About Staying Healthy...

I feel like... I need to use this blog more. :| If it wasn't for sheer laziness, I think I would. Well, maybe not laziness, more so... I feel like blogging time could be put to better use like walking the dogs or something. I'm just not dedicated enough. -_- #LameExcuse #FTW.

But I'm here to clarify a few things that people has been asking me a lot about. And I mean a lot. Like serious a lot. "How do you stay so skinny? Must be those good genes!" or "How'd you lose so much weight? Must be good genes!" Please. You might as well just stop now, turn around and walk away. If that was that easy I would've gotten this done a long time ago. Everyone seems to use that 'gene' excuse as if it held the secrets of the world when it comes to staying healthy and fit. Let me you, it's fucking not. It's about dedication, sweat, and most of all will power. Are you willing to make a lifestyle change? No? That's really your loss.

People also have a tendency to to blame their genes for being overweight, I know there's a fine line between those people who really do suffer from weight problems because of it, but I have also seen people abusing that excuse as a reason not to be healthy. I'm not sorry to say that I don't believe in 300 pound 'curvy women', I just don't. You only get one chance at this, make every second count. Why would you want to destroy your body? My thoughts exactly.

I'll admit it I've never had super overweight problems before, but I did reach an astounding 147 pounds at one point in my life last year and I was only 5'3". I was terrified of looking at the scale because I knew I was getting to the point where I was disappointed in myself. I wasn't working out and I had a pretty bad diet to go along with it. I knew something had to change or else I was going to drown. I started working out 6 times a week and made some muscle gains, but my appetite went through the roof. With this I was actually gaining MORE weight than I had anticipated. After 4-5 months of working out, I needed another option. Around this time a friend (Thanks, Gabe! LOL) actually introduced me to a diet called 'the paleo diet' named after cavemen diet of veggies, nuts, and meat only. No bread, wheat, dairy, rice, and processed sugar (as opposed to natural sugar like fruits). I didn't honestly didn't think I would be able to pull through, I love carbs way too much. I was scared, but I told myself 'fuck it, lets do it!'.

The first week was tough, but once I got the ball rolling it was surprisingly easy. Saying no to rice and pasta was merely a wave of the hand and I found myself craving healthy food. I stopped drinking (serious excess calories, but red wine every now and then is actually good for the heart ;) ). Junk food actually started giving really bad stomaches (I broke out in hives once from eating greasy KBBQ) and that was when I decided to just make a lifestyle change, it was much easier to just eat healthy then having to stay on the toilet for hours on end because of a cupcake I wanted to eat for dessert. Not that I don't treat myself every once in while because it's good to treat yourself, it'll keep the cravings away. I've been on this diet for about nine months but it only took the first four and half months for me to shed 32 pounds, the rest was about maintaining the weight.

It gets easier, but it's never 100% easy. Watching friends eat whatever they want is hard, still is. It's a battle everyday to say no to other things like ice cream and milk (I love milk :( and most dairy products) but I push through. I literally have to shove that motherfucker of a thought off the edge of the cliff to get it off my mind, so no, it's not my genes. The amount of will power and dedication that I have put into being healthier is what got me to my goal. So don't ask me how I stay fit when you're buying a handful of chocolate bars and chugging down two Rockstars, don't tell me it's my genes when you're shoving a fried twinkie down your throat. At the end of the, it's the choices that you make that shapes who you are. Literally and figuratively.

I'm not saying my decision is the only path you can choose, but rather everyone has their own goals, mine was simply to lose weight and be healthier, other people's goals range from being fit and build muscles to just toning out, but these all take a lot of dedication and will power. The question you have to ask is: Are you up for it?

Happy Eating!

♥ Kitty

A New Year with Protein Burgers

It's a new year! Happy belated new year to you all and hope you all had a wonderful holiday! :) I'm hoping for great things in 2014, one of them being able to blog more and continue this fascinating adventure I've taken in 2013 in search of a better and healthier lifestyle. I'm quite proud to say that I've lost tremendous weight being relatively average in size through making smarter choices in picking what I eat. Now that the holidays are over it's back to better eating healthier again! I've been feeling the full force of holiday dinners and parties for the last 31 days and they are not pretty. But it's back on track from here. :)

There are certain things I've learned in the last five months in taking control of what I ate and I have to say that eating healthy is really tough in this society. The fact that we have so much fast food chains every few steps it's tempting not to go in and order a large hamburger with fries and a soda, plus it's convenient for most consumers. People! There are great alternatives to eating such high calorie foods by swapping some of the ingredients out for something else. For me, since I love burgers I have them protein styled. Making them at home is so simple and easy with just a few ingredients it makes for a great meal.

Protein Burger
Ingredients:
90% and above lean ground beef is most desirable
Worchester Sauce
Salt & Pepper
Onion Powder
Romain Lettuce
Tomatoes
Onions

Many places that offer protein burgers usually wraps the burgers in Iceberg Lettuces. In all honesty, that is a big no-no in my book. Iceberg lettuce while shape works great in a lot of situations lacks flavor and texture, nutritional value, and overall sustainability in your fridge. Compared to iceberg, romaine has five times more vitamin C and a hundred times more beta carotene. I take the large leaves of romaine, wash them and cut them in half and use those as my buns.

