Recipe Box ♥

Condensing my Pinterest recipe posts into one, simple, easy list. :)
Hope to have all of these tried and tested by the end of the year!

Breakfast

• Andouille cajun potatoes
• Baked cheddar and eggs
• Banana bread protein muffins
• Chocolate chip protein pancakes
• Crustless quiche
• Egg white, tomato, and mozzarella on wheat bread
• Hash brown egg white nests
• Mini bacon and potato frittatas
• Parmesan roasted potatoes
• Roasted rosemary potatoes
• Sea salt and vinegar potatoes with goat cheese and chives
• Sunny side-up egg with spinach breakfast sandwich
• Toast with peanut butter and strawberries
• Toast with plain greek yogurt and blueberries

Lunch

• Avocado egg salad sandwich
• Avocado and spinach grilled cheese sandwich 
• BBQ Chicken salad
• Chicken and broccoli stromboli
• Chicken caesar wrap
• Chicken parmesan wrap
• Chicken pesto on a baguette
• Crunch lover's chopped chicken salad
• Egg white and spinach feta wrap
• Ham sandwich with Laughing Cow spreadable cheese
• Margherita (tomato and mozzarella) sandwich
• Mini pizza bagels
• Peanut butter and banana sandwich
• Pizza chicken burger
• String cheese bites
• Turkey lettuce wraps
• Veggie cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches
• Zucchini parmesan crusted chicken nuggets

Dinner

• Baked breaded tofu
• Baked ravioli
• Broccoli pesto pasta
• Cauliflower crust grilled chicken and three cheese pizza
• Cheesy smoked sausage and pasta skillet
• Cheesy veggie pasta bake
• Cheesy zucchini rice
• Chicken alfredo lasagna roll-ups
• Chicken and spinach pasta bake
• Chicken broccoli alfredo stuffed shells
• Chicken enchiladas
• Chicken florentine pasta
• Chicken fried brown rice
• Chicken lasagna with roasted red pepper sauce
• Chicken roll-a-tini
• Chicken vegetable soup
• Creamy pesto three cheese tortellini with chicken 
• Creamy spinach tomato tortellini
• Crock pot cashew chicken
• Four cheese white pizza 
• Garlic herb marinated chicken
• Garlic parmesan chicken lasagna bake
• Garlic pesto chicken with tomato cream penne
• Greek yogurt mashed potatoes
• Grilled fennel sausage pizza 
• Honey lime chicken
• Lemon chicken parmesan
• Kung pao chicken
• Oven-made chicken fajitas 
• Oven chicken tacos
• Pad see ew 
• Panda express chow mein 
• Pasta al limone
• Pesto chicken lasagna 
• Pesto and mozzarella stuffed chicken 
• Skinny mexican pizza
• Soba noodles with peanut dressing
• Southwestern chicken wraps
• Spinach and tomato ranch pizza
• Tomato and chicken pizza
• White cheese and chicken lasagna
• Zucchini bake with feta and thyme

Desserts

• Banana chocolate chip muffins
• Banana nut muffins
• Blueberry muffins
• Brownie s'mores
• Buttermilk pancakes with maple frosting
• Caramel apple cheesecake cookie bars
• Caramel pretzel chocolate chip cookies
• Chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes
• Chocolate chip pudding cookies
• Chocolate peanut butter mug cake
• Coffee cake
• Cupcakes with cream cheese cookie dough frosting
• Kit kat and caramel cupcakes
• Mini pies
• Mint white hot chocolate
• Molten chocolate cake
• Peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake bars
• Red velvet brownies with white chocolate buttercream frosting
• Red velvet cupcakes with white chocolate mousse
• S'mores cheesecake bars
• Strawberry chocolate chip muffins
• Strawberry heart mini cheesecake bites
• Vanilla cupcakes with strawberry buttercream
• Whole wheat blueberry muffins 

Sinful Eating/Potlucks

• Baked spaghetti in garlic bread
• Baked tater tot dip
• Cheesy bacon potato bites
• Cheesy hash brown casserole
• Cheesy mashed potato pancakes
• Cheesy potato soup
• Cheesy stuffed garlic butter crescents
• Crescent pepperoni roll-ups
• Crockpot ranch potatoes
• French toast roll-ups
• Mac and cheese bites
• Mac and cheese pizza
• New York style white pizza
• Pepperoni pizza lasagna rolls
• Pizza nachos
• Queso blanco dip
• Spicy chicken ranch dip

De-bloating After The Holiday Weekend

BLOAT. I effing hate hate hate that word. I absolutely HATE being bloated and for some reason, my body is super prone to becoming bloated even after one salty meal. This past week, I've unfortunately been cheating a lot on my diet and as a result, have become bloated like a pregnant lady. But no fears, I refuse to look back and instead choose to be optimistic and focus on the future.
But yes, as a result of eating as much salty fatty yummy foods as I want, I'm feeling incredibly bloated and hate hate hate hate haaaaaaate that feeling. So, for this week, I have some specific fitness/health goals I want to try and adhere to. I will be undergoing a schedule change this week, since (starting Wednesday) I begin night duty in the labor and delivery suite. Not totally excited for the crazy circadian rhythm change, but still excited since I'll get to deliver babies!! But, I'm still going to try and follow these few simple diet rules even through my crazy schedule change in order to reduce bloating and get a fitter, flatter core. I don't bloat as much on my upper/lower body (does anyone?) but when I bloat, my back and my stomach area puff up like crazy. And that's just not very pretty.

1. Water, water, water
By far the best thing to reduce bloat for me is to drink copious amounts of water. I'm hoping to drink 4-5 bottles of my 24oz bottle for the next two days for a total of 96-120 oz of water per day. Crazy! But, this is literally the best thing to fight bloat. After that, I'm probably going to drop back down to drinking 3 bottles per day (72 oz) and try to continue drinking that much each day to prevent bloat in the future.

2. Salt
Next best thing: cut out sodium from my diet. Dropping my sodium intake down to 1500 mg is the best way to lose my bloat. Now, the issue is that eating only 1500 mg of sodium on normal days is kinda impossible. So, after I go back to normal, I'm planning on resuming my 1500-2000 mg sodium regime and this time, strictly adhere to it!  No more venturing above the 2000 mg line because that just bloats me right back up.

