Home is where…all the freaking food is

So this summer during break, I am home because my internship is relatively close to my parent’s house and on a college budget, saving three months rent was worth sharing a bathroom with my little brother.  

ANYWAYS…..let me get you a little back story. My parents are relatively healthy.  Like kinda, they try.  There’s whole wheat bread, organic milk (depends if you think cow milk is ‘healthy’), they are weeding out anything with HFCS, and there is definitely fruits and veggies in there. BUT HOLY FREAKING COW the fridge is packed.  I tried to make room for my almond milk and omg, there are 10 freaking things of jam…WHO NEEDS 10 DIFFERENT FLAVORS OF JAM.  Open the cupboards, the same flipping 10 bags of “healthy” chips there from a month ago, too.  And don’t even get me started in the freezer.  It sersiously drives me crazy how unorganized and hoarder-ish it is.  They wonder why they can’t lose weight.  MAYBE IT’S BECAUSE THERE’S SO MUCH FREAKING FOOD?? Oh, and if you’re craving dessert.  We had strawberry shortcake, applepie, blueberry muffins, cream cheese danishes, icecream, chocolate, the list goes on and on all within arms reach.  Who needs 5 different choices of dessert? Organic and “real” or not.  TOO MUCH!!

So, my question is, how should I kindly tell them (again) that this is why they are struggling to stay healthy, that maybe, just maybe, 5 bags of chips doesn’t help my brother get better.  I feel like a broken record with them.  Maybe a one night stay is enough 🙂  

But really, any advice on how to kindly tell family they need to do a little kitchen-clean up.

P.S.  My mom is so anal about everything being so clean except the fridge.  I should really take a picture your jaws would drop.

 

xo

 

 

HIIT

I absolutely love High Intensity Interval Training – for many reasons! One, it is so short! Two, it isn’t an elliptical (it can be, but I choose not to) and three, probably the best, IT WORKS.  I do some sort of HIIT almost everyday, except maybe sunday to give my body a rest.  By doing HIIT workouts, it improves your athletic capacity, so if you’re a runner, you will find improvements in your lung capacity and it will be easier to hold a race-pace.   This is because you are working so hard in HIIT, that you are in the “anaerobic” zone, using no oxygen.  HIIT also improves glucose metabolism ( can break down carbohydrates more efficiently for energy).  Along with all these great benefits, it’s just a well rounded cardiovascular exercise! You only need about 4-20 minutes.  I am not so sure about 4 minutes being as effective as an hour long session, as some people say, but I do know that my 12-20 minute sessions do wonders!

I teach an “Intervals” class at the University of Oregon and my students love it.  I do an alternation between strength training and cardio intervals with a few TABATA’s in-between.  It’s 50 minutes long and it is a WORKOUT.  But when I’m not teaching, I do a few other things on my own.   I usually do a TABATA, which is full exertion for 20 seconds, then 10 seconds off.  My workout looks like this:

Do each exercise for 20 seconds with 10 second break after each.  Repeat 4 times thru before going to next:

• High Knee Runs
• Squat Jumps
• Mountain Climbers
• Lunge Jumps

Water break!! Then….do these exercises w/ same format

• Squat Jacks
• Pushups
• Burpees
• Bicycles

With a one minute water break, this workout is 17 Minutes! No Equipment.  No Gym.  Cardio & strength…How good does it get?

Change is uncomfortable!

xo

Guess what my w…

Guess what my weekend was full of? Great food, a lot of wine, & even better company! and this is a health blog…yuuuup, you betcha.

It was my boyfriend’s little brothers graduation from hs & I have been in Portland for the past few days.  SO MUCH GOOD FOOD.  Preview of my last few meals: tiramasu gelato, wine, brie, salmon, sangria, ceviche, wine, butternut squash enchiladas…list goes on & on.  

Let me list out how I ate all of these good foods while keeping it healthy:

Saturday:

Breakfast:

• Coffee w. almond milk
• Egg white omelet w. a lot of veggies
• 1/3 cup oatmeal

Lunch: (At a luncheon for a graduation)

• Turkey Sandwich (no mayo or cheese..just a lot of dijon!)
• Kettle Chips (not many!)
• 1 Bloody Mary 

Snack: 

• Kid’s serving of Gelato.. no wonder America is so obese!  A regular portion of gelato was 3 scoops…really?

Dinner: at Stanford’s

• Taste of Brie on 1 slice of Restaurant bread
• 1.5 Glasses of Red Wine (no sugars, healthy antioxidants)
• Salmon with Veggies: Subbed the mashed potatoes for double steamed vegetables...saved a mine bomb of calories that went towards brie 🙂 

Sunday:

Breakfast:

• Strawberries & Blueberries
• Egg whites
• Scooped out 1/2 a Daves’ Killer Bread Bagel (so just crust) w/ 1Tbsp Peanut butter
• Black coffee

Snack:

• Chobani Fat Free Vanilla Greek Yogurt (has the lowest sugar)
• 3 Strawberries

Workout: (No gym!!)

• 30 Minute Strength Training routine OnDemand w/ one set of weights
• 5 Minutes of HIIT
• 20 Minutes Yoga

Lunch:

• 1/2 Turkey Sandwich & side salad
• Kettle Chips (Okay, I swear, I never have this many kettle chips… they kept staring at me)

Snack:

• Wine tasting at a Vineyard! So beautiful 🙂

Dinner:  Okay dinner was just great because I met with a bunch of my co- interns (uh..is that a word?) downtown Portland for Happy Hour! I got the salad at Henry’s Tavern & then Butternut squash Enchiladas at Oba. Oba is one of my favorite restaurants in Portland… I’m sure you’ll be hearing more 🙂

• Side salad (no dressing, had pickled fennel on top which was enough flavoring)  
• Butternut squash enchiladas
• 2 glasses of red wine

So why am I listing out what I ate? Like..do you really care that I had delicious food? 

My point is that it’s all about BALANCE! Egg whites for breakfast is a sacrifice that I choose to make in order to have gelato mid afternoon.  No mashed potatoes for a slice of bread w/ brie.  Choose what you LOVE and give up what is mehh.  I have struggled with trying to find the balance of enjoying foods and being healthy but getting to strict.  Being too strict is no fun and it can lead to eating a bunch of stuff that doesn’t even taste good.  Ever deprive yourself of a really good cookie or desert to only find yourself ravenous for something sweet and eating 5 crappy stale cookies? (or is it just me).  I have found that making swaps and choosing the highest quality things you love (for me, good wine) means having to sub out things you don’t (bagel, mashed potatoes, bread on the table, mayo, sugary drinks).  Also, working out always helps! It not only burns calories, but helps making swaps easier & knowing that you’re not “throwing in the towel”.  There is a time & place for enjoying life, and being grateful for the family & friends you have to share it with 🙂

 

xx