Buffalo Chicken Salad

What you need:

Buffalo Chicken Balls (Recipe HERE)

2 cups Romaine Lettuce

1/4 cup Shredded Carrots

1/4 cup Cole Slaw mix

1/4 cup Red Cabbage

1 tbsp Blue Cheese

12 Croutons

2 tbsp Hidden Valley Lite Ranch

Just assemble!

To Make ahead:

Add Lettuce, cabbage, Cole slaw mix, carrots, blue cheese and chicken into a container.

When ready to eat add croutons and dressing.

Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Balls

Every once in a while I CRAVE Buffalo Wings. But they're so unhealthy! 

I came across Key Ingredient and found this gem that is husband approved.

Warning - I have altered this recipe from the original.

What You Need:

2 Chicken Breasts

1 Egg

½ cup Panko Breadcrumbs

1 Carrot

1  Stalk Celery

2 Green Onions

½ tso Garlic Powder

¼ tsp Salt

1 oz Crumbled Blue Cheese

½  cup Frank's Hot Sauce, divided

What to do:

-Preheat the oven to 350F.

-Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet (Easy, clean and less grease)

- Filet chicken breasts, cut the celery, carrot and green onion into large chunks and throw into a food processor. Pulse to chop into small bits.

- (I quickly sauteed the mixture to ensure my chicken would get cooked all the way, optional however)

-In a large bowl, combine the vegetable and chicken mixture, egg, breadcrumbs, garlic powder, salt, 1/2 the hot sauce and the blue cheese.

-Gently fold together to combine, but don't overmix.

-Form the mixture into small meatballs - you should get about 28 small meatballs.

-Place the meatballs on the cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.

 -Remove the meatballs from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. 

-Drizzle remaining hot sauce and serve.

-From here I allowed chicken balls to cool completely and placed them in the freezer. 

-To reheat, place them in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes or bake them for about 10-15 minutes or (what I do) place them on the sides in a non stick pan, and add a little bit of water in the middle to allow them to steam. 

Working Out While Aunt Flow is Around

Why is talking about our period taboo?

It shouldn't be. Half of the world's population are/will go through it!

I just got a burst of motivation and thennn I started my period last night. Ughhh.

I told my husband "But this was going to be my week! I was going to eat so clean and work out so hard!" My husband said "Why are you saying this WAS going to be your week? You can still do it." 

Oh, silly, silly husband of mine. You can't possibly understand that one week out of the month is the equivalent of a werewolf coming out on the full moon (In my case it's usually the week before). We turn into crazy, hot and/or cold, chocolate-craving monsters whose insides are hurting and can find one spot to lay down on the bed that makes my cramps go away and if you move me, all hell will break loose. 

But it dawned on me. Why can't I work out? Normally, I workout to the max, burning about 700-1200 calories a day, not including my BMR. Instead of sitting around, feeling terribly about myself for a few days and feeling even worse that I didn't work out OR eat healthy, why can't I do SOMETHING?! 

And then the research started.

According to Women's Health "When you have your period (and the week after), your body is more like a man's. During this part of your cycle, your levels of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone are at their lowest, making you a little more dudelike—at least metabolically, says Stacy Sims, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist at Stanford University and a leading researcher on the impact of menstruation on athletic performance.

"It's a subtle hormonal shift, but it's enough that it could make you feel more powerful during exercise," says Sims, who began her investigation out of personal curiosity (she suspected her hormones affected her performance in a triathlon).

Her research shows that during this low-hormone phase, women also recover faster and have a higher pain tolerance. Why? "A probable theory is that your body isn't preoccupied with preparing for a possible pregnancy," she says. "Your baseline is reset into a more relaxed mode, so these other systems operate optimally." 

Exercise can relieve the discomfort of cramps and an aching lower back, says Trina Rowe, a doctor of physical therapy at Bauerfeind Performance Center in Los Angeles. It will also burn calories, a boon if you're a hormonal Count Chocula."

hmmm... interesting. I never really tested this out. 

So here's our first tip for working out whilst on your beloved period: GO TO THE GYM.

Try your hardest at your normal routine. Plus, there's a bonus of cramp relief! 

If you feel you can't do it, then go for a jog instead of an intense run, heck, just go for a walk. Do some relaxing yoga. Go for a relaxing bike ride with a friend!

Kotex (Link HERE) even has some advise and even poses we can do to help us out and even suggests swimming as a way to exercise when your Aunt Flow is around. 

Some women always seems to get confused when swimming is suggested. This is what I, personally, do.

I swear by tampons. I do use pads on the first day (Found out when I was 18 that I have big blood clots, apparently. Nurse told me to use pads for the first couple of days instead of tampons.) but then after I'm clear, I use tampons. When you swim, like RIGHT BEFORE, change your tampon. MAKE SURE IT IS.... UP THERE... Once I didn't insert all the way and the tampon soaked up nearly the whole pool. It was very painful, very embarrassing and very heavy. (I will say this, Tampax Pearl can hold a lot!) and swim like normal!

She Knows Health and Wellness suggests 7 exercises while on your period. 