3. Cardio sweatfest
While drinking water and cutting sodium are the two most crucial things for me to reduce bloat, I will say that exercising also helps. How? Because I sweat like cray cray when I do any form of cardio exercise, which is another great way to drop water weight. Sure crunches help, but a cardio sweatiest is golden. Since I have a lot of abdominal fat, crunches and planks and abdominal exercises won't help as much in visibly reducing bloat for me. But, they do give you a feeling of having a tight core, which also helps.

4. Drop the carbs
I've read in several magazines that eating a lot of carbs causes water weight retention....which leads to bloating. So, I'm also hoping to cut down my carb intake to less than 150g per day. I'm finding that to be easier said than done however, since I'm out of my apartment for most of the day and don't have a fridge to keep food in during my rotations. Most perishable snacks tend to be carbohydrate-rich, which can be a problem. I have found that nuts are great snacks though full of protein and healthy fats and tend to hold me over for a long long time. Plus, the Babybel prepackaged cheeses also hold up well in my lunch sack. I'm hoping to stock up on these healthy, low-carb snacks and munch on those in between my rotations instead of grabbing a granola bar or pretzels.

Mega List of Recipes To Try! June & July 2014

I've had a lottt of spare time on my hands this month. So naturally, lots of down time full of boredom. One of the things I like to do when I get bored is browse Pinterest. And boy have I had a lot of Pinterest-catching up to do since Step 1 sucked my soul! I decided to break down my "Healthy Cooking" board into separate boards for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack recipes. Plus the Baking Goodies and the Sinful Eating boards. I've also added a bunch of new recipes to each board since there's been so many amazing new recipes popping up on my home screen. 

Here are some of the recipes I really really realllyyy want to try this month! It's probably going to take me until at least mid-July to finish my list since I make a week-long batch of food when I cook (except for breakfast). Here's to spending my summer cooking some healthy (but tasty) noms!  

Breakfast
Egg whites and cheese sandwich on sourdough bread
Hash brown egg white muffins
Sausage & potatoes with red peppers and onions
7 Grain pancakes with scrambled egg whites
Strawberry cream cheese waffle sandwiches

Lunch
Egg salad sandwich
Ham & cheese with mayo on a baguette

Dinner (can also be used as lunches)
Chicken fried rice
Spinach & cheese lasagna
Yellow curry tofu with chow fun noodles

Guilty Pleasures
Chicken alfredo lasagna roll-ups
Hash brown casserole
Trader Joe's Vegetable & Tofu Pad See-Ew
Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins

My Updated Morning Routine

I've made some pretty big changes to my morning routine now that third year has begun and I can't quite fit everything in my day as easily as I could in college. I wish I had began this routine since day one of medical school, since I'm actually finding it to be quite refreshing and energizing!
Pretty much, my entire day has been changed thanks to a few, but drastic changes to my morning schedule. I've written out my "ideal" morning schedule on most mornings. Now, the timings will probably change based on the starting times of the rotation I'm currently in. Right now I'm on a research month, so my schedule is pretty flexible. But, next month I will be in Ob/Gyn, which starts as early as 6am! But, no matter what rotation I'm on, I'd like to shape my mornings and days around this basic schedule.

4:30 am: Pill time
I wake up a half hour before the time I really want to be outta bed so I can take my thyroid replacement pill (which needs to be taken on an empty stomach 30 minutes before breakfast). I put the pill and a bottle of water next to my bed the night before so I don't get too lazy to get up and fetch my pills in the morning and end up sleeping in instead. Also, I can nap while the medicine's being digested and I can then eat a little morning snack before my workout so I'm not starving. Also, I chug a bottle of water with the pill, so it helps me to start off the day hydrated!

5:00 am: Wake up, get clean, run out the door
After my little post-pill nap, I force myself to get outta bed and put on my workout clothes. I try to set these out the night before, or otherwise I just grab the first gym clothes I see haha. I also refill my bottle of water and grab a little quick digesting carbohydrate-rich snack like a granola bar or banana. I usually eat these and maybe sip some water on my 15 minute drive to the gym.

5:30 am: Exercise time!
I park right outside my gym so I don't waste any extra time. I try to fit in at least a 30 minute cardio workout, usually a sweaty elliptical workout or an incline treadmill hike. If I have some extra time or I'm feeling motivated, I do some crunches, use the weights machines, or bump up my workout to 45-60 minutes.

6:30am-6:45 am: Come home, shower
On days I have rotation, I like to be home around this time so I have plenty of time to get dressed and head out. I like to ideally have 45 minutes to get dressed and leave home a half hour before if my site is on campus. I usually hop in the shower the second I get home and save eating for later. If I'm ravenous, I'll grab a fruit or a snack before I head into the shower.

6:45 am-7:30am: Get dressed, grab breakfast, pack lunch
Like I mentioned, I like to blow dry my hair after my morning shower, which normally takes me about 10-15 minutes. I then just pop it into a bun so it's out of my face. I then get dressed, put on my contacts, pat on my moisturizer, and apply my makeup. If I'm running late, I just apply foundation, concealer, powder, maybe a swipe of blush and mascara, and grab a lip product before I head out the door. I also try to set aside at least 10 minutes to make a quick breakfast and pack my lunch/snacks for the day. As much as I try to pack my lunch the night before, it never happens! I do have a growing mental list of quick grab and go breakfasts that I have, so maybe I'll make a blog post about that in the future.

