STRIPERS! No not strippers.

Yesterday, Kevin caught a Striper fish in MD and we decided to cook it. I love cooking for a couple of reasons. 1. You can literally cook anything. 2. You can throw shit in a pan and pray it turns out great. I had NEVER cooked fresh fish before. I knew I had some curry and cumin spices so I thought...why not. Like I said, you can literally throw shit in a pot and BAM you got something incredible. I also had asparagus and wild brown rice too cook with it.

Marinate Inredigents (no real measurements)
Soy sauce
White wine vinegar
EVO
Cumin
Curry
Salt and pepper
Minced garlic

Directions
Cook your FRESH fish in his mixture on medium to low heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes on each side. We let it cook on a lower heat so that it could absorb all the flavors.

Asparagus Ingredients
Water
Minced garlic
EVO

Directions
Put the spears in a large sauce pan with water, evo and garlic on low to medium heat. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes. This allows the asparagus to steam in the mixture rather than cook on high heat.

Total calories for the 4 oz of fish, 1 cup of rice and 7 spears of asparagus: 486 calories.

The easiest way to lose weight...

Is to buy pre-made meals. What can you learn from that? How to use a microwave. I understand the easiest thing to do is to heat up a meal that is 7 points or 250 calories or low in fat but you will never learn. When I reached my lowest weight I was doing that. I didn't trust myself to cook for myself so I ate Lean Cuisines or Smart Meals. I obviously gained back my weight. Why? BECAUSE I NEVER LEARNED HOW TO EAT FOR MYSELF. Of course you can lose weight by heating up a meal and keeping yourself on a strict diet. So what happens when you leave the comfort of your microwave? What happens when you run into a nachos and beer at happy hour? I can tell you A LOT will happen. Over eating, over drinking. Do not think that there's an easy way to lose weight.
The easiest and quickest way for me to lose weight is to eat the frozen meals. But that is not acceptable. I want to learn how to cook for myself and others. I want to learn how to eat properly. Will it take longer? OF COURSE. But it should. I am not scared. I'm not frustrated. This is going to take a long time. Hopefully we're all in it together.

Peanut butter oat bread...nothing witty to say.

So it's not 1,000,000 degrees out anymore so I took the opportunity to bake. Plus, I'm out of cereal so I need something for breakfast. I had oats left over from my banana bread I made. I also LOVE peanut butter. I took the idea of muffins and made into a loaf. I used less ingredients but each slice is about 222 calories.

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/4 cups fat-free milk
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
2 Eggs, 1 Egg White
Cooking spray
1 cup of Old Fashion Oats

Directions
I combined all the dry ingredients in one bowl then all the "wet" ingredients in another bowl. I made sure they were mixed well then combined them. I sprayed the pan with cooking spray and baked it on 350 for 50 minutes. BAM.

Game on.

Running is a whole new high that I've never felt. I've tried a lot of different drugs (Legit...not being metaphorical here) but nothing has ever felt so good as getting off my treadmill dripping sweat. This is the best high ever.

Progress...
I started tracking my progress by mileage rather than time until I read Run Your Butt Off. I started with Stage two because I had already been running...a little. Before I started I was doing .25 miles of walking then ran for .75 miles in 14:40. I do 3 mins of 3.5 mph walking then 3 minutes of 4.8 mph jog.
This is the break down:
5 mins warm-up at 2.5 mph
3 mins walking at 3.5 mph
3 mins jogging at 4.8 mph
Repeat the 3/3 five times which means you are running 15 minutes! What Whattttt!
Also do a cool down at the end of this for 5 minutes slowing yourself down. I burn 293 calories later...you're sweating like a whore in church. I do about 2.54 miles in 40 minutes. Very slow but it's a start.
In an effort to burn about 25% of my caloric intake, I do another 15 minutes on the Elliptical to burn 195 calories which is the grand total of (drum roll please................488!!!!) I am allowed 1720 calories using MyFitnessPal.com so that's over 25%. BAM.
Let's keep this going. Just because school is starting in a month (I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT), doesn't mean I am allowed to slip. If I don't post anything in the next month, PLEASE MAKE ME!

It don't matter if you're black or white or yellow or red.

Black beans, corn, and onions...all combined with sweet and red onions is a simple but tasty solution for your summer salsa or in my case, lunch. Kevin and I were taking about what to make last night and he suggested this combination because it's his father's staple. We decided instead to make a GIANT batch for the week. We're going to combine it with a whole wheat tortilla and cilantro and jalapeno hummus for a vegetarian meal.
Corn is a great because it's contains Vitamins B1, B5 and C. It also promotes new cell generation which is always a great thing when you're living. Black beans seem to literally help every part of your body. Studies have shown it helps regulate your blood sugar and your digestive tract.

Calorie Counts:
1/4 cup of corn
1/4 cup of black beans
2 tbsp of cilantro and jalapeno hummus
1 tortilla
1 tbsp red onion
1 tbsp sweet onion
Total = 308 Calories

A Tale of Two Tacos

My boyfriend commented on how I always make fun of his puns but I use them in my writing. A lot. I told him I am the generation of Carrie Bradshaw. Everything is a pun. She was a queen of them. So today, I write about two different tacos with a big difference. My friend Sam recently posted a picture that said, "This is my Mexican food: 20% alcohol, 20% food, 60% sour cream". The killer. The barbarian. The DISGUSTING. Sour cream. I hate it. No that's a lie. My FGS comes out big time when I eat. "Oh I can eat that because it's low in fat. I look good..blah blah blah." Man, FGS is brutal some days. I really try to stay away from because it can be the most fattening thing on your plate.

Mahi Mahi Tacos

2 Mahi Mahi fillets
One Trader Joe's Guacamole pack
Whole Wheat tortillas
Fresh cilantro
Extra lime juice

Cook the Mahi Mahi in lime juice and garlic and let it cook on medium heat for 5-6 minutes on each side until the fish is white and flakey. I added some Cajun seasoning to add some spice.

Kevin opted for sour cream and I opted for none. We also decided to not make the guac but instead eat them as slices. One taco is healthier than the other...I'll give you two guesses. I hope you only need one. Just by changing our eating habits we can be better eaters. As a TRUE CALIFORNIAN, avocado is the greatest and most delish additive to any meal. Yum.
According to myfitnesspal.com this meal is 486 calories for two tacos. Not to shabby for a meal.

OLE! I chose the wrong language.

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Tex-Mex food. I also love Tex-Mex food during the summer. So what I am trying to say that my next few posts will most likely include Tex-Mex food. Let's get one thing straight from the beginning...this is not Mexican food. Mexican is different from Tex-Mex meaning that it's Americanized Mexican food. Mexican is not as seasoned as Tex-Mex food. That doesn't mean it's less flavorful it just means it's different spices and different cooking. Don't get me wrong...I love Mexican food but I love the spices and the fatties of the Tex-Mex food. I decided to make my own guacamole to got with my soft tacos.

Here are my ingredients:
1 pound of ground lean turkey
1 packet of low sodium taco seasoning
2 avocados, pitted, mashed
2 tomatoes, minced
Cilantro
Salt and pepper
Garlic, minced
Whole wheat tortillas

This is a no-brainer. You cook your turkey, you combine all the goods for your "guac" (it's not all the ingredients for regular guac). Finally, put all in the tortilla and BAM. You can eat all week with different toppings to add flavor. I actually saved the bell pepper for later when I created veggie tacos.

Yummmmmmmm.

Thanks to Randi for the advice on Run Your Butt Off. I love it. It's a great book with great advice. I know check Runner's World for all the latest tips on nutrition and running! I highly recommend it! Go for it peeps.