5k Glow Run and Color Me Rad 5k Run

Come May, I will be running the Color me Rad 5k run (Looks fun, right?)

And the 5k Glow run in August. This is my first run of any kind (Excluding those stupid mile runs in high school) and I'm UBER excited. I started training recently but I've been running since January of this year.

I use Nike+ to keep track of all my runs and I've been getting better and better. If you use Nike+, please feel free to add me at blkenigma. Today I ran my all time best for 5k at 45 minutes and 11 seconds. A few weeks ago it was 50 minutes, then last week it was 48! 

I also use myfitnesspal (you can add me at blkenigma8) to keep track of my food intake and my burned calories. 

I do have a few tips for any noob runners out there that I had to learn the hard way.

1. Shoes. Go get your feet checked out and get some highly recommended or prescribed shoes.
2. Run on a track. Running on concrete (Especially if you're over weight) is so hard on your body. I got really bad shin splints doing this. Running on a track is just so much easier to start out. 
3. Breathing. Try to control your breathing while running. I've heard people breathing like HEE HEE HOOO or just taking a deep breath in and a deep breath out. I breathe one breath at a time, slowly. When you take deeper breaths, you use more air sacs in your lungs, which allows you to take in more oxygen to feed your muscles. Also, breathe through your belly, not your chest. This is a daily struggle for me and I'm still working on it. Read more about breathing HERE
4. Posture. Try not to slouch when running. Look straight ahead and point your chest outward.
5. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Constantly drink water.  I used to just drink after I ran but I found that I was more exhausted and had to stop running just to get water. I drink 3 cups (8oz each) before (not immediately before, but throughout my morning) and 5 throughout the rest of the day. When I run, I don't need to stop and drink. 
6. Friends. Find a motivational partner. Someone who is working towards the same goal, or maybe they have accomplished it. 
7. Eat. But eat healthy! Eat lots of protein and keep track of what you are putting into your body. Don't have a mentality of "oh I burned 500 calories now I can eat an extra 500 calories". Eat lots of colors: carrots, broccoli, radishes, squash, grapes, watermelon, the works. 

I may add more tips as I go and if you have any tips please feel free to comment!

Mediterranean Chicken

This chicken dish is amazing. Plus, it's low carb! So what's not to love?

This meal has 415 Calories, 43g carbs, 9g fat, 35g protein, and 6g of fiber. 

The Med Chicken, alone, is 202 calories, 5g carbs, 5g fat, 26g protein, and 1g fiber.

There is pasta in this recipe, you can omit it for fewer calories and carbs. 

I use Dreamfields carbs and explain why I use it here.

What you need:

Chicken breasts (I always fillet the chicken breast)

Progresso jar of artichoke hearts

Roma tomatoes

Oregano

Thyme

Sage

Basil

Garlic Powder

Salt and Pepper

Cheddar Cheese

Mozzarella Cheese

Feta Cheese

(You can also add in Kalamata Olives, but we hate olives.)

Preheat oven to 350.

Sprinkle chicken, both sides, with all herbs and salt and pepper to taste.

Grease a casserole dish and place seasoned chicken in dish.

Pour the jar of artichokes (it should be a really small jar) over chicken.

Chop up roma tomatoes and sprinkle on top.

Sprinkle all your cheeses over the chicken to coat. 

Bake for 30 minutes. 

***Always check to make sure there is no pink in your chicken.***

Accompanying this meal is:

1/2 cup Dreamfields Pasta (optional)

3/4 steamed broccoli, sprinkled with garlic, salt and pepper

Romaine lettuce

Lite French dressing

6 croutons

Have a myfitnesspal account? Want to see what I eat everyday? Add me at blkenigma8

Steak with a Balsamic Reduction Sauce and Honey Glazed Carrots

Adapted from Budget Savvy Diva

What I had for dinner yesterday:

Steak with a Balsamic Reduction Sauce

Honey Glazed Carrots

Pasta - Gasp! Yup, pasta. 