7:30 am: Head out the door!
Once I'm dressed and prettied up, I make sure I have all my essentials in my work bag (which I definitely prepare the night before!) and head out the door! If I can, I make coffee at home. Otherwise, I just grab a quick coffee at the hospital to reward myself for a great workout! :)


So I have definitely been LOVING my new morning routine. Yes, it is incredibly difficult to get into the habit of waking up extra early, but it's definitely worth it. From the very first step, you wake up and hydrate, which I'm finding is really important for mental function. And then getting exercise out of the way is a really great feeling and sets the tone for what I eat throughout the day (trust me, you don't wanna eat a fried chicken sandwich for lunch after you spent the morning busting your butt on the elliptical!).
I find that I don't need caffeine as much after exercising in the morning. Of course, being the coffee junkie I am, I still have my morning cup, but I don't depend on my afternoon cup of coffee like I used to. Exercising in the morning is also helping me focus much much better and increases my work productivity like none other!
The only thing about this morning routine is that it is a little jam packed and I can't have as leisurely of a morning as I would like. But as I said, the boost in mental and physical energy is definitely worth it. I hope I can keep it up during my early morning rotations because I would hate to adjust to a great morning routine like this only to not be able to do it anymore! 

June: New Years Resolution Update

I wanted to do a life update post today but instead of just rambling on, I figured I would shape this post around my New Year's resolutions and how I'm doing with them.
In a nutshell: not exactly the place I want to be at, sadly.
But that's okay! Because life is all about improving yourself and I'm not going to give up just because I have had a few setbacks this year. By far, the number 1 thing getting in the way of my goals has been Step 1. I know that's a really crappy excuse, but that test and prep period literally drove me crazy. Let's just not even go there. It was by far the worst period of my life and will probably end up being a lifelong regret because I wish I had studied harder and did better on Step 1. But I didn't fail and my dream isn't over so that's what really matters!

#1 Weighing 125 pounds
It's taken a lot of courage for me to even talk about this in a post because my weight is the most out of control part of my life right now. Instead of losing weight, I actually gained weight during my study period. I don't even want to know how much I weigh right now because I will probably have a panic attack if I see the exact number. But let's just say that all of my clothes have become tighter. Very very hard to suck it in and admit it, but I need to really buck up and turn the scale in the opposite direction. I could go on about how I gained all this weight but that would just be counterintuitive and put a lot of negativity in this post. Let's just say that it happened and I am trying my very hardest to take restorative steps towards improving it. I don't want to get too much into it because I am just starting my weight loss regime ALL over again, which kind of really sucks, but I will do some updated posts in the future.

#2 Capturing moments
I have been pretty good about this! I haven't had the greatest social life due to Step 1, but every moment I spend with friends and family, I try to capture. I even took a photo when I hung out with my best friends from college a few weeks ago for my birthday, which will definitely end up in a scrapbook!

#3 Keeping up with friends
Again, something that's been going relatively well. I try to keep up with my friends as much as possible, but I could always do a better job at it. For example, I don't see a lot of my old friends and I usually hangout my current med school friends and a few old friends here and there. I need to spend a bit more time talking to my undergraduate friends because I really feel like I'm losing touch with them. Don't know what I can do, since they all seem to be busy with their lives, but I am trying and will hopefully try to meet up with them sometime this year, maybe during my research month. My social life is something that I am always trying to work hard on, but is sometimes really hard to manage because everyone's at different points in their lives right now.

#4 Processed foods, refined sugars
Kinda going along #1, Step 1 killed this goal. But I am trying to get back into the swing of things and will update this blog as I keep trying new things out. Just went grocery shopping, though and most of my cart was natural stuff. Lots of fruits, veggies, protein, and healthy snacking. Also cleaned up my Pinterest and I'm excited to try new and healthy recipes soon.

#5 Sleeping
Yes! Doing well! I've recently started to get up between 5-7am depending on what I have to do that day and working out before going to work. So far (in the past 4 days I mean), I have been kicking butt at this! It's hard to wake myself up that early, but I've been treating myself to coffee from either Starbucks or Dunkin every morning I wake up early and workout, and it's working! I definitely love the way my mind feels after a morning workout and not having to exercise after a long, hard day at work. Also love seeing the beautiful morning sky and listening to the news on my way to the gym early in the morning. Just really relaxing for me, minus getting my brain up that early. Hopefully I can keep it up and shed those pounds!

#6 Credit card bills < $300/month
Ahhhhh, definitely not going well but I am working on it! I'm trying to shop less and eat more at home this month, so we shall see how well that goes when I get my bill at the end of the month :)

Weekend Decor & Monday Night Baking

Happy Tuesday! So, despite doing barely any work the past few days, I have managed to get a few "projects" done, which in retrospect have actually helped my mental health since I feel a lot more relaxed, calm, and fulfilled now. 

First off, I FINALLY put up Christmas lights on my headboard like I have been meaning to do for like three months now. I just found a box of white lights from Christmas and decided to loop them around my headboard. Note: the picture does not do these lights justice at all!

They look a little bit gnarly as they are right now, so I may re-arrange them around the posts or straighten them out a bit, but I really like how these are looking so far! My bed is right in the center of my room, and I would definitely say that it's "the focal piece" of my room. The camera didn't capture just how beautiful these look when my lights are off, and they would make a great reading light or a soft light for when I'm trying to relax a bit before bedtime. Super excited I finally put these up! I may try to find some heart-shaped lights or colored lights this summer to maybe jazz things up a little bit, but for now, these plain white lights are definitely staying.

Next, I did some cooking this weekend (my weekly Sunday night baking was a Monday night baking this week). Let me just start off by saying that I have found my new pasta sauce love. Ohhhhhhh my, I picked up the Classico Seasonal Selections Creamy Spinach & Parmesan pasta sauce over the weekend from Walmart and I am IN LOVE.

It tastes so fricken amazing, it's not loaded with too much fat, and it doesn't have a crazy high amount of salt. That being said, it isn't the healthiest pasta sauce in the world, but for how it tastes, it's not bad either. I've grown tired of my monotonous regular marinara sauce and thought this would help jazz up my dinners this week while keeping things somewhat healthy. It's so creamy and delicious, but what I love is the spices in this sauce. It has a bunch of Italian spices I don't even dare try guessing, but they really hit the nail on the head with not going overboard like a lot of other pasta sauces do. This is definitely my new favorite pasta sauce brand. In fact, I went out the next day after using this to purchase another Classico Sauce. My grocery store didn't have this sauce, so I ended up getting the Classico Vodka Sauce, which I'm sure tastes just as amazing.

As for what I made with this sauce....ehh that was kind of boring. I basically tossed some red onions, chicken, and whole wheat penne into the sauce and topped it off with mozzerella cheese. Nothing too fancy, but the pasta sauce was definitely the star of the dish.

