Switching Focus

Does anyone else have a fascination with numbers and tend to count calories all the time? I know, I used to focus on the amount of calories I ate, which lead to a disordered eating mindset. I know, that it also backfires and leads to unhealthy eating. Instead of focusing on whole fruits and vegetables. Eating when I was hungry or eating to nourish my body, I tended to focus on HOW MUCH I could eat. If I wanted to eat a chocolate bar or treat myself to some ice cream after dinner, I would already "save" those calories for dessert. Therefore, I tended to eat a simple fulfilling dinner which included lettuce with some extra lettuce which lacked the protein, fat, carbs, vitamins and minerals I needed for the day in order to fulfill my cravings with sugar.

Why did I do this? It fit my calorie budget and instead of focusing on what I needed I focused on what I craved. Why did I crave this? I only craved sugar (bad carbs) because I was essentially eating a low carb diet which restricted my good carb intake. When you solely focus on calories, you go by instinct and desire instead of actually thinking about what your body needs. Calorie restriction leads to deprivation which causes the mind to freak out and binge (well, at least in my case).

When fitting all the calories in the bank, you may feel like you have been cheated out of your meal. For example, if you were to eat a burger (approx. 500 cals), fries (250 cals, for a small), and a coke (160 for a small) you have already consumed around 910 calories for one meal. 

WHAT! OMG! I have nothing left to eat.......

Panic starts, and then you turn to carrots and lettuce just so you don't "starve" but you don't enjoy it. Why? Because you see them as foods that have no flavor. Foods that are there to keep you from starving and they aren't aesthetically pleasing. Sure carrots might look cute, but they don't smell good. If anything, they might smell a little like dirt. 

In the picture above the apple weights more than a doughnut. I would say this is true on two levels. 

1. The apple is really heavier in weight. 

2. Its more nutritionally dense. Yes, an apple is naturally sweet which means it has carbohydrates. However, they have not been processed or refined as those in the doughnut. When simple carbohydrates (donuts) enters the body, the body is confused because it doesn't know what to do with it. Normally when carbohydrates enter the body (think fruits and starchy veggies), the body had to break the glucose molecules down. Extract what it can to produce energy. The body runs on carbohydrates. However, when something is already done for the body (simple carbs) it just kicks back and does nothing. Which is why people gain weight. Their food isn't making their body work. 

So instead of putting a limit on vegetables, fruits, whole grains and natural plant based sources of protein and fats. I say, we need to switch from calorie counting to making sure we are eating nutrient dense foods to make sure we are feeding our body adequately. Also making sure we are making our body work for us! 

Just some pictures so you understand why you can eat XX amount of calories (ex. potato chips, cookies, bread) and not get full. 

Chickpea Quinoa Mixture

I love Quinoa because its so easy to make and so much quicker than rice. I mean, seriously 15 minutes to cook. Now, you can't beat that for a speedy meal. Normally, when my quinoa is cooking, I saute some veggies and make a stir fry out of it. Its so delicious, its crazy. 

I have been eating this for the past week and still haven't gotten tired of it. It was super simple and easy to make. 

I also got to use my little spiralizer, I get super excited whenever I get to use that. 

Ingredients:

 2 cup of cooked chickpeas (drained)

1 cup of quinoa (raw, then cooked)

1 sweet potato (chopped or spiralized)

1/2 cup of broccoli

1 cup of chopped mushrooms

1/2 cup of cauliflower 

1 small zucchini (spiralized)

1/2 cup of chopped onion 

1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped 

1 tbs of sesame oil 

1 tbs of salt

1/2 tbs of curry powder

1 tsp. of paprika 

Directions: 

Heat up oil on a large skillet and grill onions, until translucent. 

Then continue to add the sweet potato and cook until it is soft. 

Once the sweet potato is soft, add the remaining vegetables and cook until the mushrooms are tender. 

Once the mushrooms are tender add your spices, quinoa, and chickpeas and proceed to cook for about 10 minutes. 

Serve. 

Coconut Barley Pudding

If anyone here is Hispanic, I am pretty sure what you know what "Arroz con Leche" is. Rice pudding. My mom was making some the other day, and I instantly wanted some, so I made my own variation using pearled barley. 

Even my dad liked it! Well, I guess that isn't saying much because that man seriously eats everything. 

I topped mine with sunflower seeds and cranberries for an extra seasonal kick. And I loved it.

It even tasted better the next day when it was cold. All the flavors just soaked into the barley and made it awesome!

FYI: For some reason, when this was cooking, it smelled kinda funky, I didn't like the smell. But it turned out great!

Ingredients:

1 c Raw barley (cooked to directions)

1 can of coconut milk 

2 tbs of sugar/agave 

1 tbs of cinnamon 

1 tbs of vanilla 

1 cup of pumpkin (I used the actual vegetable/fruit, and chopped it and added it in)

1 apple (chopped)

Directions: 

1. Cook barley to directions 

(stove-top or crock-pot)

2. When the barley is cooked (drain it of water and add the coconut milk)

bring to boil (if using stove)

3. Add apple, sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, and vanilla and let simmer for about 30 minutes (until pumpkin and apple are translucent)

Top with cranberries and sunflower seeds

WAIW

Just Eat ALL day! 