As for the meat we use ground beef, before shaping them we drizzle Worchester sauce, I don't use a spoon, we eyeball when we cook. About three to four seconds of drizzling of the sauce should work for a medium sized bowl of ground meat. After we put in the salt and pepper and onion powder. We use grinder salt and pepper from Costco and we use about four turns when making our protein burgers. Then we shape them into balls the size of an average fist as the patty shrinks when cooked. The tomatoes and onions can be cut however you like them to be. Once the patty is cooked, place them on the lettuce, dab on the vegetables and voila! A hearty hamburger! I normally also eat them with yam fries on the side from time to time. :)

Eat smarter. Healthier life. Happy eating!
~Kitty

To the Girl Who's Drowning

A comment wasn't enough because I had to tell you more.

You are gorgeous. I wish you can see that about yourself. I wish you can see the potential that I see in you. But you don't. Instead you take each and every part of yourself and rip it to pieces until it seems like nothing is worth living for. Not even your own self-worth when that really is all that matters. All I ever wanted to say was have a little self-confidence, bring those lips to a genuine smile and for once be happy for yourself. Not for him, not for them, not for anyone else, but yourself. The chance at life should be enough to give you a reason to breath.

Bad things happen, we get hurt, you got hurt. I may not know what it is nor would I probably understand the true depth of the pain you feel, but you've let it eat you alive already. Is that the legacy you want to leave behind? Knowing that you've lost before you've even put up a fight? As you've said, "put up a fucking fight". I know you're better than that. You are better than that, don't let your bad past define who you are in the future, don't let it destroy your happiness because I can see it festering inside your heart, the sleepless nights and the way you curl yourself away from the world-- unmoving and vulnerable. I can only reach my hand to you so far and say that I can relate, it's a terrible place to be-- in that endless void of a hole where it seems like time is endless and day and night begin to sound and look the same... But at some point you're going to have to crawl out of that misery and start rebuilding that broken heart of yours.

To love a person means also learning to compromise, to love is to be vulnerable. It also means you're going to get hurt. A lot. A little. Different circumstances. Love is a gamble and a risk. Just because you gave them your whole world doesn't mean they're going to return that favor to you. You give them 200% and they can still take your heart wring it ever so slowly until it breaks to a million pieces then proceed to dump it a boiling pot of salt water. It's a harsh reality. But we take that leap anyways because for that brief moment of happy bliss, we are satisfied. But if and when it stops, you get your heart broken, you cry, you're going to get angry, but after move on. Things aren't going to get any better if you stay locked up forever in your room. If you want to change something, you're going to have to actually get off your ass and make it happen.

He never stopped loving you, he wanted it to work. The way he told us when he came to us, broken, dejected, and just plain exhausted, he said "I really thought she was the one," He just couldn't physically do it anymore. Coming back from work only to stay up with you every night because you couldn't sleep. He'll manage two-three hours of sleep before going back to a 8-10 work day. It was wearing him down, couldn't you see he was falling apart? In the process of keeping his promise to take care of you, his own health was put into compromise. He's sacrificed so much to be with you and yet you say he never loved or cherished you is a lie. Relationships is a two way street, you take care of each other, not just one person forever protecting the other.

You said that if a person truly loved someone, they'll let them go is total bullshit. It isn't entirely bull, you can't stop yourself from moving forward just for love or else you're going to be stuck. It may be a happy moment you want to keep forever, but it'll only suffocate and wither just like a flower if you feed it too much water. It'll drown. You have to give it space to grow and be better. He had a life to live. He had a career he wanted to think about, a future, especially a future with you in it. But you didn't want to let go of the beginning moments when everything was still new and thrilling. You were essentially stuck afraid to move on with him. He let you go because you needed to learn how to stand on your own two feet without relying on him. He felt like you were denigrating by being with him, you were becoming heavily dependent on him that you forgot to be independent. On your own. He just wanted you to be strong, yet you weren't letting yourself...

You gotta learn to let go... Live and be happy.

New Paleo Things

I've been trying a few things the past few months to try and tone up and lose weight at the same time, but after two months of trying, I wasn't seeing the results that I had wanted. A good friend of mine actually suggested changing my diet, because a big part of losing weight is about what you put in your body. I considered it and the thought of change terrified me. I love my food, especially carbs. But nothing was going to change if I didn't take the first step and so my journey into the Paleo World began. In short, a paleo diet basically mean a caveman diet that consists of mostly just meat and vegetables, no carbs, grain, and dairy. Supposedly everything should be organic as well, but in this day and age living off a college budget, it's hard. I still try and buy organic when I can though.

The first few days were harder than most as I tried adjusting what I ate and cooking took twice as long as now my boyfriend had to cook two different meals rather than one. Yet once the ball started rolling it did get easier. Yes, I said it, it does get easier. I could feel my body getting accustomed to the greens and protein and whenever we had those terribly nice cheat days, greasy food (even simple things like bread) just made me bloated and nauseous. It made me think that I never wanted to eat them again. Working out were the worse right after cheat days which then I've concluded, it's much better off not having them. The occasional (in small moderation) I think would be much better than stuffing your face on cheat days.