As far as the nutritional value of this dish, each serving has roughly 430 calories, 13g total fat, 4g saturated fat, 49g carbs, 29g protein, 430mg sodium and a pot of this dish makes 7 servings and takes roughly 30-45 mins to make (boiling the pasta and all). Not bad at all considering this dish tastes like heaven! A little more carb-heavy and fat-heavy than I would like, but it's much better than eating a plain-jane pasta&marinara sauce dish, feeling discontent, and trekking up to the hospital cafeteria to get a burger and fries. So yeah, this dish may just become a dinner staple. And even my mom liked it, who usually hates Italian food! Big kudos right there.

My Favorite Spring Beauty, Fashion, Health Links!

So April is almost here and time is literally flyingggg. I'm not sure what the official date of the beginning of spring is, but it sure feels like spring is coming to Pittsburgh really soon! And I'm actually really really excited. I'm usually not one of the ones obsessed with springtime (it's actually been one of my least favorite seasons in the past), but I'm really excited this year because the winter was quite long and terrible here this year. It's nice to finally see some sunshine and a bit of greenery come back. Plus, with the hum dum glums that go along with Step 1 studying, it's nice to think that a new, bright, cheerful season is coming up soon!

So here I've compiled a series of YouTube videos from my favorite beauty gurus that really get me in the mood for springtime and is full of really useful tips for looking and feeling your best this season. I haven't really organized them in anyway. The general ones are at the beginning, followed by beauty hauls, makeup tutorials, outfit ideas, and health/fitness tips in that order. Without a doubt, these are my go-to videos for when I'm feeling a little glum or uninspired and these manage to turn my mood around instantaneously. Plus, it's nice to have a spot where I have my video/inspiration collections, kinda like a video Pinterest? I don't know. I'm slightly weird if you can't tell :)

But anyway, here are the videos in the playlist. Of course, I'm probably going to add to this playlist as more spring-related videos are posted, but here they are for now:

General/Randoms

Morning Routine - StilaBabe09

I &hearts; Spring Tag - MissGlamorazzi

Beauty

Spring Haul - MissGlamorazzi

Spring Haul - Kellylovesbeauty

Natural Makeup Tutorial - MakeupByTiffanyD

Spring Makeup, Hair, Outfit - MissGlamorazzi

Natural & Glowy Makeup Tutorial - MakeupByTiffanyD

Fashion

Spring Clothing Haul - Casey Holmes

Spring Outfit Ideas & No-Heat Curls - Bethany Mota

Spring LookBook - Tanya Burr

Spring Hair, Makeup, Outfits - Bethany Mota

Spring Outfits - Bethany Mota

Spring Haul & Styles - MakeupByTiffanyD

Spring Floral Outfits - Bethany Mota

Health/Fitness

Starting a Healthy Life - Breelovesbeauty

Tight Tummy - Breelovesbeauty

Bikini Body Ready Tips - StilaBabe09

Boosting Happiness - Breelovesbeauty

Breakfast Ideas - Breelovesbeauty

I <3 Spring Tag - Miss Glamorazzi
Spring Outfit Ideas - Miss Glamorazzi
Get Ready With Me -- Miss Glamorazzi
Soft Lilac Eye Makeup -Amarixe
Spring Fashion Tips - Tiffany D
Fresh Spring Makeup - Tiffany D
Spring Green Makeup Tutorial - Tiffany D

Refresh Button

So yesterday I pretty much hit rock bottom and decided it was about time I hit the refresh button on my life. I've been killing myself working nonstop for like 18+ hours. For some people, that works out just fine, but not me. Especially since I'm on my computer most of the time when I'm studying, either looking stuff up or making tables/flashcards.
I figured that it was about time something changed. The constant go-go-go thing had me eating junk food every night, migraines daily, insomnia, and overall just an incredibly high amount of stress. Not good at all, for my waistline and for my mind. I had been getting about 3-5 hours of sleep per night, which just left me dysfunctional in the morning.

So, this morning is the day I hit the refresh button. I went to bed a little earlier than normal last night after taking 1 Tylenol PM to ease my headache and lull me to sleep. The result = I got a glorious 7 hours of quality sleep. I woke up really refreshed and reviewed some Pulmonary stuff. Now I'm eating cereal and blogging. So far, a pretty nice day. No headache, stress, or anything.

The real test is going to come later today. It's a long day for me, since I have my ICS class from 8-10 and then another long class from 1-5pm. That and I'm behind on my studying schedule by about a day. I'm going to try my very hardest to work in between those classes and get at least the FA section of Musculoskeletal/Derm annotated, read, and finish making tables/flashcards. Sounds easy but it's a pretty tall order. I also want to get the Fungi section of Microbiology finished, but it's only 3 pages so that should be fairly easy. All that and I want to be in bed by 12pm sharp. That means leaving the library around 11:30pm and being in bed by 11:45pm. Whew, tall order I know. We'll see how it goes.

Also, as the second part of my refresh phase, I want to start eating healthier. Enter, LC's 7-Day Skinny Jeans Re-Boot. Basically, it's a week of clean eating. Drinking lots of water, exercising 30 minutes per day, eating cleaner food. And that should take a lot of water weight off and leave you fitting into your skinny jeans. For me that means:
1. 8-12 glasses of water a day (or around 3-4 bottles of water in my lil' Love Pink tumbler)
2. Less than 2000 mg of sodium per day (bonus points for under 1700!)
3. Exercising 30 minutes a day (whether that means pilates, elliptical, walking, whatever...just workout!)
4. Only 2 cups of coffee per day! One in the morning and one in the afternoon is ideal
5. Oh and also, EAT REGULARLY. I feel like this is 50% of what contributes to my headaches. I skip meals and then once the evening hits, my head is pounding and I get cravings to eat junk food. I'm hoping eating regularly and eating well really helps with this.
6. Lastly, sleeping 7+ hours is crucial. I'm hoping to sleep at the very very very least 6 hours, but 7 hours would definitely be ideal.

I'll be sure to post the results of my 7-Day cleanse :) hoping to fit into my Aero dark wash skinny jeans!

