Holiday Helpings

Seasons greetings!

I love entertaining. Cocktails! Appetizers! Dinner parties! I love it all, unfortunately this season I am swamped and my work/travel schedule is clashing with my social calendar. After a hectic 3 weeks at work, I traveled to Chicago for 72hours of fun and football, then to New York to kick off holiday shopping and back to San Francisco only to find out I was being flown down to Los Angeles 4 hours later for work... thankfully my family is in Southern California so it worked out with Thanksgiving plans. So here I am now at home, overwhelmed with what December has to offer, and all I want to do is throw a party! I will be out of town this weekend with his family and then next we are off to Mexico for a relaxing vacation... where do I have time to eat right? work out? let alone sleep?!  I am going to try and cook, bake and blog as much as possible while I am home. 


While I am out, here are a few things I will most certainly keep in mind while indulging in holiday treats...

• When you know you will be attending a gathering over the weekend, be sure to be extra good with what you are putting in your body during the week

• If its a potluck, bring a light and healthy dish that everyone will enjoy - check out my posts on Lasagna, Bison Sliders and Bakes Crab Tofu Rangoon (post coming!)

• Fill up on the fruit and veggie trays before you dive into the sweets

• Stick to lean meats and fish when there are entree options

• Hydrate! Drink plenty of water, if you're the good stuff too, try alternating a beer or glass of wine with a glass of water

• Partner up! If you're headed out with your girlfriends (or your plus one) you can support each other when passing up that bacon wrapped cheesy good passes by on the plate. You know I swear by my workout club and they would never let me eat something I was going to regret 

My Tree! 

Most importantly HAVE FUN! If you really want something, have it, don't deprive yourself or focus on the food all night. Moderation is key!

Theme/Challenge this week: Champagne Taste, PBR Budget

My mom always said that I have champagne taste on a coors light budget. Okay, maybe those weren't her words exactly, but its TRUE!! I am constantly in a financial uphill battle, I just like nice things! 


A few weeks ago, in my delirious-sickness I decided I want to own a home. At home point in my life, I will buy a house.  I WILL. This also lead to a series of part-time applications and opening a high interest bank account, for my direct deposit when I get that part-time gig. For now, I stick to what I know - feeding my man. I canceled a surprise I had planned for him due to "tightening the belt" and he laughed and said OK, no more $5 avocados then.. we have groceries here! By groceries he meant, canned tuna, frozen salmon and some year old mint-and-chip ice cream sandwiches. I'm sorry - you may be 30 and be okay with eating like a college boy, but I will not! Also, this is HIS pantry not mine, although mine isn't much better - I am not one to stock up on items, I buy mostly fresh - spices included and try and stay away from canned and processed goods. If I don't shop on Sunday, I would just about starve. BUT this got me thinking - OK, we're gonna save - then let's have that champagne taste on a PBR budget (we are in San Francisco after all) 


Here are some tips I found by Googling (oh how I love G...) "calorie counting on a budget"

Here are ways to cut calories and your budget:

• Limit pre-packaged diet foods. If you have been relying on foods like frozen diet meals that do the calorie counting for you, you may save money by cooking at home and calculating the calories in your dishes yourself. All you have to do is add up the calories in each ingredient and divide the total by the number of portions the recipe makes.
• Buy fresh fruits and vegetables in season. Whether you shop at the supermarket or the farmer’s market, seasonal, local produce is often the better deal. If you’re craving a dish that calls for out-of-season produce, use frozen — it’s cheaper and whatever you don’t use will keep for a later date.
• Make beans and rice a protein substitute. Beans and rice are affordable, especially if you buy them dry and prepare them yourself. Stick with half a cup serving. It goes from being a high-fiber, nutritious food to being high-calorie very quickly.
• Do the prep work yourself. The more preparation that has gone into your food before you buy it, the more it will cost. You can save a lot by buying fresh greens instead of bagged salad and whole chicken instead of boneless breasts (always remove the skin).
• Maximize the value of your meals. When you cook a dish, make enough to freeze servings for other meals. Apply the same approach when you treat yourself to a meal out: Veteran calorie-counters know restaurant portions are too big, so consider your splurge to be dinner plus lunch tomorrow and take home half in a doggy bag.
• Plan ahead with healthy snacks. If you know snacking is a weak spot for you midday at work, plan ahead. Packing a snack you make at home will save money and calories. Also keep in mind that a container of raw veggies or melon chunks is more budget-friendly than the box of cookies or bag of chips you used to buy.