As I move along this new path that I'm taking with my health and diet, I thought I'd share a few dishes that I've been trying and that maybe you guys out there might want to try it out yourself. :)

Day One consisted of a Grilled Chicken with Mixed Fruits. We just added a simple shake of black pepper to each side and slapped it onto the grill. I picked out an apple and a few nectarines, chopped it up and used that as a side.  It's amazing how filling it is! ^__^

Happy Eating!
♥, Kitty

... Chicken Dinner

It's the start of a new year and yes, I haven't posted in a long while in between almost having three jobs and paying off bills whilst still in school, and trying to balance a social life: life gets hectic. Although from time to time I take a deep breath, take a step back and just relax. Well, it's close to midterms week and I thought I'd find a recipe that was full in nutrients and protein that will fuel my body to study this weekend. I decided to go with the one I used at my friend's housewarming party: a Lemon Chicken Mushroom Alfredo Pasta. Last time we used rotini and this time we decided to go with penne.

We started off going to Vons to get some chicken, being on a very tight budget, I'm always looking for the right bargain. Since chicken breast wasn't on sale, I opted for a large packet of chicken thighs for $5.31 (about 8-9 pieces), button mushrooms, and lemon. We also went with Classico's Creamy Alfredo  for the sauce. David cut the bone out of the thighs (we used about a piece each) and while he did that I sliced up the mushrooms and lemon that will be tossed in a wok to be stir fried.

These are the seasonings that we used to rub through the chicken. After we gutted out the bones, we put in some ground black pepper on both sides with some pink salt, and a few shake of parsley. Then we added Lawry's seasoning salt. Before putting the pieces onto the grill, take the lemons and squeeze out the juice over the chicken, let it sit for about 2-3 minutes. Once the chicken is cooking, stir-fry the mushrooms until brown, it's okay to use a box for two as once they cook they will dramatically shrink in size. After, we added in the sauce and let it simmer before taking it off the stove. Don't forget to set a pot aside with boiling water for your pasta. Boil your pasta to al dente as you will be cooking it twice with the sauce so that it'll be soft by the time you serve it.

Grill the chicken until it's golden brown, make a little slice if you want to to double check if it's cooked thoroughly. Take it off the grill and plate it. Next, we took the pasta, strained it and mixed it with the alfredo sauce in the wok turned the fire to medium and stirred it. After plating we added a dash of parsley on top of the penne as garnish for that finished look. :) Hope everyone that drops by or sees this, tries this home- it's super simple to make and a lot of fun! Until next time~!

Ciao!
Kitty~

Just Another Day...

I give you another easy recipe to work with for those weekend mornings with your loved one. :) Maybe even a bed and breakfast would sound lovely! It's a simple and tasty breakfast choice: Cinnamon French Toast with Powdered Sugar.

You only need a few easy ingredients from your local supermarket: eggs, cinnamon, maple syrup, white toast (try and find thick toast if you can), and powdered sugar.

We cracked the eggs into a separate bowl and added in a few dashes of cinnamon, then mixed them until it's slightly foamy. We then dipped the bread into the mixture and placed them on the fryer. Give it about 3 minutes on the stove before flipping it over (Make sure it's like this golden brown before flipping). Repeat process and place it on the plate after making however many you want. Lastly, shake powdered sugar onto the toast with another light addition of cinnamon. Drizzle the syrup and voila! :) Done! Nice and easy~ Hope you guys enjoy this one too. ^__^ Until next time!

Ciao!
Kitty~

Winter Dinner!

It's getting rather chilly out these past few days in Socal- I had a rather strong hankering for a bowl of soup that wasn't too heavy on flavor. Something light enough to warm the body and Di was craving pasta. After a few minutes of discussion and going out to get groceries, we decided to make Seaweed Egg Drop Soup and Creamy Chicken Marsala Pasta for dinner!

First up, I made the Seaweed Egg Drop Soup since it was so cold and really needed something warm. I boiled a pot of water added a speck of chicken bouillon, tossed in dried seaweed (not available in just any supermarket- I suggest going to a Chinese market) let it simmer until it softens then crack in the eggs. I like to use two, one to break the yolk, one so I can boil the yolk as a whole. Let it simmer again on low heat until serving time. Prep time: 2 minutes, Cook time: 5 minutes.

The main dish was the Creamy Chicken Marsala Pasta of course, Di boiled the pasta to al dente before mixing the chopped mushrooms, garlic, onion, and chicken with melted butter, 3/4 cups of Marsala Wine, chicken broth and heavy cream. We let the sauce boil in a pan until it was lightly thick then we mixed the two together then topped it off with Parmesan cheese and Voila! Dinner! Prep time: 10 minutes, Cook time: 15-20 minutes. Here's a link to a more detailed recipe: http://blogcritics.org/tastes/article/creamy-chicken-marsala-pasta/

Hope you guys enjoyed this dinner entree as much as I did as it did warm up my body from head to toes! :3 Until next time!

Ciao!
Kitty~