Salad with 5 croutons and lite French Dressing

This meal was 527 calories, 69g carbs, 13g fat, 36g of protein, 10g fiber.

The pasta - I bought Dreamfields pasta which, according to their logic, 1/2 cup dry is 41g of carbs but apparently, because of the fiber and protected carbs (?) it subtracts out 31g and you're left with 5g of carbs. Not really sure if this is accurate when it comes to our specific diet, but I tried it anyway.

The Steak
Here's what you'll need:
Steaks
Balsamic Vinegar
Sugar (I used granulated Splenda)

Steak Rub:
1 tbsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tbsp Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Chili Powder
2 tsp Paprika
1/4 tsp Sugar (Again, splenda)
1/4 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Garlic powder
1/4 tsp Onion Powder
2 tsp Salt

How to make it:
Mix your rub together.
Sprinkle rub on steaks until well covered.
(Site I got this recipe from didn't specify how to cook and since its too cold to grill, I pan fried it.)
While that is cooking boil some balsamic vinegar. Boil about twice as much as you think you need for your steaks, because it reduces as it boils. Once bubbly, pour sugar. I used 3 tbsp of sugar for about 1 cup of balsamic vinegar. It should thicken.
Serve steaks with balsamic reduction sauce over.

The Honey Roasted Carrots:
1/4 cup Honey
2 cups chopped carrots
1 tbsp oil (I use light olive oil)
and 1/4 cup water

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all together in a casserole dish and sprinkle with a dash of salt if you'd like.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, until tender.

For my pasta:
1/4 cup dreamfields Penne pasta, dry
1 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp salt

Boil pasta until tender. Drain.
Sprinkle Parmesan, garlic and salt, mix and serve.

Enjoy!

Breakfast Idea

It's hard to think of low carb meal ideas but breakfast is one of the easier ones. 

I used to eat toast, frozen waffles, and oatmeal for breakfast all the time. It's easy and fast. 

(My husband and I see oats differently, he thinks it still counts as carbs and we shouldn't eat it, but I think because its so good for a runner I eat it in small amounts and very seldom now)

Now, instead of eating potatoes or any grain, eat veggies, fruits, meats, eggs and of course coffee!!

What I had for breakfast yesterday:

Coffee - with Splenda and Coffeemate lite original creamer

Eggs - 1 whole and 2 just whites

White American Cheese

1 sliced Gala Apple - has a lot of carbs, but all healthy carbs.

2 stripes of Turkey Bacon

This meal is 330 calories, 26g HEALTHY carbs, 20g fat, and 29g protein and 5g of fiber.

Free Zumba Routine

Zumba. 

Have you tried it? It's AMAZING!

Shyea!! 850 calories and you don't even feel like you worked out. How can you be when you're dancing? It's not just dancing though. Zumba has a way to make me feel confident, sexy and just plain awesome! 

Ok, yes, at first you kinda look like an idiot but once you get the moves down, you're unstoppable! 

Anyone can do this, you feel awesome, and you form bonds with the people around you. 

There are many ways of doing zumba.

You can do zumba viz Wii or xbob Kinect. 

I have the Kinect version, I liked it, it's actually how I started out. But I quickly did all the dances. And there's a male instructor that I don't like. The whole point is you have to mimic the person so you can points but he does all these moves that doesn't have anything to do with zumba. Like giving a thumbs up or something, for example. Seriously? I have to mimic you doing that? And he does it a lot.

Or you can join a class at a gym. I go to the gym on base and I go to Just Ladies Fitness. I love it. There's a chick there that is actually Hispanic (I am Puerto Rican, not to be racist but I don't like the white instructors, they don't move as much) and her moves are crazy! By the end of the warm up you are sweating. By the end of the class, you are dying, if not already dead. I love it! I feel great afterwards and I burned 1000+ calories with her. 

But in case you can't do any of these, this is what I do when its a rainy day and I want to burn serious calories.

Here are some free youtube video's and there are a lot out there, but this is my favorite series. It's a total of 12 videos and 50 minutes and you burn 500+ calories doing it.