I found this at EveryDayHealth.com

Multitasking - burning calories on a date!

Getting my boyfriend to workout is like taking a three year old to get a shot. 


In order for him not to deter me from my quest, and in addition to my workout club and my healthy meals, I have Googled my way around the web and found these fun dates into sneaking in burning some extra calories! 


Mini Golf - 225 Cal an hour (I also try and do some extra squats when picking up the balls, yes I am ridiculous)


Batting Cages - pending frequency and effort you can burn around 200 an hour..

Hiking to a picnic between 450 and 550 calories an hour (Each way!)


In between football games on Sunday's grab your man for some catch - 30min burns about 100 calories and at the end of the day sit down, relax, reach over and give him a quick 20min massage - theres an extra 100 burned just before bed!


OK - so lets be clear, I am not saying play four rounds of mini-golf and you will meet your cardio for the day, but - these do make me feel a bit less guilty if i skip that morning weekend run. 

Workout Club

Ahh my workout club... This started off very simple - lets jog to the top of Buena Vista and run some steps, glass of wine after. Well... these casual strolls a few times a week were quickly counter acted by that glass of wine and we were not seeing results. Club President Michele, had already been with out personal trainer for a few weeks - so she was burning the extra calories mean time. I however still had not had my awakening.


A few weeks in it dawned on me Michele had added a new member, Leta, and the Buena Vista social club wasn't working out for her. They had joined Crunch and were in full force. After much convincing, I signed up for a two week membership pass - that came with two comped training sessions. I went to one class in that two weeks.


After meeting the trainer, and giving him a very tight deadline for my goal - I had a wedding I was in in three weeks and wanted to "tone up" - he said it was doable, I just need to commit. Le sigh.. here it comes.


We set up a meal plan, we'll meet 2 times a week and I will do cardio on top of that 5 times. With the help of my workout club, I made it to the gym twice a week, on top of my training sessions, and I would run on my own outside it of it at least once (twice on a good week.)  After week 1, I started to feel the results. When I ate well, pure and good foods, I felt better! I actually would WANT to run and get outside and be active.


I did have one weekend where it all went out the window - drinks, pizza, burgers, everything it was a free for all - and I paid for it. I woke up Sunday morning with the hangover from hell (I had limited my self to 2 or 3 5oz glasses of wine a week) and what others would politely call Montezuma's revenge. I was so sick, sick as a dog, I had never felt so horrible. I spent a week cleaning out my system, a detox if you will, and then went and loaded it up with all that crap. How could I have done this?!


When I saw my trainer next - I told him I binged and ate horribly, he knew exactly what followed. I expected punishment but he didn't, he knew that past Sunday was enough for me to never do it again. 


Moral of the story - you are what you eat. and I truly believe that now.

 Eat crap = Feel like CRAP 

 Eat well = Feel UHH-MAZING

 and YES it's that simple. 

Basics

So after meeting with my trainer (and advice from my amazing workout club members and fitness experts)- and given the short time for my goal we set a diet a long these lines:


Breakfast: Egg whites, spinach, avocado and an apple
Mid Morning Snack: 15 almonds, 2 slices turkey meat
Lunch: 3oz chicken, 12oz broccoli and 3oz sweet potato
Afternoon Snack: Lara Bar (sometimes a protein bar)
Dinner: 3oz chicken, 12oz broccoli


Total calories: around 1200 - I am under strict directions to never go below.


The goal is to have your diet  40% Protein 30% Carb & 30% Fat.


The Lara bar was the hardest part for me - although all natural and pure - its tons of carbs and sugar. Becuase the rest of my diet was protein I needed that carb to function. I still occasionally switch it up with a protein bar!


This is just a base - I cant live off this alone, it gets boring! (BUT it works.) I do mix it up with cauliflower and brussel sprouts - or swap the chicken for Tuna or Bison.


Diet is a HUGE part - but you will double if not triple your results when combining cardio and strength training. I hate cardio, hate hate hate it. Its suggested to do 45min 5 days a week. I average about 3 days - and sometimes will push it to an hour. I started a workout club with my fitnessy friends - it really helps keep you motivated! I love that I have these girls - we meet after work and have replaced our happy hours with treadmills and smart water. (Most of the time)