Today ♥

Today is the day I stop feeling sorry for myself.
Today is the day I stop thinking about all the regrets in my life.
Today is the day I start thinking positively.
Today is the day I start eating nutritious food, not salty garbage.
Today is the day I start feeling happy for everything I have in my life.
Today is the day I stop thinking about all the things I wish I could change.
Today is the day I start enjoying my life.
Today is the day I say thanks to God for all he has blessed me with.
Today is the day I feel happy and grateful for being alive.

Resolutions: January Update

January has been both a good and bad month. Here's a recap of the resolutions I wanted to work on this year and my updates on how I've been doing with each of them. Overall, I've been making progress in each department, but not to the level I want. But, I'm still proud of myself for taking the initiative to try and better my life, and I can say I genuinely have been trying in each category. Lot of room for improvement, but definitely a few steps better than last year so far.

#1: Weight Loss

Ayyy, okay. This one has been tricky. I knew this would be my hardest goal of the year and it really is proving to be quite challenging due to multiple reasons. If I had to estimate how many pounds I think I have shed, I would say about 2-3 pounds. Yes I know it doesn't sound like much and hell I don't even know if it's accurate. But I will say that even though my waistline hasn't decreased dramatically, I have learned many many many things this month about the way my body works and what works and doesn't work for me. 

The biggest lesson I've learned this year is realizing the roadblocks that prevent me from losing weight. I've come to realize that my biggest roadblock to losing weight is FOOD. Fucking food. I will admit that a few years ago I had a nasty fast food addiction and even though I think I have overcome it, it's still something that keeps cropping up with stress. I realize that my biggest triggers to eating junk food are 1. being stressed out while studying, 2. being home at my parent's house which contains 99% processed food. Luckily, both the situations can be improved with some work. I'm thinking about studying in my apartment for the next week. I realize that even though the library is where I get most studying done, it's bad for my diet because I get stressed out super fast and come up with some shitty excuse to binge eat at the hospital cafeteria. But, when I study at home, I'm limited to the food I have at home, which is all healthy. Plus, it's really really good for saving money as well, which is another resolution of mine. The second situation can be improved simply by going home less. I need to learn to be independent and that's one of the ways I can start doing it. I love being with my parents and brother because they're one of the only people in this world who love me and accept me for who I am. But, it's really unhealthy because my hygiene goes down, I eat really bad at home, and it deters me from growing up and facing my problems here in Oakland. So, I think I need to restrict my long-term home visits to 1x a month or so and come home 1x per week for Zumba and an evening with my parents. 

Secondly, I need to stop eating out so much. I love seeing my friends, but all the dinners and eating out aren't helping me with my weight loss at all. I need to restrict my outings to dinner 1x a week and then meet up for coffee or something light if I have other social commitments. Luckily, I don't think I have too many social activities planned for this month because it is so busy and stressful.

I just bought my dress for the medical school formal and it's a little tight so I'm hoping that gives me some incentive to lose a little bit of weight this month to look sexy and toned in the dress. I'm really really really hoping for a 5-10 pound weight loss this month now that I've realized my two biggest setbacks.

#2: Capturing memories

Ehhh I've been okay at this I suppose. I have been taking a couple pictures of each memorable/social event I go to. For example, I took photos of my friends' birthday party, my Superbowl cupcakes/, the Chinese New Year party, but I never seem to get any of me with other people. It's always just of other people and random things. That's something I want to improve on this month....learning to ask others to take pictures of me with my good friends so I can cherish those pictures and memories forever. 

#3: Keeping up with old friends
I've been doing a fairly good job with this one so far. I haven't hung out with too many old friends because it's been such a busy month for me, and I've been studying a lot more than usual. But I have messaged/Facebooked/texted a number of them. I've also gotten lunch with one of my good friends, Liz, a couple times this month which was tons of fun. I love catching up with old friends :) Hopefully I can keep the trend up in future months.

#4: Processed foods, refined sugars
Doing okay with this one. I went to my parents' home for 2 weeks in the middle of January because of the cold temperatures. They don't really buy a lot of wholesome, organic-y food so I wasn't eating all that well. I did eat dinner at home though, which my mom made fresh every night. My breakfast, lunch, and snacks were mostly all processed though unfortunately :(

#5: Sleeping 7+ hours a night
Yes! Finally a resolution I did well in this month! I've been sleeping roughly 7-8 hours most night and it feels absolutely amazing. Sleeping properly definitely keeps my mood high and my spirits well, and helps me focus on school much better. Best change I've made all month.

#6: Credit card expenses
Ummmmm....not so well unfortunately. I was buying a lot of books and groceries for baking, so unfortunately this wasn't all that well. Also, I've been going home a lot so gas expenses were high this month. I'm really really really gonna try harder at this in February though. Hoping to also start using more cash for tiny expenses like coffee. Also, I'm hoping to stop buying so much food outside and eating out so much, which will definitely help my weight loss goal. As far as beauty purchases, I did buy some goodies at the end of January because of the good coupons and deals going on, but this should mean that my Feb-March beauty expenses will be less.

Favorite Workout Videos!

For today's post, I wanted to jot down some of my favorite at-home workout videos. Ever since Netflix took down their multitude of fitness videos, I have literally been on Youtube scavenging for hours looking for some of my faves. I haven't found them all, but I have found a good number of cardio, pilates, and toning videos that are absolutely amazing and kick your butt. I have below a list of both high and low impact videos that I have tried out in the past and love for when I don't feel like hitting the elliptical or attending my regular zumba class. I believe most of them are full-length workouts (> 20 minutes)

Cardio 

Low Impact Cardio and Toning

Low Impact Cardio

Quiet Cardio - Low Impact/No Bounce

Tummy Tone Party Zone

HIIT Cardio

Dance Workout for Dummies

Cardio Kickboxing

Advanced Cardio Kickboxing

Pilates Burn & Firm

Pilates & Yoga

Pilates Burn & Firm

Rapid Results Pilates

Beginner Yoga Workout

Super Slimdown Pilates & Yoga Blend

Low Intensity Pilates & Yoga Blend

Toning

Boot Camp Workout

Toned Lean Arms

Abs & Obliques

Tight & Toned Beach Body

Hot Body Bootcamp

Egg & Cheese Breakfast Sandwich

I finally got around to making a breakfast sandwich! I've wanted to try making my own ever since I fell in love with the breakfast power sandwiches from Panera. It was actually quite simple to make it, especially since I'm at my parents house and they have a little sandwich pressor. Even without one, I'm sure it would be just at delicious made on the stovetop or toaster oven. 

