Cauliflower Rice

If you have found your way to my site, chances are you've already done some research on healthy food trends and most likely have come across cauliflower "rice". Perhaps like me you initially scoffed at this and dismissed it. I now admit that was the wrong approach! I took a chance on cauliflower rice this week and made cauliflower fried rice (paired it with a Broiled Miso Salmon). It was delicious! Many thanks to Gina of Skinnytaste whose recipe I followed. I modified it only slightly.

Since I've been trying to follow a 1200 calorie diet (and have been mostly successful!) I am constantly looking for interesting and filling lower calorie alternatives, which forced me to try this dish out. In the fried rice case, I did not even miss eating the rice. All the flavors and textures were there! I'm not convinced cauliflower would work in a risotto or anything like that, but I'd try another cauliflower "rice" recipe for sure.

For those counting calories or curious about the differences, 1 medium head of cauliflower has about 140-150 calories. This made several cups of "rice" (3-4). 1 cup of cooked rice will cost you about 170 calories and doesn't have as much vitamins and nutrients.

To follow the recipe, I encourage you to visit Gina's website (it's also where I got the Broiled Miso Salmon recipe). I cut the recipe in half and opted to only use the whole egg, no egg whites. I also decided to add a drained can of 'Asian' vegetables (bean sprouts, water chestnuts, baby corn, and bamboo shoots) to increase the Asian flair of the dish.  Get creative!

Enjoy!

Picture taken from Skinnytaste.com

Week 2

Week 2 of my new diet plan just wrapped up and it was a difficult week! I did a lot better eating the foods I was supposed to (still didn't always eat enough), but frequently felt hungry and craved foods like chocolate and cheese. I did not experience the weight loss I did in the first week. In fact, it wasn't until the end of the week I noticed a 1-2 lb drop. It is difficult to keep motivated when you do not see results!

The weekend was the first celebratory event for my boyfriend's birthday, so I am sure I went over my calorie limits a little. I haven't reweighed myself and will probably wait a few days to see if it all levels back out again.

I worked a lot of extra hours and as a result did not add exercise into my daily or weekly routine. I started week 3 out better with a nice 30 minute, 6 mile bike ride. I hope to continue that trend, but over here on the east coast we have a week of rain to look forward to. The gym it is!

It has been an interesting challenge to find new meals that fit within the calorie limits. I am not quite ready to rotate through the same ones completely. A friend of mine also gave me some Blue Apron meals for free. Who am I to pass up free food? But all of the meals are 600+ calories, so I looked for options that work for leftovers to cut them in half. We'll be trying that in a couple weeks and I'll be sure to report back.

What low calorie meals do YOU eat? Salads get boring all the time and I am thankful I don't have dietary restrictions. Otherwise, the challenge would be even greater!

Diet

Ask any nutritionist, physical trainer, or doctor and they'll tell you the key ingredient to losing weight is DIET. Obviously an active life style helps, but you won't lose weight if you eat poorly all day.

After researching and talking to people who were successful in losing weight, I spent time developing a daily meal plan. YES. Every day. Every meal. Every snack. It takes time, but with tools like MyFitnessPal and Googling "<item> nutrition" I was able to easily put numbers to the big 4 macros of every dish: Carbs, Fat, Protein, Calories. I put together a weekly meal plan over the weekend, make a grocery list and then go buy the food I need on Sunday. Food prep for the next day takes me
~15-30 minutes every evening.

I'm a bit old school, so I used Excel to list out my food items and sum up values (copy/paste is a big help!). A friend suggested I take my target weight and multiply by 10 to get my daily calorie limit. She then recommended my total calories for the day be 100-150 below that number, so I can (guilt free) have a cup of coffee in the morning or even the occasional small glass of wine in the evening. My target calorie intake for a day is ~1200 and I had 30 lbs to lose to get to my target weight.

There are 5 meals throughout the day: Breakfast, Morning Snack, Lunch, Afternoon Snack, and Dinner - each meal is 175-250 calories. The calories total ~1050 a day. There are many opinions about the Carb-Fat-Protein Ratio. Most will tell you that to lose weight you should increase the Protein you eat, reduce the Carbs and especially Fat. I do not have a ratio goal, but I do try to have less Fat intake vs. Carb or Protein every day.

I don't like to eat the same food every day or every week, because then I'll get bored and cheat. I try to switch things up within the calorie ranges for every 'meal'. For the first week, which I just finished, I stuck to very generic items. For example, I had baked (seasoned) salmon for dinner with steamed cauliflower. After just 1 week I got the hang of portion sizes and types of food I should be eating and started looking into some other healthy options. Skinnytaste is helpful since the nutritional information is already completed for you! I also found recipes online and used MyFitnessPal to make sure I stayed within the ranges I needed.

