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I just got signed on to the advertising team and I started work last Friday. I’m still acclimating to everything… including how this plays in with my diet. It’s thrown everything off and I need to make a new schedule to sort everything out. I haven’t been taking my vitamins and I haven’t been to the gym since last Thursday. I can’t even remember the last time I made a post. It seemed that long ago, when it really hasn’t been. I’ve been trying to keep to greens, but I’ve been missing my lunches because of training at work.

I hate to have to do this but I’ll be going on a (brief) hiatus. I want to still record what I’m eating. I just don’t know when exactly I’ll come back from taking a break, but hopefully two weeks from now. Interesting thing, on my way to work today there was a discussion about studies of the effects of eating red meat. I heard it twice on the radio today! You can check it out at NPR: on the Patt Morrison page – New study says all red meat is bad for you and on Larry Mantle – A burger a day means your health will decay.

I would love to know your thoughts on the information they are presenting, so feel free to comment!

Day 35

Ok, all caught up…at least for now. I got offered a job recently and I’m so excited! I’ll really need to budget myself carefully because there’s already so many things I want to purchase. Can’t get too ahead of myself quite yet, I’m sure a good chunk of my pay check will go into my savings (I’m hoping). I checked out the Forks Over Knives website and it offers a wide variety of cookbooks. These purchases will be well invested because I’ll always be able to use them as references. This will make preparing meals easier and save me the trouble of having to look up ideas online. I’ll have to rearrange my schedule once I get my hours for work. And here I was just getting the hang of waking up early to work out in the morning.

Meal of the day

Breakfast: Special K original flavor with whole-fat milk

Snack: honey whole wheat pretzels

Lunch: Beach Walk Cafe – grain bowl (beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, cilantro, and avocado), no onions because there’s such a strong lingering odor afterwards for which I cannot get rid of absent mouthwash.

Snack: strawberries and blueberries

Dinner: My family went out to Todai today to celebrate my dad’s birthday. In my opinion, Todai is a Japanese buffet with a few selected foods that are considered tasty. The rest is edible, but not the greatest. I skipped past all the meat and poultry today. Seafood did find its way onto my plate because I couldn’t resist. I tried to fill my plate with greens as much as possible. I also sampled many different mini desserts.

I really have not minded my diet so far. I do not have heavy cravings for fast food or meat for that matter. I have the occasional sweet tooth, but it doesn’t take much to fill. A mini cupcake, macaron, or slice of pie would sufficiently satisfy. I have not been consistent with taking my calcium, omega 3’s or vitamins. My body feels like it’s rejecting the omega 3’s or my diet. I can’t quite pinpoint the reason to my major breakout because it’s never been this bad before. I’ve been doing my best to drink water. It’s more than I drank before. I’ll have tea, juice, and milk from time to time. I went to have a teeth cleaning recently and I might need to cut back on my tea intake. It’s been staining my teeth quite badly. The only other reason I can think of is my switching to a natural face wash. Could it be possible that a face wash without parabens and other carcinogenic elements actually cause acne? Well, I will continue on. Besides the odd breakout, I don’t have any other side effects from this diet, at least not any that I can physically see.

Day 34

I neglected to go to the REC center today because I pumped gas and my receipt came out to a whopping $72!! I blinked a few times and enlarged my eyes just to make sure my vision wasn’t fooling me. Ridiculous! You see, I’ve commute to school which is about 10-15 miles away but I only have classes 2 days a week. I make that extra effort to go workout because it’s better than paying for membership when I’ve already paid for the school one. Unfortunately, I might have to rethink how to get a good workout without using equipment at the school gym. Today seemed like a lazy kind of day anyway. ☻

Meal of the day

Photo by: lovingpho.com. I forgot to take a picture, but this is pretty close to what most bowls look like.

Breakfast: bagel thin with cream cheese and a bowl of banana slices with strawberries. I felt more hungry than usual so I had another bagel thin with cream cheese afterwards.

Lunch: 2 mini pita breads made into mini pizzas. I poured on marinara sauce, chopped some asparagus and red bell peppers, and sprinkled mixed greens and parmesan cheese on top. I also added avocado. Mmm mM!

Snack: baked pita chips with humus. All I can say is tasty!

Dinner: My parents cooked a Vietnamese traditional noodle soup today. It’s something I believe most of us are familiar with…phở. My mom usually gives me a lot of meat, but I dished it out back to my parents and told them it was too much. My dad has been trying to perfect his broth, which I’ll admit has gotten a lot better since he last cooked phở.