At 315 calories, 8 grams of fat, 37 grams of carbs, 26 grams of protein, and 605 mg of sodium it is honestly one of the most satisfying and filling breakfasts I've ever made. I'm a huge fan of warm, toasty breakfasts as opposed to cold ones and this one is super healthy, but delicious at the same time. And ridiculously easy to make as well!

Recipe:

9 tablespoons liquid egg whites (about 3 egg whites)

2 slices of whole wheat bread

1 slice of mild cheddar cheese

Pam cooking spray

A sliver of butter

I first cooked the egg whites in a Pam-coated saucepan. Once cooked, I cut the omelette in half and put each half on a slice of bread. I topped one of the slices with the cheddar slice. After putting the sandwich together, I put a little bit of butter on the outer parts of each slice of bread. I cut the sandwich in half and put it in the sandwich press. Without a sandwich press, it's easy to make it on a saucepan so it's nice and toasty/melty/warm. 

So that's it! It's pretty basic and there's definitely a lot of room to experiment with different toppings, veggies, toast options, cheese options, etc. This sandwich also took me like 15 mins tops to make. Definitely looking forward to making a snazzier sandwich next time, maybe with spinach or onions or even some sausage for more protein! 

Coping With Stress

As you probably deducted from my last post, yesterday was a pretty hard day. I had accumulated a LOT of stress over this past week with my relationships, Step 1, my weight loss, etc. And instead of moping around and binge eating while watching YouTube videos or Ugly Betty I decided to get out and go on a de-stressing road trip.
Here are some snaps from my latest de-stressing routine that I hope will help me in the future to prevent a stress-induced binge :)

First, I grabbed a small plate of nachos.  I figured that I would indulge a little bit so I wouldn't binge later when I went out. This is my favorite dip, the Tostitos Salsa Con Queso with some scoops. So delicious. And in all honesty, food is still my favorite way to de-stress and this baby came in only around 100-150 calories, so not much damage was done.

Next, I stopped at McDonalds to get some coffee. Hot drinks are super relaxing for me especially when it's cold outside, and this just totally hit the spot. For some reason, the #1 thing I love when I'm extremely stressed is coffee, no matter if it's decaf or caffeinated. It's kinda bad, but I just can't help my love affair. 

Road trip time! Another thing I love when I'm stressed is driving. For some reason, driving while listening to relaxing, melodious music really calms me. I had to go down to Oakland to drop off treats for my advising group, so it wasn't just a random trip. I put on some Ed Sheeran, sipped my coffee, and took a relaxing mini road. trip.

Annnnd on my way back, I stopped at Ulta. I figured I'd just complete my wonderful de-stressing trip with a little haul because when I'm stressed, I love shopping. Plus, I really needed some stuff so it was perfect. I'll do a separate post about that a little later. 

Valentine's Day + Get Fit January/February!

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and that means stores are coming out with their Valentine's collections! Now the issue is that since my favorite color happens to be pink, I'm in fricken LOVE with the cute packaging of all these new products. So I was thinking and instead of buying separate Get Fit January and February presents for myself, I figured I would just do a massive shopping spree and combine these with my V-day gift for myself :) It's going to suck to wait until February 14th, but the worth will be worth it! :) 

LUSH Neon Love Soap 

LUSH Bubblegum Lip Scrub

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Dollface

Benefit Ultra Plush Lipgloss in Hoola

Lush Neon Love Soap - $6.95 - bergamot, rosewood, figs, passion fruit, soy yogurt

Photo credit = www.lushusa.com

What really caught my eye was LUSH's V-day collection. We just got a LUSH store at the mall and when I first went in there, I didn't really the appeal of spending $10 on a bar of soap. I love their lip scrubs because they do an amazing job at smoothing my chronically chapped lips, but I've always wanted to try their soaps. One of their V-day products is this new soap called Neon Love soap. It's only $7, which is quite cheap for their soap products. And it looks SO gorgeous! I love anything heart-printed and this soap fits the bill. I've heard that their soaps are very luxurious and moisturizing, so I'm quite excited to try it out!

Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub - $9.95 - bubblegum-y goodness

Photo credit = www.lushusa.com

The main reason I need to head to LUSH: I need a new lip scrub! I got my Popcorn scrub about 6 months ago, and it expires sometime in April. I'm not all the way through with it yet, but I'm a little bit of a germophobe and I don't know, I declare it's time I buy a fresh pot! I was considering getting Popcorn again, but I think I may try the Bubblegum scrub. Plus, it's pink which fits perfectly with the V-day theme. 

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Dollface - light matte pink

Photo credit = www.amarixe.com

Oh my, blush. Blush blush blush. It's been on my mind a lot lately for some reason. My first makeup obsession was definitely blush and it's really funny because I actually only have only 2-3 blushes I rotate between. So I think it's time to expand my blush collection by getting a light pink blush. I have quite tan skin, so I've never really purchased a lighter blush because I figured it wouldn't show up on my skin. Last year though, I got a sample of a Sephora brand blush and oh my it looked really good! It gives me a very faint color and looks super subtle. I think it would look amazing on an everyday basis, especially in these winter months when my skin is a little lighter. 

Benefit Ultra Plush Lipgloss in Hoola - $16 - sheer golden bronze gloss

Photo credit = www.xsparkage.com

This is literally the most perfect nude lipgloss. It has a very very golden color and looks beautiful with a heavier smoky eye or on its own. It's my secret weapon for looking ready in 2 minutes. It's especially beautiful for the spring-summer season. Also leaves the lips super soft, moisturized, and gives them a velvet-y feel. Tastes and smells like peach. Worth every single penny!