Here is an example of 1 day (portion sizes removed):
Breakfast: Egg+egg white omelette with spinach, tomatoes, and low fat cheese
Morning Snack: 1 orange and raw almonds
Lunch: Chicken Wrap (roasted chicken, lettuce, tomato, low fat cheese on a whole wheat tortilla)
Afternoon Snack: Grapes and Yogurt
Dinner: Baked Salmon and Steamed Cauliflower

I also did a lot of reading about how to jump start your metabolism. I have no idea if this is contributing to anything, but I did buy B-Complex Sublingual Liquid and take that 2-3x a day.

Throughout the day I drink coffee with flavored creamer in the morning (not the healthiest, but I am pretty stubborn with my coffee!), water, and maybe an occasional Bai drink (10 calories and 18g Carbs per bottle).

I lost 4-5 lbs in the 1st week, but did not always eat the full meals in the day. I need to work on that. I did not work out this first week. I will add that in as I go. Fingers crossed for continued progress!

If you have a significant other, try to get them on board with your healthy plans! In the past I sometimes failed at eating healthy because I was eating plain baked chicken and my boyfriend might be eating pizza. My boyfriend is currently eating the same meals I am (slightly bigger portions) and has also seen some weight loss. He is even coming up with creative dinner ideas within the calorie limits. :)

Other Meal Plans: Over a year ago I tried the 21 Day Fix, but I didn't plan very well. 1.5 weeks into the plan I went on a long weekend trip and also got a pulled muscle. I started cheating pretty quickly. I did see results in the 1.5 weeks, but felt the plan cut back on items I really enjoyed eating and are relatively healthy in moderation (hummus and avocado, I'm talking about you!). Consequently, I had food cravings and it was a struggle. It's not a bad plan and worth trying.

It's Been Too Long

I really slacked off on the blog posting in the past 12+ months. It was something I really enjoyed doing and felt was a good use of my spare time. But I became increasingly frustrated with my fitness and weight. I took the time from blogging to instead work with a personal trainer. I also started counting calories and using MyFitnessPal daily. It was extremely frustrating to not see any results. Have any of you experienced the same thing?

My focus then shifted to my career. I put attention and effort into defining what I want to do with my professional life and what I need to achieve that. Unlike my weight and fitness, I have some results: direction and new certifications. I also became more involved in a volunteer organization and really enjoy the time with all the wonderful women I volunteer with.

It's time to focus on my weight and fitness again, because it 'weighs' on me daily - no pun intended. :) I looked into some different options and put a renewed energy and determination into my cause.  My boyfriend bought me a FitBit, which helps me determine when I've really slacked off! After speaking with several successful women who lost weight, I recently dove into a plan.

I have so much to catch up on - I've traveled to Iceland, Bahamas, Las Vegas, Boston (again!), and Chicago. I also can't wait to share the weight loss plan I've embarked on and have already lost 5 lbs on. Hopefully over the next several weeks and months I can catch up on the big items that I've regretfully neglected since last January.

Stay tuned!

Crustless Vegetable Quiche

Here's a super easy recipe to make for a low carb (gluten free!) and high protein breakfast meal. You can also make this ahead of time for the work week. I get bored with cereal and oatmeal, so this is a great way to break up my breakfasts. 

This recipe can be altered in a variety of ways. I often make it with all egg whites to reduce the cholesterol, fat, and sodium (and without reducing protein that much!), but you can also use eggs ( which case I recommend using 5-6 eggs depending on their size) or a mixture of eggs and egg whites. You can change the vegetable if you aren't a fan of broccoli to peppers, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, the possibilities are really endless. The cheese is another way for you to make this your own - I typically use a 2% cheddar, but swiss, mozzarella, and others would also be great. If you want to skip even more calories and cholesterol, skip the cheese.

Below is the recipe (image was taken from the same recipe, but I used a mixture of eggs and egg whites):

Servings: 4 * Calories: 121 * Fat: 3 g * Carb: 5 g * Cholesterol: 15 mg * Protein: 18 g * Sugar: 2 g * Sodium: 420 mg *  Fiber: 1 g

Vitamins: A (10%), C (42%), Calcium (25%), Iron (1%) based on a 2000 calorie diet

Ingredients:

• 1 cup egg whites
• 1 cup nonfat cottage cheese
• .5 cup 2% shredded cheddar cheese
• 1.25 cup broccoli (frozen or fresh, cut into bite size pieces)
• 1.5 tbsp chives (fresh or dried) - optional
• pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a medium to large size bowl, mix all ingredients together (if you are using real eggs vs. egg whites, whisk the eggs before mixing any other ingredients in). Add pepper to taste.

