Modeling Health

2011-01-14T14:19:00.000-08:00

Breakfast, cereal w/ pb, raisins, grapes

Lunch: whole wheat bread, black beans, veggies and hummus

2 cookies

2 ganache filled truffles = a bit 2 much sweets for today!

Veggie dog and veggies

Oh the Snow!

2011-01-13T18:54:00.000-08:00

A great breakfast of museli w/ extra yogurt and an apple w/ pb

A giant salad topped with kidney bean-bacon-coleslaw. Yumm.

Had extra time to make cupcakes and for hubbsies and tried three different frosting

Veggie salad and grilled dill-scallops drizzled in olive oil.

Ta dah! The final result! Tuxedo vegan cupcakes.

I'm back! Snow Day

2011-01-12T19:47:00.000-08:00

Breakfast part I and II

Veggie dogs and roasted broccoli lunch

Fudge snack

A light carrot soup, bread, and beans for dinner

And the #9 reason is . . .

2010-04-17T03:48:00.000-07:00

Good Morning!

I'm taking a study break today to post some eats from Friday. Along with #9 reason why body fat is great!

And it is:
Reason #9: Winter. They are sooo much more bearable with a healthy amount of body fat. Before I would dread going inside, dread going to other people's cold houses, and more than anything was just never warm enough no matter how many layers of cuddl duds I wore. No layers can keep you as warm as a healthly layer of fat!

To proceed, Here's usual breakfast with flax cereal and almond butter:

Lunch was some roasted sweet potato and carrots with salad and toast:

Followed (so typically) by drinking chocolate:

Dinner was a random combination with couscous and chickpeas on one side

and some black bean taco filing on the other:

And a strawberry crisp to end it:

Have a great weekend! I will be traveling the next six months, but will join you again in 2011

Why is a Healthy Amount of Body Fat Great?

2010-04-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

Today I'm beginning a countdown on why having some body fat is good for women. After personally gaining weight to get to healthy fat level, I will present to you my (and my husband's) reasons in the upcoming blogs.

Reason #10 Having fat under the skin works to make skin feel softer better than any lotion out there. After gaining weight, modeling husband has been constantly remarking about how my skins feels much softer and appealing than it did before. I think our culture emphasizes how sexy looks, but the sensual feeling of sexy can't be neglected! Men can't be soft and there is something so feminine about being soft.

Following up, here are my eats so far (I both have fat and eat healthy fat!):

A quick breakfast: goat yogurt with mango, mmm

Followed by my mid-morning perk:

A crunchy lunch of carrot rappe, ham, and toast (yay new jam)

And a dinner with some pesto, pasta, and zucchini:

Let me know why you love a bit of body fat!

Making Swedish Jam

2010-04-11T11:05:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. I had a really big 10 hour practice test yesterday that went well. I'm recovering after my super sugary day before and am feeling much better. With the beginning of spring produce a got a longing to make some Swedish jam. It's so quick and it tastes so much better than store bought jam. It's a bit thinner than other jams, but the flavor is so much stronger I use way less.

General Recipe:
2 cups of fruit (Frozen blueberries, frozen raspberries, or apricots are my favorites)

1 cup sugar

1. Let frozen fruit defrost about 30 seconds in the microwave

2. Put sugar and fruit in a food processor and mix until chopped in fine pieces

3. Heat the fruit mixture in a saucepan over medium high heat, stirring frequently

4. Heat the mixture until it reaches 215 or boils rapidly, then keep stirring for 4 more minutes
-This jam keeps in the refridgerator for about one month

Here is what I ate so far today:

Lunch with hubby was some great baked tofu, beans, and cheese:

Followed with a couple strawberries and granola:

Have a geat weekend

Sweet Friday

2010-04-09T18:03:00.000-07:00

Hey all! Hope everyone is having a good night. I had a busy study day today as I have a 8 hour practice exam tomorrow. I was under a bit of stress, hence all the sugar I ate today! I'm not one for snacking, but it does really help me to be continually productive at times I normally would be tired, so once and I while I go for it.

Breakfast: fruit and toast with almond butter

Mid-morning pick-me-up: drinking chocolate

Lunch: Thinspired's chili (a great recipe), soy crisps, and salad

Mid-afternoon pick-me up: mocha cookies

Dinner: Salad, yogurt, and guess what? more sweets, caramel corn

I hope to show you more balanced eating tomorrow. Have a great weekend!

How Do You Reward Yourself?

2010-04-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

When I was modeling, almost anything with over 200 calories a serving was off limits (well almost). I really never touched ice cream, cookies, cake or other sweets. After quitting, I slowly started incorporated these treats into my regular eating. Quickly, getting something previously off-limits became my go to reward for any type of situation.