My 'Aha' Moment

Ugh. I’m so disappointed in myself. At first, I thought I was only craving a burger and fries because I was upset over my breakup, but no it goes way beyond that. I’ve realized that my food cravings only occur when I’m studying in the library. We have a cafeteria upstairs and I’m literally obsessed with their sandwiches and French fries, which are super fatty. On the bright side, now that I’ve realized my trigger, I’ve come up with a few strategies to reduce these hunger cravings and eat healthy while still being able to study in the library. I’m going to try and pack richer, more flavorful meals that are comforting to me and hopefully those will prevent me from running up to the cafeteria when my hunger pangs strike. I’ve realized I really really crave fried, fatty food when I’m studying or stressed. I tend to reason myself into thinking that if I eat a big fatty meal for lunch, I won’t have to take breaks to go get food and can study 6 hours straight. Really really unhealthy habit. So instead of packing salads and veggies, which aren’t really appetizing to me when I’m really stressed out during studying, I’m going to pack meals like pasta or frozen meals that are more appealing to my palate. They are a little carb-heavy, but it’s much much better than denting my wallet AND clogging my arteries with cafeteria food. And it’s a good start to what I’m hoping is progressive changes to my eating habits. I’m going to try and employ this strategy this upcoming week and I’m hoping that these work. I think that if I can successfully stop eating so much at the cafeteria, I’m definitely going to accelerate my weight loss. While I’m super disappointed in my lack of self control when it came to fatty food this week, I’m glad I’m able to recollect my thoughts and re-adjust and plan ahead instead of totally being dejected and giving up on my diet like I have in the past. I think that not giving up is really challenging during setbacks and this was a really good exercise in how to overcome roadblocks. I’ve been a junk food addict for the past 3-4 years now and I knew this habit wouldn’t be easy to break. I’m glad I’m trying my best and taking baby steps. I’m glad I was able to look back at my eating this week and reflect on how I can improve. No major damage was done this week and I think I’m even starting to look a little slimmer around my waist but like I said, if I can stop making trips to the hospital cafeteria, that weight loss will be even more drastic in the future. 

Post-Exam Meals and Studying!

Lots of things to update about! I took my Musculoskeletal/Derm exam yesterday and boy was that a nightmare. A lot of students and I felt as if we hadn't heard of half the stuff on the exam, so I was quite worried about failing right after I completed the test. Crazyness. I don't know though, I feel as if the average is going to be low, and I think I should be fine. To brighten up my day, however, I had a delicious lunch at Nicky's Thai Kitchen. The photo above is a snapshot of my yummy (and beautiful!) meal, cashew nut chicken with white rice. I ate worse than I expected on Sunday, so I decided to lighten things up on yesterday and opt for a chicken/veggie dish rather than indulging in fattening yellow curry. I'm so proud of myself for not caving in! I even skipped the super-salty soup they gave as an appetizer!

As a diet update, I think I'm finally dropping some weight! A lot of it is probably water weight, but still, I'm so excited to see some of my stomach bloat drop and my jeans fit a smidge better. My legs feel a lot skimmer in jeans, but my waist is still a little tight. The fat area around the waist is always lost later so I'm not too worried. This is coming up on week 2 of my diet, and I'm really happy to see progress already! I'm not getting too excited because I still have a lot of work to do, but this proves that my efforts are paying off!

Also started studying for Step 1 yesterday!! Only got through 2 sections of Pathology, so I think I need to speed up a little bit. It's a lot harder than I anticipated since I don't remember learning ANY of the stuff I went through yesterday. I rather spend longer on my first pass through the material so that pass #2 and #3 will go by a little smoother and be more of a review than learning things for the first time. Another full day of studying planned today :( but, new episodes of Ravenswood and Pretty Little Liars tonight! So exciting! :)

New Year's Resolutions Update!

It's officially been one week into 2014! Woo! Have you kept up with your resolutions? Let's check in and see how I'm doing on my resolutions.

#1 Weight

So I'm kind of sick of weighing myself on the scale because I find that it really makes me nervous and totally derails/damages my diet if I gain even half a pound. Therefore I've stopped weighing myself religiously like I used to. As far as clothes fit, I think it's still a little too early to tell, although I kinda I'm a little less bloated! Not much, but I'm trying to take baby steps rather than make big, huge changes at one time. Currently I'm up to working out for 30 minutes at a time for about 4-5 days a week. Not too shabby, but I'd like to eventually hit 45-60 mins each day for 4-5 days a week. I'm drinking as much water as possible, but not as much as I'd like to, so I want to work on that as well.

#2 Capturing memories

UGH I hate the weather for ruining my plans!! It's been super duper chilly here the past week (-30 wind chill today! ...yeah!) so my plans of hanging out with a friend before she moved out to Greensburg for PA school kinda went down the drain. The roads are kinda icy and it's seriously SO cold outside! So glad we don't have mandatory school this morning. However, I have some pretty awesome get-togethers lined up this weekend/next week like Ikea, Thai food, Wicked show, etc. which should be tonssss of fun since I haven't seen my friends in like 2+ weeks :) 

#3 Old friends

This kinda ties in with #2, but like I said lots of get-togethers planned once I get outta Cranberry and back into the Oaks! :) As far as old friends go, I've kinda texted Dan and Emma a little bit over break, but I'll probably check in with them towards the end of the month. Kinda bummed that a few of my college friends visited over break for a wedding, but I couldn't get to see them ;( and again bummed about not being able to see Anne before she leaves for PA school. Ughhh friends moving away totally sucks! :( I have a feeling that this may be my hardest resolution this year...

#4 Processed foods/refined sugars

I'm doing pretty well with this one. I'm slowly trying to cut processed foods from my diet. I will admit I ate some white bread yesterday and white pasta but only because I'm at home and my parents hate anything whole wheat and mostly only stock refined pastas and breads. I just went grocery shopping yesterday though and didn't get anything refined and really really cut back on the processed, canned foods. I mean I'm not gonna go crazy and cut out EVERY little piece of processed food because that would just be completely impossible because of my hectic lifestyle. But I think I did cut out a good bit. Like no more Cheez-Its for snacks, no more Lean Pockets, not even Ritz crackers! I got some healthy-ish snacks, soups, and frozen foods at Whole Foods that look a lot cleaner than the stuff I was eating before so I'm really excited to try those! But yeah, I'm going to see how I handle all my January groceries and make adjustments likewise, but so far so good!! Really proud of myself for eating healthy these last few days. Like I said, not pristine clean food, but definitely much better than I had been doing last semester. Let's keep this going! 

