almond
• Peanuts
• Peanut butter
• Walnuts
• Pistachio
• etc.

 

 

There's the basics, some other things I would note that I have found to be quite important are:

• Measuring cups/spoon are your friend! Use them like you use a spoon or fork. Proportions are extremely important.
• I have learned while visiting friends or family, it's hard to say "I can't eat that" or stark hacking away at your steak to take all the meat off... so instead it a very limited amount, nothing you will regret later. Also about cutting the fat off... well just tell them that you don't like the fat, and at least your eating the meat! :)
• Always look at the nutrition label, specially for grains and carbs, you'll have more control if you're aware of what you're putting in your mouth.
• If you don't know the nutritional or caloric value of something look it up. Here are a few sites I like to use:

nutritiondata.self.com

myfitnesspal.com

 

Have any questions leave a comment! Till next time, work hard, work long! :) Adios.

 



 

 



How to set a long term goal

I've been inspired to write a new post. An old friend of mine recently asked me to help her get the ball rolling on her weight loss journey. I was more than glad to, I was actually really really excited I could help someone first hand. Anyway, while I've been pouring all my secrets, tricks, and beginning step on her it made me think "I should share this with everyone. Make a post!" Its the hardest to get started, so I wanna make it as easy as possible.

Courtesy of google

First, I'll go back to my first post on this blog, to get started you have to have the motivation to want to lose weight.

Second, Determine your BMI (Body Mass Index). Which is based on current weight and height. This is to determine what your weight should be. (Goal weight)

Third, Calculate your caloric needs to maintain weight. So that later you can adjust to lose weight. I got this formula from the INSANITY program.

For woman: 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - ( 4.7 x age in years)

For men: 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

This equation is based on the Harris Benedict Equation

Fourth, Now that you know how much calories your body needs to maintain your weight you need to determine how many calories to eat based on how often/hard you workout. Take the number you received from the third section and multiply by your level of exercise below.

From my iPhone

After calculating this number this is the amount of calories you have to eat to maintain your weight while working out. So to lose weight you want to subtract 500-700 calories from your final calculation. That 500-700 calories is equivalent to 1-1.5 lbs a week of weight lost.

Fifth, Based on your BMI and the amount of weight you lose a week you are now able to calculate a long term weight loss goal. Just divide the amount of weight you want to lose by how much you will lose a week and in that many weeks you will reach your goal weight.

EX: To lose 45 lbs at 1.5 lbs a week March 16th is when the goal will be met. (45/1.5= 30) Add 30 weeks from the current date.

I know that losing 1.5 lbs a week sounds like so little but, it's better to reach a goal early than late. I know that far too well. :) You can subtract more calories depending on how your body is responding to the amount of calories you are eating, just never go below 1200 calories. Personally I would never go below 1500 because I workout daily and my body needs the extra calories for energy.

So, now that you have an idea of when you are going to reach your goal weight, and how many calories you need to eat you need to know how to divide them up.

Eat at least 5 times a day; 3 meals and 2 snacks.

EX: For someone who needs to eat 1800 calories a day 400 calories for a meal and 300 calories for snacks OR 500 for meals and 130 for snacks.

A little tip I have to go along with this post is:

Make sure you eat after working out, some lean protein like skinless boneless chicken breast, beef, pork, fish (just remember to remove the fat), whey protein shake, protein bar. Complex carbs are okay too. You want to eat protein to rebuild your muscles up and re-energize your body. Also watch how much sugar is in the protein powder or bar. You want it as low as possible.

I think that's all for now. Have question leave a comment. :)