It’s 1:13 a.m. and I’m debating on whether to start the homework that is due in 14 hours. I was scanning and printing some documents that are due tomorrow, or err…today. I didn’t realize it was going to take me that long. Come this Sunday, 1:13 will actually be 2:13 a.m. Oh bother, tomorrow will be a long day. One in which I predict will be unorganized and accompanied by tiredness (even though today was somewhat of a lazy day).

Day 31-33

Welcome March! Wow, that was quick. My goal in experimenting with a new diet is to tone, build muscle, reduce my intake of meats (poultry, dairy, and seafood included), and live a healthier lifestyle that is also beneficial to the environment. I’ve been monitoring my food intake and making sure I keep the two-thirds rule. I see a little bit of definition in my arms but my abs are no where to be seen. ☹ More research to figure out whether my calorie intake is exceeding the daily needed. My friend says it’s probably the reason why I’m not seeing results after a month.

So here is the food count for February (I might have missed a few tallies here and there). This counts how many times I’ve had each food category, not the servings. I want to see if I can further lessen my intake of animal products.

Photo by: 123rf.com

Dairy: 35

Poultry: 13

Fish: 9

Meat: 12

Fruit: 34

Veggies: 53

Grains: 67

No bad, if I must say so myself, but there’s always room for improvement. Yay! One month down, ten more to go!

Meal of the day (31)

Breakfast: bagel thin with cream cheese, bowl of banana and blueberries

Lunch: fried tofu with rice sheets dipped in fish sauce, add beansprouts and cucumbers

Dinner: greens, salad (Romaine with artichoke hearts and olives and parmesan cheese), baked ziti, 2 pieces of fried dumplings

Dessert: small slice of chocolate pudding pie (I wanted to take the rest of the pie leftovers but someone beat me to it, poo!)

Meal of day (32)

Breakfast: bagel thin with 2 scrambled eggs (2 egg whites and 1 yolk) with onions, green onions, cucumbers and avocado

Lunch: half a Basil Chicken sandwich from Pete’s Handmade

Snack: macarons from Chubbi Cake (coconut, passion fruit, and pistachio = my new fave flavors), half a multi-grain cranberry bread

Dinner: Shik Do Rak KBBQ

Meal of the day (33)

Breakfast: bagel thin with cream cheese and a half glass of low-fat milk

Lunch: salad (mixed greens with avocado, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers)

Snack: strawberries and blueberries

Dinner: brown rice, carrots, bok choy and tofu with soy sauce

Day 29/30

My school recently constructed a recreation and wellness center for the students and it’s where I’ve been going in the mornings to get my workout in. It’s a great facility and the price is built in to my tuition so I might as well get the most out of it while I’m here. My normal routine is to warm up with a jog then go straight into resistance training beginning first with abs. The core is the underlying muscle for all other workouts and I was told it’s better to start with abs. I’ve been pushing myself a little more by switching up 2-3 different ab workouts. Then I alternate my working out one day on biceps and then another day on triceps. This gives my muscles the opportunity to rest without overworking them. After that, I focus on my lower body such as my thighs, butt and calves. Finishing off with cardio on either the elliptical machine or biking machine. Lastly, I make sure to stretch out my muscles. On a good day I could get done in an hour, but I usually take up to an hour and half to two hours at the REC center.

Photo by: RobbinsSports.com. There are different jump ropes for different skill levels. For newbies, check out the plastic beads rope. For endurance, try a leather jump rope. For tricksters, ball bearings in the handles help ensure easier spinning.

I’ve been trying to incorporate jump roping into my cardio. It’s a great way to melt fat because it burns 100 calories in fewer than 8 minutes. According to Gerald Calvo, group fitness manager of Equinox in NYC, “when it comes to cardio, nothing burns better than umping rope, and it tones head-to-toe.”

He gives a few pointers to fine-tune your form. He recommends a 5-minute warm-up then 20-minute full cardio session or 30 seconds between strength sets.

• Hold elbows at sides, bent 90 degrees, with arms slightly forward and palms up. Rotate wrists, not hands while contracting shoulders, triceps and biceps to help control revolutions.
• Keep neck relaxed and look ahead. Avoid looking at your feet to keep the spine alined. I like to jump rope in front of the mirror, it helps me gauge my form. Lift chest and lower shoulders to avoid hunching.
• Engage ab muscles the entire time. This helps keep proper posture and stability while protecting the lower back and knees.
• Make sure your jump rope is the right length. Stand on the center and pull up on the ends. The handles should hit at the armpits.
• Jump on the balls of your feet, bringing toes only 1 inch off the floor. Aim for a quiet landing with soft knees to cushion impact. Heels should never hit the floor.