Ready?

There ya go! You just burned 500-700 calories!!! Congrats! If you would like to know exactly how much you burned go to calories burned calculator app and type in your weight and that you did 50 minutes of high intensity zumba. 

Soft and Chewy (Low Carb) Peanut Butter Cookies

I'm VERY picky with my peanut butter cookies. I don't like crispy cookies in general but it's worse with PB cookies. These cookies are so low in calories and low in carbs! Plus, it's healthy carbs. 

Try to use a healthier peanut butter (Something with either no or low sugar) with this recipe, other wise the calories go up.

My Source: Culinary Couture

What you need:

1 cup Peanut Butter (I used Smart Balance)

1/2 cup Brown Sugar (Original called for a full cup but I wanted less sugar)

1/2 cup Splenda

1 Egg

(I added in a pinch of my homemade vanilla. It makes everything better.)

And you can also add chocolate chips or diced peanuts!

What you need to do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

MIX IT ALL TOGETHER. Don't even worry about dirtying your Kitchen Aid or Bosch. You can seriously whip this up real quick!

Bake for 9 minutes and let cool. Enjoy!

Makes 24 cookies

Per cookie:

54.9 Calories, 3.2 g Total Fat, 0.6 Saturated Fat, 15.5 mg Cholesterol, 26.0 mg Sodium, 53.4 mg Potassium, 7.6 g Total Carbohydrate, 0.3 g Fiber, 6.3 g Sugars

Hi There!

I love food.

Like...a lot.

So much so its borderline a problem.

I wasn't a problem until I was about 14-15

I don't look fat, do I?

That was the problem. I thought I was.

My family comes from Puerto Rico, so I always knew that I was a bit thicker.

Not fat, just uhhh... curvy?

My lower body exploded around this age. People said I was coming of age but I heard them saying I was getting fat. 

If you are a guy reading this, do you know what girls do when they are sad? or feel fat? or just on their period? They eat. Brownies, cookies, ice cream, cake, carbs, carbs and more carbs. 

I started getting bigger.

Once, when I was in 3rd or 4th grade, I broke my arm playing soccer. I was so scared to play and I don't know what else happened. I just never wanted to do anything. I never worked out. I never did anything active. 

Anyways, fast forwarding to about 2 years ago. I was at my biggest. 

I was hitting 200 lbs here. I'm 5'1''. 200 lbs??? I can't believe that that is me! 

According to my BMI, I am Obese. Obese? Me? 

Anyways, why I am doing this is because 2013 is my bitch (pardon, but it is a much needed word right now). I am tired of trying to lose weight and saying "When I'm skinny..." or "When I lose weight...". No more. I'm done with it. 

I've tried a lot of programs out there: weight watchers (which started to work but I got bored), counting calories myself, special k plan, slim fast, Skinny pills, the works. 

But I have finally found something that works! No, this is not a crazy drink nothing but a gross water recipe for 8 days straight plan. 

CARBS! I don't want to go into the details of why you should eat less, but here is a fun educational poster.

Or watch Fat Head. 

Tom Naughton took the documentary Super Size Me to a whole new level. He wanted to prove that you can eat out like the guy from Super Size me and not gain weight. It was all about portion control when it came to carbs. Carbs has so much sugar in it that even if you're eating a 'diet' bread or cupcake there's still so much sugar in it.

Or something like that. My husband took more out of it. but I recommend watching it. It is eye opening. It's on Netflix watch instantly.

That's it!

I can eat (within reason) as much meats, cheeses, nuts, seeds, fruits, veggies as I want!

That doesn't mean you can't have carbs sometimes! I allow myself one day where I can eat carbs. I have been doing this for about a month or so and when I do eat carbs, I can only have a few bites because it is so filling! I feel like my stomach has gotten a lot smaller because of it.

There are a lot of substitutions out there that you can use instead of carbs. 

That's what I'm doing with this blog.

I need help with variety. This will not only help me but help others who are on a low carb diet.

Please, if you do not agree with my diet, then don't comment.