Green Monster Mania!

I want to start by thanking one of my lovely sisters again for introducing me to the BEST lunch ever: the Green Monster Smoothie.  

This drink is the best on the go lunch, or even breakfast, out there for when I don’t have time to eat before class.  Just blend and go! Not only is it an easy make, taking about 3-5 minutes, I felt completely energized during the long span of my classes.

All you need is:

• ·         Two cups baby spinach

• ·         ¾ cup of Vanilla Almond Milk

• ·         1 banana frozen

• ·        1 tbsp of peanut butter

• ·         ½ cup of Greek yogurt (I use Chobani honey)

When my sister first told me about this, I was a big skeptic because I’m not a big spinach fan and the only milk I drink is non-fat.  The fact that it is a green drink skeeved me out too.  But the taste makes it worth it! My roommates looked at me like I was crazy putting each of the ingredients in the blender and had eyes of disgust when I took my first sip.  Only my reaction of going to heaven had them dying to try it.  One of them loved it and decided to split the batch with me, while the other…not so much.  You win some you lose some I guess. 

 Another good thing about this recipe, like most, is that you can doctor it to your liking. One of my friends is allergic to peanut butter so she substitutes it with sun butter made from sunflower seeds.  The other day I ran out of honey yogurt so I tried it with peach and it was just as good, if not better! There’s also no room in our freezer for me to keep a bundle of bananas so I just use ice, works just the same.

Want to learn more? Check out the Green Monster Movement for more recipe ideas.

Happy first day of Spring!!

Sorry I seem to have fallen off the face of the earth lately, but I’m back!  While away, I stumbled upon this article using the ZITE app on my phone and it definitely had me thinking.  To summarize, the article states that a person is capable of changing their own genes when it comes to obesity simply by walking more.  Not only did my eyes widened when I read that, I instantly thought, “No way is this true.”  But the short article has proof from a study done at Harvard, so it must be true, right? I’m still skeptic.  I think having a routine of walking briskly for an hour a day will affect your heath and weight, but it will not change your genetics.   In my opinion, living a lifestyle that consists of physical exercise and healthy eating habits is what causes a change.  Then, applying this same lifestyle to how you raise your children will instill the same healthy values, causing a ripple effect to future generations. What do you think??

On a lighter note, spring fever has hit campus!  Everyone is outside in the quad, tanning in bikinis, going for runs, you name it college students everywhere are doing it.  So with all this extra activity that Spring always brings, here is a healthy treat that you should try: FROYO!  

Are you an ice cream junkie?  Do you sneak spoonfuls when no one is looking? Well this lovely invention is the PERFECT healthy alternative for you.  Now I know frozen yogurt is nothing too new to the world, but up until I started college a few years ago I never knew it was better to eat than ice cream.  There is a place in town a few blocks up from my apartment called Kiwi Yogurt (formerly known as "Sprinkles" for those of us who were around when it first opened) that is to die for on a hot day! All of their frozen yogurt varieties are non-fat, and as of recently many are gluten-free! There is also a bar of goodies that you can top your dessert with such as fruit, candy, sprinkles, cereal—practically anything you want. Here's a look at my delicious treat I shared with my boyfriend:

More good news: a ½ cup (the serving size) of any of the yogurts comes to under 150 calories before the toppings. Kiwi, like many frozen yogurt places, also pays by the ounce, which is an added bonus.  A FROYO shop that is close by is also a great place to run to ;]

picture 1 http://www.hiren.info/desktop-wallpapers/animals-birds-pictures/spring-scents_beagle-puppy 
picture 2 http://amplifiedculture.com/bliss-kiwi-frozen-yogurt-opens-in-winter-springs/

It’s just been one of those weeks.

I have eaten food that is high in sugar, loaded with saturated fats, and contains more salt than ever before.  It didn’t help that I had midterms, presentations and papers due every day (side note—I’m a stress-eater).  However, what really upsets me is that I didn’t think once to take my advice from my previous post.  It’s okay to have those weeks where vegetables are figments of your imagination, but, for me at least, I need to do some type of exercise otherwise I start to feel sorry for myself.  Therefore, to boost my morale this week, I’ve decided to follow this calendar that my sister emailed me on Friday:

It’s not much, and I will probably try to add some cardio in there as well, but having what I need to do planned out each day will help me succeed.  So what are your thoughts? Have you ever kicked yourself for doing or not doing something? What did you do to make up for it?