#5 Sleeping 7+ hours a night

I'm doing well on this too! Although it's only the second day back at school haha. I've been trying to change my sleeping patterns to wake up earlier and earlier. I went from waking up at 10 am Sunday to 8:30 am Monday to 7:30 am today. So hopefully will be waking up at 6am in the next few days here! I only slept 6 hours last night though but I think that's okay since I'm still changing sleeping schedules. I'll probably be super tired tonight and end up sleeping at 9am. I love waking up in the morning with the sun, and that's a great motivator for me to get my butt up and get my day started. Can't wait until the weather clears up and I can start doing some light morning walks at sunrise too. 

#6 Money

Ah, last but not least my new year's resolution to fix my shopping problem. Alright, sooooo I may have kind of cheated on No Buy January and bought some sweaters at Target :X buttttt I've really been wanting some new sweaters since November because a lot of mine are starting to get old and worn. Target had 50% off their sweaters and so I figured what the heck, my exception to the no buy rule is only if there are good sales, and this fit the exception! So I got 2 sweaters and 1 long t-shirt for $30 and I'm so so so happy because two of them can work for spring as well. And I'm actually proud of myself for not wandering around picking up more stuff at Target like I usually do. And I still have not bought a single beauty related product this month! Woo woo! As far as my credit card bill goes, my limit was $300 a month ($250 = brownie points!) But I did just spend $115 at Walmart yesterday and $15 at Whole Foods the other day for groceries, which is gonna amp up my bill quite a bit. I literally threw away most of my food at the end of the semester because I figured it was time to get some fresh stuff, hence the high bill. Usually my grocery bills average $50 so we should be good from here on out. 

Unfortunately though I think my January bill may also top off at about $300 or more this month not only because of groceries, but also because of Step 1. I just spent nearly $75 getting study books. Combine that with groceries and sweaters, and so far my bill is around $250. Ughhhhh. Responsibilities totally suck. My expenditures have mainly been: Study books, groceries, Target sweaters, my brother's $5 Pokemon cards (his gift, don't ask). Yep so nothing crazy, just mainly groceries and study books, all of which were accounted for in my loans. Only $50 play money this month :(  I have a feeling I may not be able to keep up this resolution this month. 

January Food Haul!...aka my grocery list.

Yay food! I plan my meals ahead of time, or try to anyway, so this is my grocery list for the month of January. Though I'd go ahead and share it on here in case I lose it or need inspiration in the future :)

Fruits/Veggies
Bananas
Berries or grapes
Baby carrots
Salad greens
Lettuce head

Diced onions

Diced green peppers

Zucchini

Meats/dairy
Low sodium deli ham
Turkey sausage
Diced ham (packaged)
Diced chicken (packaged)
Frozen turkey burger patties
Thin sliced chicken breasts
Eggs
2% milk

Light cheddar cheese slices

Light shredded cheddar cheese

Light shredded mozzerella cheese

Shredded parmesan cheese

Bolthouse vanilla chai tea
Half&half

Breads
Multigrain bread
English wheat muffins
Wheat tortilla wraps
Wheat buns
Pizza crust

Frozen Foods
Sukhi's Naanwich wraps
Frozen mixed vegetables

Pantry Goodies
Kashi honey almond flax cereal
Whole grain linguine
Whole grain penne
Brown rice
Organic frozen chicken strips
Organic soups
Light Progresso soups
Canned black beans
Chicken broth
Lightly salted tortilla chips
Rice cakes
Mini popcorn bags
Whole wheat crackers

Condiments/Randoms
Light cream cheese
Bolthouse light caesar dressing
Natural peanut butter
Minced garlic
Organic salsa
Hummus

Get Fit Gifts!

So I've been thinking recently about how I can get myself motivated to workout. I've come up with a few tips, but I gotta have one that inspires me the most -- something related to shopping! I've recently become a shopping addict (which I really am trying to break!) so I think something along the lines of rewarding myself with beauty/fashion gifts every time I reach a milestone would be a great way to look forward to workouts and getting fitter.
Now comes the important question -- what are these "milestones" I can reward myself for? In the past, I've tried to connect them to weight on the scale, but I don't really like weighing myself because it makes me more anxious. I get really freaked out at the number and a lot of the times, when I don't hit my goal I get really unmotivated and give up my diet plan completely. So instead, I think I'm going to reward myself at the end of each month. I'm gonna take a look at how I've done since the beginning of the month, and if I've really improved in some way, then I'll reward myself with a beauty-related goodie . I'm really hoping this plan works because I'm feeling super motivated and really want to look for ways to keep this motivation going. And something shopping-related would be absolutely fantastic! I've done the first four months kinda as a little "pilot". Really really excited!!

January -- BareMinerals Beauty Obsessed ($25)
February -- Too Faced Sweethearts Perfect Blush in Something About Berry ($30)
March -- New spring makeup!! ($50)
April -- New spring wardrobe!! ($50)

New daily routine!

Figured it was time to organize my life a little bit more and chalk out a typical day kind of routine.
By no means will I be following this every single day of the week, but it's gonna allow for some structuring of my work week, typically Mondays-Fridays. Right now I wake up whenever, study whenever I'm not lazy and hope for the best. Not anymore! Time for some serious schedule re-organization!

6:00-6:30 -- wake up, take medication, brew coffee, check emails, look at daily schedule
6:30-7:00 -- eat light breakfast, check emails, look at daily schedule
7:00-8:00 -- exercise
8:00-9:00 -- shower, get ready
9:00-12:00 -- class/study, snack
12:00-1:00 -- light lunch
1:00-5:00 -- class/study, snack
5:00-6:00 -- light dinner
6:00-9:00 -- class/study, snack
9:00-11:00 -- relax, catch up on shows/youtube, check next day schedule