With that said, hop to it!

Meal of the day (29)

Breakfast: Special K cereal (1/2 strawberries, 1/2 fruit and yogurt flavored) with low-fat milk

Lunch: almond butter & grape jelly sandwich, salad (mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers with low-fat balsamic vinaigrette)

Dinner: Sakura salmon shabu shabu. I didn’t want to eat meat and they didn’t offer a vegetarian selection. On the menu, it said the salmon comes in 15 pieces, but man I kept eating and eating and it felt like I would never finish. They were a thick cut too! Needless to say, I was done with salmon for a while after that.

Meal of the day (30)

Breakfast: Special K fruit and yogurt cereal with low-fat milk

Snack: honey crisp apple slices and blueberries

Lunch: cannot remember for the life of me (that’s what I get for being behind, although I’m surprised I even remember that far back into the week and what I ate)

Dinner: slice of Costco combo pizza, scoop of fried rice, spaghetti and meat sauce, peach salad

Dessert: 2 scoops of vanilla bean ice cream with peanut butter brownie crumbs

Day 27/28

Apologies for all these super late posts. Somehow I lost track and then it was a lot easier not to keep up with the daily posts. I’m still trying to get the hang of blogging too given the fact that I need to constantly remind myself to update my own blog. I’ve been writing but I’ll save it to draft just to check the grammar over later. I accidentally published the days out of order because I wasn’t carefully reading which post I was publishing. I’m going to give myself time to catch up in the next few days. Again, really sorry for the delay!

I jumped into my workout routine right away, not giving my muscles enough time to recovery except when the weekend rolls around. I read recently in the newest Self issue that “polyphenols abundant in red and purple produce can accelerate muscle recovery. The anti-inflammatory antioxidants may speed the healing of damaged tissue after a hard workout.” Apparently, when working to build muscle through weight training you’re actually tearing apart the fibers in your muscles. By allowing them to repair, they become stronger. You know when you’ve gotten your muscles to work when you feel a little soreness, but if you can’t lift a fork then you’ve overworked your muscles. I want to tone and my friend recommended using resistance training with weights. He told me that I can lift weight without becoming too muscular because it takes women longer to bulk up. On the one hand, good news to me because I was afraid of lifting, but on the other hand I can no longer avoid all the sweaty guys grunting as they lift their dumbbells in the weight area.

Meal of the day (27)

Breakfast: multi-grain Cherrios with low-fat milk

Lunch: taco salad, more chips with salsa and guacamole (I never can get enough)

Dinner: Tokyo Table; I only go for their happy hour but their sushi is decent. I had half a Mexicali roll and half a lobster dynamite roll. I must say their dynamite roll impressed me. Since I’ve been spoiled with good sushi, the bar is set higher for taste. I also had a glass of Sapporo.

Dessert: 1/4 of sweet toast and 1/4 of an apple tart from a bakery in Irvine called 85°. They have some of the best sweet bread and their sea salted drinks are great.

Meal of the day (28)

Photo by: Tiffany Nguyen

Breakfast: multi-grain Cherrios with low-fat milk

Lunch: mixed green tossed with strawberries and blueberries in balsamic vinaigrette; brown rice with green string beans, carrots and tofu

Dinner: Belacan Grill – Malaysian yumminess. They have this special deal called the 2 for $20. You can pick an appetizer, two dishes, and dessert. Drinks like ice tea and sodas are included with unlimited refills. I had their roti cane, chicken satay, Nasi Lemak, and the Daging Kecap Manis.

Dessert: fried bananas with coconut ice cream (absolutely heavenly)

Day 22/23

I was interested in finding out how to get the most out of my workout. I calculated my maximum heart rate, which is the hardest I can go during my workout, with a formula made specifically for women. I found this article in Self under the “fit body” section. I decided to calculate for myself so I know where the fat burning kicks in while doing cardio.

206 – (88% of your age) = MHR (maximum heart rate) → 187 beats per minute

According to Carl Foster, Ph.D., director of the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin, using your MHR to shift between tough and easy workout zones helps push yourself then helps you recover so you don’t burn out.

Zone 1: THR (target heart rate, what you’re aiming for) = 50-65% → 94-122. This is the warm-up and cool-down zone. You’re working at a comfortable level and can easily hold a conversation.