**Picture from http://toneandfit.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/madabsmarch.jpg

Sometimes I just want to cheat…

…On my relationship with eating healthy food.  There are days that I am craving sweets or salts and I turn into a mad woman if denied (people, it’s scary).  In order to satisfy those cravings, I normally head to the grocery store and pick up a box of brownie mix. Oh yes, I love Betty Crocker’s Dark Chocolate brownies and I know the recipe by heart.

• ·        Preheat oven 350°

• ·        2 eggs

• ·        ¼ cup water

• ·        ½ cup vegetable oil

• ·        Stir about 50 strokes and you’ll get something that looks like this:

Look at that chocolate deliciousness, nommm. There is also nothing wrong with eating some of the batter along the way :] And after it’s been in the oven for the designated time (mine was 35mins) they looks like this:

They ended up being the perfect mix of fully cooked and a little gooey, the perfect brownie.

My roommate and I sat down to enjoy them during our favorite new show, The River.  If you don’t watch, you should check it out, it’s awesome.  But during the commercial breaks we began to feel bad about ourselves because we managed to finish a decent amount of brownies.  So I went online to see if there is a healthy alternative to brownies and there is!  The online version of Glamour Magazine has an article about making brownies with black beans!  You replace the eggs and oil with liquefied black beans, add a few teaspoons of water to give it normal brownie texture and voila! Healthy brownies with less fat and a new influx of fiber antioxidants from the beans!  I haven’t tried these yet, but from online forums people seem to be raving about them and even offer other alternatives (like using spinach!).  From now on, I plan on looking up healthy alternatives to the many guilty pleasure foods I love and trying them out.

So I’ve been thinking…

This morning as I sat down to write a post about how to cut calories during your weekend of bingeing and laying around, I saw this post from one of my Facebook friends:

Approximately 7 million girls and women struggle with eating disorders. Sunday is the first day of eating disorder awareness week. This year’s theme is "everybody knows somebody." I'm sure we all know someone who has or is fighting for their life. Repost if you do. Eating disorders can be deadly but recovery is possible. ♥

Reading this it just made me think of how society has created a world that is obsessed with their weight and it is a shame that beautiful girls and boys think that they look ugly because they don’t fit Hollywood’s standard.  Sometimes, I can be one of those girls.  I see these actresses on TV and feel like I am checking them out more than my guy friends to judge whether or not I am as pretty.  I’ve never struggled with an eating disorder because I love food too much and I can’t bear the thought of making myself get sick, but I know girls that have and it’s a sad to see them wither away not accepting your love or advice.  

It’s hard to help someone who is determined to look a certain way or blind to how beautiful they are, but try to be there for the person and talk to them. If one of your friends is constantly at the gym and then not eating, think of ways to educate them that they can see results and lose weight by changing their eating habits to a healthier routine.  If your guy friend is trying to bulk up and begins two-a-days, encourage him to consume more calories that have the nutrients to keep his body satisfied.  A piece of advice I’ve learned from my mom: eat a meal that is colorful (greens, yellows, oranges, etc.), because those are the food that are good for you.

It’s that time of year again…midterm season

Looking over my planner earlier this week, I realized that I have 1-2 big assignments coming up in every one of my classes.  I’m even lucky enough that three of those assignments are all on the same day…NOT.  Now, I guess this opportunity could improve my time management skills, which honestly are lacking, but I can’t help feeling overwhelmed.  Not to mention I also had my adviser appointment today about scheduling for my senior year, which always spikes my blood pressure.  

In order to get some stress out, I decided to go for a run/walk at a park near campus with my roommate. It was exhilarating. I am so happy that I decided to go with her! Normally, on days that I have a lot of schoolwork, I lock myself in my room and try to knock it all out—which is an epic fail.  I usually end up crashing because I’m bored or the lighting is just right for a nap. Not today though! I feel completely refreshed and energized from just being outside! It completely boost my mood and entire outlook on my day. Now I’m ready to get going and take out a chunk my work load so I can enjoy the weekend!

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed with school, just go do something active!  We’re students we have plenty of time to do work, more than half of us stay up late planted on the couch.  Do your work then and go outside in the afternoon while it’s still nice out.  You can do anything walk, longboard, swing, play basketball, something that gets your blood pumping and relieves you from your worries. I challenge you.

*first picture found at sommecards.com

**second picture found on pinterest