Pour the ingredients into a greased baking dish (8x8 baking dish or pie dish is preferable) - I used my Misto. Make sure vegetables are evenly distributed.

Bake for ~1 hr. 

Let sit for a couple minutes, cut and serve. If making ahead of time for work, this can be reheated in the microwave!

Harvey Wallbanger Cake

As healthy as we all strive to be, there are occasions that call for desserts. Since not all of my anticipated guests would be happy with a fruit salad, I do like to keep certain desserts in my repertoire. I am not a baker, but I know enough to be dangerously delicious. Because of this, I have not experimented with alternatives to make desserts more healthy and I really should. Some ideas for alternatives here would be egg whites vs. eggs, a different glaze, and sugar free pudding mix.

This recipe is one from my grandmother. I'm not quite sure what other desserts she makes (aside from cookies) or where she got this recipe from, but I enjoy it every time! It's also not a dessert everyone knows about, so it makes for a great dessert for guests, especially when you tell them it is based off of a drink.

Servings are estimated and can vary based on the server.

Note: 1/4 cup is about the size of an alcohol nip. This is a cheaper method for buying the alcohol if you don't typically carry it in the house. 

Servings: 14 * Calories: 289 * Fat: 12 g * Carb: 40 g * Cholesterol: 60 mg * Protein: 3 g * Sugar: 28 g * Sodium: 306 mg *  Fiber: 1 g

Vitamins: A (2%), C (15%), Calcium (7%), Iron (6%) based on a 2000 calorie diet

Ingredients:

• 1 package yellow cake mix
• 1 package instant vanilla pudding
• 3/4 cup orange juice 
• 1/4 cup Galliano liquour
• 1/4 cup vodka
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• Butter or shortening for greasing
• 1-2 tbsp flour (used when greasing pan)

    For glaze: orange juice and powdered sugar.

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Place all cake ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix until blended. This can be done by hand with a whisk or by a mixer.

Grease a bundt pan with butter or shortening and lightly flour. For easy greasing, I take a ziplock bag and put my hand in it. My hand is then protected and clean while greasing. Once done, I flip the bag inside out and voila, no mess! 

Pour the mixture into the bundt pan.

Cook for 45-50 minutes.

Once cooked, let cool for a minute or two and then flip the bundt pan onto your serving dish. Be careful, because the pan is hot! If the cake isn't coming out, of the pan, gently shake back and forth. If it is still resistant, use a butter knife to gently loosen the sides where it is stuck. This may occur as the cake cools and contracts.

Once the cake is flipped onto the serving dish, let cool. 

Mix ~1/4 cup orange juice and 1 cup powdered sugar together until smooth. Add more powdered sugar until the consistency is thick, but still spoonable. This will be drizzled onto the cake as a glaze. It is ok for the glaze to pour down the sides of the cake a little, but thick enough that the top of the cake will be be covered in the glaze. 

Using a spoon, drizzle glaze onto top of cake. Glaze will often drip down the sides of the cake.

Let stand for 10 minutes and serve. I made mine a day ahead of time and put in a portable cake dish.

Tropical Smoothie

Smoothies can bring out the creativity in all of us. There is a lot of room for flexibility and different concoctions. They also are a great way to quickly pack in a lot of nutrients and vitamins. Some personally learned lessons:

1. Mixing green and red in a smoothie makes it looks brown and unappealing.
2. Not including enough liquid creates a gel-like consistency.
3. Bananas are a very powerful tasting fruit. A little goes a long way in flavor.
4. Don't be afraid to use spinach, kale, avocado's, nut butters - they add a lot of nutrients and flavors!

Having just gotten a Nutri-Bullet Rx for Christmas, I wanted to try my new fancy kitchen tool out! Since it is winter my fruit options are limited, but they exist! Below is the recipe I followed. Some additions could be:

• sunflower seeds
• coconut chunks
• pineapple

This recipe is also dairy free, gluten free, and vegan.

Servings: 2 * Calories: 153 * Fat: 5 g * Carb: 24 g * Cholesterol: 0 mg * Protein: 2 g * Sugar: 16 g * Sodium: 92 mg *  Fiber: 4 g

Vitamins: A (20%), C (95%), Calcium (16%), Iron (2%) based on a 2000 calorie diet

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsweetened almond vanilla milk
• 1/2 banana
• 1.5 oranges
• 1/4 cup orange juice (with or without pulp)
• 2 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 tbsp apple butter
• Ice 

Directions:

Place all ingredients in blender and mix per the instructions for your blender. Ice can be added during blending or after and only needed if serving immediately - the smoothie will be room temperature otherwise.