1. Walking

2. Running

3. Yoga

4. Aerobics

5. Dancing

6. Planking

7. Working out from home

All of the above sound great! Especially yoga. I feel like yoga helps the flow and relieves cramps just doing a simple Sun Salutation flow. If you don't know how to do Sun Salutation, it's simple!

Start from the left (regular standing position) and continue the cycle as many times as you like!

And last tip, from me:

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

'They' say to drink 64 oz daily. Yes, this is true for some people. But you should drink half of your body weight in oz. So I'm 170 lbs I have to drink 85 oz of water. And most days I actually do it! Plus, I feel so light and energetic!

People ask me "Don't you have to pee a lot?"

At first I did. But then my body got so used to drinking so much, uhh I don't know the science behind it, but after a few days I only had to pee like every other hour or so.

So, ladies. Put down that chunky monkey and go out there and show the other half of the population that a simple week can't bring us down. It actually empowers us more!

Any questions or comments?

Leave them below!

I lost 30 pounds???

YES! I did!

Since I see myself everyday, I rely on other people's word that I've lost weight and that darned scale. Well, the scale doesn't measure muscle vs fat. When I started my journey I started doing weights and I started gaining weight from muscle, so I stopped using the scale and started measuring how many inches I've lost. 

This is when I started gaining a lot a lot of weight. At the time I was in college living in a little apartment struggling to pay rent and drinking coke and eating ramen noodles every night. 

 

This was around my worst. Christmas 2010.

The military just moved us to Holloman AFB, NM and it was rough. I gained about 40 more pounds here. I was about 200 lbs. I never posted these photo's because I was so ashamed of how I looked. 

I was still about 188 here but this was May 2013 and I started taking my health seriously. This is Joe and I after the Color Me Rad 5k Run.  

This was me yesterday, August 3rd 2013. I still have a lot to go, but I'm half way there!

200 lbs vs 170 lbs

FAQ:

How did you do it?

Simple. I ate right and I worked out hard.

I cut out sodas, most sugars (although I still cheat), and unhealthy carbs (still cheat sometimes).

I try not to cheat a lot.

People always want an easy way out to lose weight. Guess what? THIS WAS EASY! At first, it's the hardest thing to do. But when you get the ball rolling, your day doesn't feel right if you don't work out. I still eat my cravings, just not nearly as much and cut down my portions, or I found a substitute. 

Another thing is that people think, well if I just exercise, but still eat whatever I want, I'll lose weight. You probably will. At first. Then nothing else will happen. You probably won't gain weight, but you will definitely not lose any weight. Trust me I tried that method for about a year.

What type of exercises do you do?

The answer would be shorter for what exercises don't I do. I try to do everything and keep it rotating. I don't want my body to get used to anything and if I do do an exercise again I increase the weights or intensity. 

What type of foods do you eat?

Again, simple. Meats, fruits, veggies, nuts, cheese, eggs, anything healthy!

I try to stay away from unhealthy carbs. If i do have tortillas they're Tumaro's or flat out's (these have flax seed and they're only 100 calories and they're really good!) I don't eat bread, I eat Dreamfield's low carb pasta and not a lot of it. Every meal I have a fruit or vegetable. And water. I drink half of my body weight in water. 

If you have any questions, please let me know and I'll answer them right away!

Peanut Thai Chicken Wrap

What you need:

For the sauce:

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon lime juice

For theWrap:

1 (10-ounce) package cole slaw cabbage mix

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh garlic

1 (14-ounce) package boneless skinless chicken breast tenders

4 (10-inch) flour tortillas, warmed (I use Tumaro's Low carb multi grain tortillas)

1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts

What you need to do:

Combine all sauce ingredients in small saucepan; mix well. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium-low heat 7-10 minutes or until smooth and heated through.

Sautee garlic. Cook 30 seconds. Add chicken tenders; continue cooking, stirring occasionally, 8-10 minutes or until chicken is golden brown and no longer pink. Add 1/2 cup peanut sauce to chicken; stir to coat.

Assemble wraps by placing 1/2 cup vegetable mixture onto each tortilla; top with 1/4 chicken mixture. Sprinkle each with peanuts. Fold up 2 opposite sides of tortilla over filling; roll up tortilla. Cut each wrap in half. Serve with remaining peanut sauce.

Nutritional info for 1 serving out of 4:

212 Calories, 19 g Carbs, 9 fat, 20 g Protein, 8 g Fiber

Grilled Chicken with Mango Salsa and Tostones

Grilled Chicken with a Mango Salsa

I will go into the Tostones in a second.

Here's what you need:

Seasoned chicken, ready to grill (go with a subtle/salty flavor)

2 Ripe Mangos (or peaches)

1/2 cup finely diced red pepper

1/4 cup finely diced white onion

2 tbsp chopped jarred jalapeno

2 tbsp cilantro leaves

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 salt

Grill chicken. (Sorry I'm not more specific but my hubby did the chicken)

Salsa is simple: assemble!

Serve immediately on top of chicken and enjoy!

Calores: 196, 19 g Carbs, 7 g fat, 28 g Protein, 4 g Fiber

And TOSTONES!

