Back On My Health Grind

          So I've been slacking off on my health regimen lately and its time to get back on track.  I'm not going to make any gym promises, because I know I'll only break them but I'll try to get back in the swing of things there.  However one thing I can go hard on is my eating habits. 

          Lately I've been using My Fitness Pal in conjunction with WeightWatchers to keep track of and watch what I eat.  Now I'm not paying for the program, however you can simply look up how it works, calculate your daily points and go from there on your own. 

          The way I use My Fitness Pal and WeightWatchers together is I enter what I eat into My Fitness Pal, making sure to measure out the right serving size so the information is accurate, then I look at the nutritional values and input it into a free online Points Calculator to give me the WeightWatchers Points Plus value and voila that's it!

          Now the whole premise of WeightWatchers is that you can eat what you want but in moderation based on it's nutritional value.  An example would be a piece of chocolate cake worth 7 points compared to a salad worth 1 point.  No matter what you decided to eat it all had to fit within your daily point allowance, mine being 21 (to find your daily allowance click here). Obviously this encourages you to eat more salad than chocolate cake because it leaves you with more points you can use elsewhere.  

          My Fitness Pal on the other hand just focuses on calorie counting which isn't the best thing for me at lease because you have to keep track of every little thing and you become obsessed with trying to stay below your daily caloric intake which may not always be the healthiest choice.  Plus, you can never be sure what you're eating is correct down to the exact calorie so its kind of pointless anyway.

          So in my quest to find healthy recipes and good substitutes to reduce carbs and fats I threw together this little recipe I'm calling "Baked Zucchini Spaghetti".

Ingredients

1 Whole Zucchini

1 Can of Stewed Tomatoes

Parmesan Cheese

Italian Seasoning

Garlic Powder

Preheat oven to 350.  Using a mandolin slicer, slice the zucchini into thin ribbons.  Mix sliced zucchini with the strewed tomatoes and season with the Italian seasoning and garlic powder to taste.  Place in pan and cover with Parmesan Cheese.  Bake for 20 min.

Entire Recipe:  230 Cal, 4g Fat, 38 Carbs, 11g Fiber, and 13 g Protein = 5 Points

          I was surprised at myself for coming up with this on my own :) ::pats self on back::.  But if you want more WW friendly delicious recipes go to laaloosh.com!

What I'm Lovin Fridays

          Every Friday when I open up my Blogger Dashboard, I look forward to seeing what cool things The Vee Bee Diaries posts on her Friday Favorites.  So inspired by her idea I too decided to dedicate my Fridays to sharing the things I've fell in love with over the week... 

1.  Stumbleupon.com:  Amazing site to find things pertaining to your interests.  Great source for stuff for your blogs

2.  Homemade Beer Bread: Made it myself and man was it good


I should really open up my own bakery. But until I do you can make it yourself!
Recipe:
3 cups sifted flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
12 oz of beer
Mix dry ingredients, then add beer and stir. Put contents into a greased loaf pan and pour 2 tbs of melted butter on top. Bake for an hour.



3.  Hotel on Rivington @ NYC: I'm a sucker for anything with a view





4.  Lush Ultrabalm:  I'm in love with it and its versitality, also great as a tattoo ointment



5.  Cutest Tumblr Pic of the Week:  Just exchange coffee for tea :)

A Weekend of Calm

          Introducing two new labels "Weekend Run-Down" and "Recipe of the Week".  The first label will be dedicated to all my exciting (and not so exciting) weekend escapades.  An ode to my weekend if you will.  As you might notice I do most of my writing during the week so this will be to fill in those gaps.  The second label is for my new pursuit of making a new legit home cooked meal every week.  My aim is to cook on Sunday so I have actual food for the week and not just some hot dogs and beans I warmed up.

          So to get into it, this weekend was real low key.  I wanted to go out and do something to get my mind off of things but unfortunately my roomie went to NY and I gave into the temptation from my bed and the back of my eyelids. 

          Friday was filled with some grocery shopping at Walmart (supercenter) where I discovered how amazing their price match guarantee is.  In my weekly flyer hunting I saw a few things cheaper at other stores but I like my one stop shopping at Walmart so I decided to give it a go and see if they would match the prices on some produce without the flyer and they did.  BAM! Frugalista at her best :).  Any who I decided to treat myself to some new nail colors when I saw that they had some new O.P.I colors.  Unfortunately they were from the Kardashian's new line and as much as I don't like to contribute to their empire, I liked the colors more.

          I wound down the night withsome baking and pampering, eyebrows, nails and facial included (all done myself).  Saturday I lounged and watch Boy Meets World (one of my favorite shows).  No coincidence that the episodes were all pertaining to my current situation which made me feel a lot better... NOT.  So I finally got off my ass and went to visit my friends for a much needed girls night which was kinda of a fail because we all fell asleep.  Nonetheless it was nice to get out and chill with the girls. 

         Sunday was pretty much filled with the same chillness but I finally started by resolution of making a new meal every week.  On the menu this week, a Weight Watchers recipe of Chicken and Shrimp gumbo. Hmmmm :).

 

          So to end off a much needed calm weekend, dinner and a movie with the softest blanket known to man.