Zone 2: THR = 65-75% → 122-140. This should be your go-to zone, Foster says. It increases muscles’ capacity to store ready-to-burn glycogen. The more glycogen, the harder you can work during tougher sessions and the more calories you burn. Training at this level torches a higher percentage of calories from fat. Going slower zaps fewer total calories meaning you’ll have to keep these workouts a little longer.

Zone 3: THR = 85-90% → 159-168. Working in this range increases your ability to push harder longer.

Zone 4: THR = 90-95% → 168-178. Near-all-out training like this can crank your body’s ability to burn blubber by 36% in two weeks, according to a study from the University of Guelph.

The magazine also gives a workout plan for the week created by Roy Benson, M.P.E., coauthor of Heart Rate Training.

Monday: Zone 2 maintaining THR for 40 minutes

Tuesday: Zone 4 alternating 90 seconds at THR then 90 seconds of slow recovery repeated 5 times

Wednesday: Day off!

Thursday: Zone 2 for 60 minutes

Friday: Zone 2 for 50 minutes

Saturday: Zone 3 alternating 3 minutes at THR with 2 minutes of recovery repeated 4 times

Sunday: Day off!

I can’t promise to stick strictly to this plan, but now I know how to change up my cardio to keep it fun and interesting! I might need to purchase a heart beat monitor, but since I’m on a budget that can go on my birthday list under wants. ☺

Meal of the day (22)

Photo by: Tiffany Nguyen

Breakfast: Greek yogurt, raspberries and granola bits (much more sour without a teaspoon of honey)

Lunch: PB&J (concord grape) on whole wheat bread and my own version of an Asian salad. I didn’t have mandarins so I used an orange as a substitute. I mixed Romaine lettuce with crispy onion salad topping, sliced carrots, and a few spoon scoops of brown rice with sesame dressing. It was quite tasty!

Snack: baby carrots

Dinner: assorted vegetable ramen at Ajisen, this ramen restaurant at the Diamond Jamboree Plaza in Irvine, CA

Meal of day (23)

Breakfast: multi-grain Cherrios with low-fat milk

Snack: banana

Lunch: Romaine lettuce with blueberries, honey crisp apple, feta cheese and light balsamic viniagrette, chicken salad (Miracle Whip with celery and raisins) with multi-grain gluten free crackers

Snack: green grapes

Dinner: taco salad – did my best to sprinkle that ground beef on but it was good and I was hungry so went back for another serving

Day 24/25/26

I’ve been wanting to narrow in on certain parts of my body and my muffin top was also on the list. Since most of my workout clothes have the elastic band around the waist and totally squeezes my body fat, it makes me conscientious about those love handles. I looked up some ways to help get rid of that excess body fat and realized it was all in cardio and resistance training…what I’ve been doing all along! Livestrong posted an article on How to Exercise for Muffin Top and Glamour posted the Muffin-top Workout.

Meal of the day (24)

Breakfast: all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet at Las Brisas (one of the best breakfast places with a pretty amazing view). I helped myself to 2 omelets (one egg whites with just greens and the second regular with ham). I had two pieces of Belgian waffles with syrup and peach slices (my favorite!). I also tried rice pudding with cantaloup, a vegetarian crepe, and spinach quiche. Now that’s a full breakfast!

Lunch: Cilantro (the best place for fresh Mexican food!) I shared with my sister ceviche, guacamole and chips, and a Benny salad (I avoided the meat).

Dinner: farfalle with chicken and broccoli, chips and salsa, fruit (pineapple and grapes), a dinner roll, salad

Dessert: slice of banana cream pie from Marie Calendar’s

Meal of the day (25)

Breakfast: bagel thin with cream cheese and one over easy egg with white grape juice

Lunch: left over farfalle with chicken and broccoli

Dinner: 2 different types of salad (one was Romaine lettuce with carrots, bell peppers and cucumbers and the other was spinach, goat cheese and dried cranberries), fried rice and macaroni salad

Dessert: 2 mini chocolate chip cookies

Meal of the day (26)

Breakfast: bagel thin with cream cheese and blueberries

Lunch: salad (mixed greens with strawberries and feta cheese, add balsamic vinaigrette), turkey sandwich on whole wheat with slices of cucumber and pepper Jack cheese with sour cream & onion Pop chips

Snack: 2 clementines (tangerines? what’s the difference?)