Whether I finished a hard exam, got a good grade on a paper, or simply had a good day, I would make a beeline to Whole foods to pick out my treat if there was nothing else interesting going on. When I was trying to gain weight a couple years ago, this strategy worked, but now I no longer need the extra inches around my hips and have had to brainstorm new rewards. Here are some of the things I do now:

1. Spend some extra time with modeling husband if he’s free

2. Spend more time with him

3. Watch a movie with him

4. See what friends are up to if he’s busy

Really though, sometimes a girl just needs some budget-friendly pick me up that she can do herself like:

Cheaper flowers are the same price as a pint of ice cream- and they last longer :)

I will buy these and freeze them in between every use, so it’s ready whenever I need a boost

It’s quick and makes me feel great. What do you all do?

Daily Eats

2010-04-07T13:08:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is getting some spring weather like we are here! Today was a pretty busy study day, I have a really big test at the end of the month, so I will be simply posting what I ate:

I'm up at 5 AM and have a hard time stomaching anything sweet at this hour (I've been known to have bowls of gnocchi or rice for breakfast). So breakfast was Finn Crisp rye crackers with a bit of goat cheese. These are nice and crunchy like Wasa crackers, but are much easier to dip and spread things on.

When I'm in study mode, I do best with lunch being my biggest meal of the day to keep me fueled:

Steak tips and a spinach salad with raspberry vinegrette, feta, and lots of pinto beans! Dessert was a microwave brownie with extra chocolate and powdered espresso which I started to eat before remembering to take a picture- you can tell I'm new to blogging!

Have a great day!

The Orange Smoothie

2010-04-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

I really like the idea of vegetable based smoothies. Fruit is okay, but it is vegetables that really have the highest levels of most vitamins and minerals. However what I don’t like are green smoothies. I have really tried to give them a fair shake, but I just haven’t discovered a recipe that suites me. Anything with spinach shouldn’t taste sweet in my book. To solve this problem I have been rebellious and drink orange smoothies! I love carrots, pumpkin, and summer squash and am perfectly fine with these vegetables sweetened. Here is my smoothie from this afternoon:

Recipe: 1 cup soy milk, 2 Tbsp spirutein powder, ½ cup of carrot, pumpkin, and/or summer squash puree, cinnamon

*I like to cook the carrots and summer squash first before pureeing in a food processor and it makes the shakes much smoother
** Be sure your milk has a little bit of fat in at as you won't absorb the carotinoids without it

Model husband even came over and had a bit . . . and liked it!

Hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of spring and if you have a great green smoothie recipe I would love to try it!

Easter (Well Anytime) Chocolate

2010-04-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

If I do indulge in something, 9 out of 10 times it's chocolate. In fact, even five years ago good dark chocolate was one food I still ate frequently. I think the key for me is not to have the fake kind with lots of sugars. Something about a small amout of dark chocolate is so satisfying, it's hard to overdo it! Truffles are my favorite and I have a simple recipe that I bring as a dessert, thank you, tea, house-warming gift, and just about anything else.

Recipe:

1/2 cup creamer (I used Silk Soy creamer)

12 oz dark chocolate

2 Tbsp olive or canola oil

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbsp vanilla or other alcohol of you choice

1. All you need to do is melt the oil and chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds

2. Add in the remaining ingredients and let cool until slightly firm

3. Shape the chocoate into truffles

4. Truffes can then be rolled in cocoa powder, nuts, or dipped in plain melted chocolate

First Post!

2010-04-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

Exercise THEN:

I used to be so involved with exercise that my entire day was of arranged around my hour and a half session. It was already hard enough to eat little, so exercising a lot seemed to be the only way to maintain the figure I deemed fit. I primarily ran or swam almost every day. It did work, if you define working as not gaining weight, but trying to exercise that much wasn’t healthy for the rest of me. I was always sore from some sort of overuse injury and was tired always having to get up two hours earlier than needed to fit my routine in.

Exercise NOW:

I still exercise, but it’s now something I like to do that makes me actually feel good. Surprising. If I don’t work out, I have trouble sleeping, am a bit crankier, and am just plain restless all day. Plus I find exercising helps my body to ask for healthier food and I am less likely to want chocolate or other sweets when what I need is a meal! I also have expanded what I consider exercise. For me, exercise no longer has to happen in spandex. I have broadened my sense of exercise which involves walking to the grocery store, biking, and yes even bedroom activities count in my book. I try to limit myself to 30 minutes of moderate cardio 5 times a week + other leisure activity. This has worked for me to keep my body strong, but help me not to go overboard or become overly reliant.