Tostones are a hispanic side dish (I guess like fries to Americans) that are amazing and come from plantains.

There are many ways to cook a plantain and this is one of the more popular way of cooking them.

There are 3 stages of a plantains life. 

Green: great for salty/garlic-y dishes.

Yellow: Great for a bit sweeter dish, like Amarillo.

Black: Great for making desserts.

For Tostones I wait til the plantain turns a pinch yellow to have a little sweetness added but most make Tostones with a green plantain.

What you need:

Green Plantains

Oil

Frying pan

Plantain squisher... I don't know what it's called. Or you can use a plate and the bottom of a cup, or 2 plates.

First, chop off the ends of the plantain and make a slit along the inner plantain. Peel away the... peel.

If you are having trouble peeling:

My grandma taught me this move. Place your plantain in a sink full of hot water and let sit for a minute or two and then peel it. It should come right off!

Chop up your plantain into 3-4 pieces and place in a pan of hot oil. 

Cook for a minute and flip

Flip all the way around

Using your 2 plates or your squisher-er...

Flatten!

Place back into hot oil.

Let cook each side for a minute or two until golden.

Place on a napkin to soak up excess oil.

Sprinkle salt and garlic on them.

Optional:

My family like eating these with a 'dip' 

Mix together vinegar, oil, salt and garlic. 

It's a strong flavor, but it goes great with these tostones!

Tostones aren't the best for low calorie meal, but they are an every once in a while treat.

For 3 pieces:

170 Calories, 37 g Carbs, 2 g Fat, 1 g Protein, 9 g Fiber

Enjoy!

How to Gain Motivation

I got hit with a triple dose of lethargy recently.

I don't know what happened. I was burning 1000+ calories a day, eating awesome, feeling great, motivation out the wazoo, then BAM! Couch , TV and ice cream, you say? Sounds wonderful! Maybe I burned myself out, maybe I just needed a break. But this is no time for a break. I'm running the Color Me Rad Run this Saturday! I need fuel! 

So for the last week, I've been working out a little here, a little there. But nothing like I was used to and I dreaded every moment of it. So, you won't believe what I did: I had a crazy splurge on acid day. My husband and I went to this amazing burger joint and had THE MOST amazing burger of my life... with a bun :( BUT I did get sweet potato fries instead of the regular fries. Then I had ice cream and more snacks than I care to mention. If someone had thrown a pizza in my face I probably would have eaten it all. I over did it like crazy. But... it worked! 

Today I woke up and had some scrambled egg whites with some sauteed onions, peppers and turkey sausage and some coffee. I was planning on having some fruit, but I got so full 3/4 of the way with my eggs. And I have this urge to go running, but it's down pouring outside, so I'm waiting for Joe to get home with car so I can go to the gym. I think I MAY be back!!

However, I don't recommend you do that every time you have the urge to just do nothing. I say do this evvvvery once in a while. But here are some other ideas that I do:

• Look at my Fitness board on pinterest. I look at all the motivating words and goals and skinny... no fit people and it amps me up!
• Make a motivation wall. I don't have one, myself, but I hear it's fun and you can be crafty, which I love!

• Look at myself in the mirror and see how far I've come or look at photos of my old self. I don't want that back! And I don't want to stay where I am either!
• Do some crazy, heavy, intense, deep cleaning. Even if you don't work out that day, you'd still have burned some calories, especially if you're moving stuff around. Clean until you drop!
• Okay, this is personal, but what do I care? HAVE SEX! It does burn calories, but that's not why I'm saying this. When I have sex, I feel way better about myself than before. I feel sexy and unstoppable! Then afterwards I want to workout again! Sounds weird and it does sound like I use my husband but don't worry.. He does not mind at all! ;)
• I tell myself "Just go for a walk or a jog for a mile or for 15 minutes. If you still don't want to, than we'll go back home" I've quit once and I was under the weather that day.

• Ask a friend to go along with you. When others are around I push myself harder.
• Take my fur babies on a walk
• Challenge yourself. I set monthly goals and take photos of myself every 10 days to see the results. And that in itself is motivating to keep going. 
• Post your lack of motivation on facebook or myfitnesspal or LifeKraze. People will either respond with sympathy, kind words or encouragement or they'll chew you out. Either way, go do it!
• Do a small workout. I like Bodyrock.tv or doyogawithme.com they have short clips of workouts that help me at least do something then I feel like doing more!
• Drive to the gym. Go inside. People will look at you if you don't do something, so you might as well just go.

• Change into workout clothes.
• If you skip your workout for even just a few days, when you do it's so much harder to pick it up where you left off. You'd have to start over again. Is that really what you want??
• Go to Zumba class. You don't feel like you're working out, you're having fun! But you're also burning calories... serious calories! 
• Go swimming. It's a light and fun activity that involves no sweating!

• Eat a salad for lunch with lots of protein. It'll make you move! Remember: what you eat effects you. Some people think that carbs give them energy, but for me it makes me feel sluggish. I go for protein instead.
• Play tennis or bowling! Something that is fun and requires other people.