Dinner: brown rice with chicken and cilantro pot stickers and slices of cucumber. I ate pretty late because I thought my parents had prepared dinner but I found out my mom was sick and everyone in the family had already eaten. I was too hungry to go through the waiting process of cooking food for myself.

Day 21

I feel like such a weak sauce compared to those at the gym. There’s something about the gym that makes you really look at yourself. It’s frightening how judgmental it feels. Eyes on you when you use the equipment or the dumbbells. Eyes on you when you walk into the locker room. Basically, everyone is checking out everyone else. At least that’s how it feels like to me. There was a fitness class and they were doing circuits, but I caught something the instructor said and questioned how I was doing. She said somewhere along the lines of it’s not a good workout unless you’re tired at the end. I haven’t done a circuit since a year ago when I took a group cardio class and I remember how tired I was. At the gym, I like to pace myself but when I do my cardio I make sure to hit my target heart rate. I’m sweating by the time I’m done and my face is red, but I’m not on the brink of collapsing although my legs do feel like jell-o. Time to do some research again and find the answer to what is considered a “good” workout.

Meal of the day

Breakfast: multi-grain Cherrios with low-fat milk

Lunch: 4 slices of buttered baguette, romaine lettuce with honey walnuts, diced peaches, dried cranberries and feta cheese, chocolate soy milk

Pre-dinner: green grapes, whole wheat penne pasta with stir-fried cucumbers, carrots and onions with a sweet and sour Thai sauce

Dinner: California Shabu Shabu with the family. I normally order a regular choice beef but this time around I went for the vegetarian. Extra greens for me but I also got 5 slices of meat because my aunt couldn’t finish her plate. It was the perfect amount and still very satisfying. I think it’s the sauce that really makes it great.

My body is absorbing a lot or at least I feel like I’m eating much more often than before I started working out again. It definitely shows in my tummy. I know when most work out abs, there is a special diet to stick to in order to really define those abs. I’m trying to step it up a notch, but it’s difficult when there’s no one to motivate you. My gym buddy is out for the week studying for exams. I enjoy going to the gym and what makes it challenging is switching up my workouts. I like to watch others to see what they do, ask my kinesiology friends if that works out any part of the body, and then incorporate it into my workout. It helps when you can’t come up with anything else to do at the gym.

Cooking Tips for Meat & Poultry

Don’t want to get food poisoning? Handle and prepare meats, pork, and poultry properly AND cook them thoroughly. Not too long ago,  I got a stomach bug that had the same symptoms as food poisoning, but if that was what food poisoning felt like I never want to experience that ever again. It was terrible. Extinguish any salmonella by cooking at temperature of 140°F or higher, and to be even sure cook until meat reaches 180°F.

Photo by brookstone.com. Digital thermometer for $29.99

Steinman advises that boneless parts be cooked to an internal temperature of 160°F. When poultry is cooked thoroughly then juices will be clear and not pink. Stick a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, avoiding fat and bone, to measure the internal temperature. For poultry, stick it into the thickest part of the thigh next to the body.

Check out the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service for guidelines and videos for food safety education. I’m an officer for one of my clubs and I had to take a orientation course for food preparation. I learned about the proper way to prepare, cook, and store foods as to not poison myself or those I was serving.

I was always taught to wash my hands before eating any food, but the same goes for when I’m preparing food. Remember to scrub those fingernails including the back of the hand. Run hands with soap under warm water for 30 seconds. Remember to separate the meat knife from the produce knife because you don’t want to transfer uncooked meat juice to your veggies. The same goes for cutting boards and plate which are used to transport raw meats. Wash knives well with hot water and soap before using it on produce and wash any surface of meat juice.

Refrigerator temperature should remain below 40°F and the freezer always at 0°F. Thaw meats in the refrigerator or microwave but never on the kitchen counter. Cooked poultry not eaten immediately should be kept hot between 140°F and 185°F or refrigerated at 4o°F or below. If storing in the fridge, slice the meat or poultry so it will cool quickly. Store casseroles and stews in shallow pans so they’ll cool quickly too. Reheat leftovers at 165°F before eating. For picnics or luncheons, always store chicken and meats in an insulated container or ice chest until ready to eat.

Hold cooked meat dishes at no less than 140°F. If preparing before hand then cook and refrigerate. Reheat in microwave or oven at 200°F for an hour before serving. Return any meat or product that has an odor or weird color and texture. Don’t even dare taste it! What’s nice is that since this diet uses more produce than meats, I don’t have to worry too much about preparation and cooking meats and poultry. That, in itself, makes me happier already.