Don't you ever feel like you eat waaaay more than other people. Today I felt like I ate soo much food. But I am trying to focus on getting in more vegetables than anything else. I have no problem with fruit as I love fruit. But I tend to skimp out on the veggies. 

Now, without delay here is WIAW

This morning I decided to not run for exercise. I want to change my body composition so I did an Insanity type workout. I was quiet fun and just as exhausting. 

Breakfast was cream of wheat made with cocoa powder, applesauce, pears, cinnamon and peanut butter. 

Then the mail came:

note to self, just because you ordered weights does not mean you will be able to carry them off the bat. 

Strength training is my new goal. After I assembled my weights I did about 10 minutes (about 6-8 sets) of different exercises. 

snackers: Papaya, celery and PB! VEGGIES

Then I just caught up on some cleaning and chores that I have been putting off.

Lunch involved a hummus wrap, sweet potato and a green smoothie. (veggies)

This smoothie included banana, papaya, spinach, almond milk, chia seeds, flax seeds and wheat bran. (veggies)

Note: I wasn't a fan of papaya in my smoothie. I love papaya and could eat copious amounts, however it doesn't taste good liquefied. 

Before going to work I had a humongous home grown persimmon and some coconut/mango rice pudding topped with sunflower seeds and raisins. 

at work I had some soy beans (veggies)

yogurt and cereal 

Dinner was much appreciated: leftover tofu, squash, and quinoa stir fry. (veggies)

along with some cucumber slices and hummus (veggies)

oh...and ketchup. 

Dessert was a nice glass of soy milk, Oreos and an orange to wind down. 

 I also ate one tiny square (1/6 serving) of chocolate while typing this)

I am glad to report that I had veggies at most of my meals and I limited my cookie/chocolate consumption to one and a half servings. Which says a lot for me since I tend to wolf down so much chocolate in one day. 

Does anyone else try to include more of a certain food group in their meals?

Pumpkin Pear Oatmeal

Pumpkin is everywhere now-a-days. Its not so bad, I love pumpkin but I typically don't buy the canned kind that they have at the stores, I go old school and peel and bake one of these bad boys:

Then I tend to either pure then freeze, or just freeze in chunks and use as needed. But basically I tend to eat a lot of pumpkin so the cans would be a bit expensive. When I roast the pumpkin, it actually breaks down and caramelizes on its own so its super sweet and yummier than the canned variety. 

So this has been breakfast when I have time to make breakfast all festive and what not. 

And it looks like a complete mess when I stir it all...

But its a yummy mess. 

Ingredients:

1/2 c oats (dry)

1/3 cup of pureed pumpkin

cinnamon 

1 small box of raisins 

1/2 pear chopped

1/4 tsp vanilla 

pumpkin spice (optional)

1/2 cup of soy milk 

Itty Bitty Squash Cups

One of my goals is to try new recipes or to try to create new presentations to my foods. I tend to stick to a pretty monotonous diet, however, I like what I eat so that isn't a problem. But there are other things that I would like to venture out and try every now and then. 

I have to admit, these were supposed to be mushroom cups, but as you can see, that didn't happen. The mushrooms were too small, and we had a handful of squash in the fridge so I decided to make them instead. 

Fist step, cut the squash about three inches wide and then "scope" out the insides (you can chop that up and add it to your quinoa mix so it doesn't go to waste)

Stir fry your veggies (you can use whatever you like) and then assemble your cups on a nonstick pan. 

(Your oven should be preheating to 350 degrees)

Now your going to stuff it....your squash cups I mean, stuff them with your veggie mixture.

Then bake them for 10 minutes 

served with mashed potatoes, bread, kabocha squash, tomato and green beans is optional. 

Ingredients: 

1 tbs EVOO

1/2 red bell pepper 

3 small Mexican squashes (each cut into three pieces)

1C mushrooms (chopped)

1/3 onion (chopped)

2 c of broccoli chopped

1/2 cup of quinoa, raw

1/2 tbs of paprika

1/4 tbs of curry powder 

salt and pepper to taste

Directions: 

cook quinoa to package instructions 

Chop all of your veggies (except the squash)

Heat the oil on a large frying pan, first add the onions and the mushrooms. 

Add the curry powder and the paprika. 

Saute until translucent. 

Now add the rest of the veggies (and the squash "guts")

add the cook quinoa, season with salt and pepper to taste , let simmer for about 5 minutes.

Assemble the squash boats on a pan and fill up with the mixture

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. 

Serve with hummus. 

New Years Goals

As I wrap up this year, I am currently thinking of the things that I have done in the past year. I have made plenty of mistakes, have slowly learned from them but I know that I will fail again. Life is about mistakes.

I try to keep busy and tend to rush through some of the important things in life

I don't listen to my body and tend to push it to the limits

I try to eat healthy all the time--which leads to my pitfall (Oreo cravings at night)

I sometimes and very bad at texting or communicating with people, I need to make an effort to become more friendly. 

I am not reading as much as I should of, I have let my passion for reading diminish and can barley get through a book in two months.

I don't want to just write random goals and hope to accomplish them. I really want to sit down and have a plan. Some things for sure:

I want to volunteer more
I want to stop calorie counting
I want to go back to school
I need a new job
I want to stay organized
I need to be happier
and lastly, I want to take a family picture at least once a month. EVERYONE. Someone is always missing from our pictures.