Healthy Egg White Muffins

Today was day one at the new job which meant it was day one of lots of temptations. Walking into an office full of donuts, bagels, hot chocolate, etc.. is not easy. I know how hard it is to stay fit and eat clean while working so I made sure to prep both my breakfast and lunch the night before. These muffins are not only easy to make but they are guiltless. They’re healthy mini size omelets; I had two of them with half a grapefruit and hot tea.

Here’s the recipe; try it out!

On a large bowl:

Egg whites & pepper

*you can pretty much season them however you like

 

DICE:

Turkey

Onion

Cactus

Red peppers

*I plan on throwing in mushrooms && spinach next time.

 

On a muffin tray:

Lightly spray each muffin cup or a bit of olive oil (i used the spray)

Fill in each cup half way with the eggwhite

Add the turkey & veggies to each cup

Finish filling each cup with egg whites.

 

Preheat oven at 350 degress.

FOR 35-40MINS

*Depending how you like your eggs cooked

&& ENJOY!!!

 

I placed them in a large Tupperware and in the morning I grabbed two and threw them in the microwave.

 

QUICK, HEALTHY && DELICIOUS!

 

 Dani <3

"I CAN cook dad!"

Hey guys! I hope everyone is doing well. A lot has happened since I last blogged but I am back and hoping it is for good.

I recently decided to quit my job to stay home with Mateo for a few months. His personality started to change and he needed his momma around more. I didn’t want to regret not spending time with him right now that he is at such a young age. Having the privilege to stay home with my son has allowed me to work on other things I enjoy doing like fitness and nutrition.

A lot of you who follow my blog, instagram and/or face book know that I love to work out. I truly enjoy it. I love it actually. I laugh whenever someone asks me why I work out so much if I am not overweight. People don’t only work out because they need to lose weight. Some people actually enjoy working out and staying active. I’m one of those people. I enjoy how it makes me feel about myself after I’m done with a killer work out. I don’t do it because I want to lose weight. I do it because I want to be fit.

Staying home has also allowed me to COOK! Yes, I can cook. The day my husband asked my dad if he could marry me, my dad told him “It’s fine with me but she can’t cook”. haha! My husband loves me so much it didn’t matter. He married me anyway. I can’t believe I’m going to say this but I am REALLY enjoy cooking. I’ve been making things up as well as following healthy recipes I come across online. I don’t follow complicated recipes because I am not a chef. So don’t expect any of that on my blog. LOL! I try to keep it as simple as possible. I am in the process of going back to work very soon so I hope I could continue the healthy eating-on-the go.

Tonight I made healthy CHICKEN SALAD LETTUCE WRAPS. I pretty much followed a recipe I found online and then put my own twist to it. If you decide to make any of the recipes I share on my blog, please tag me. I'd love to hear all about it. Same goes with your fitness journey. Please share and keep me updated! I LOVE to hear it all.

CHICKEN SALAD LETTUCE WRAPS

Boil 4 chicken breasts

8oz plain greek yogurt

Mustard (I didn’t measure it. Go by the taste)

2 diced celery

2 diced cooked carrots

½ cup of corn

Diced Almonds (optional)

Seasoned salt (I used Lawry's 25% less sodium)

Pepper

Romaine lettuce leafds

Jalapenos (add the juice for more flavor)

 

 

 

EAT CLEAN, TRAIN MEAN, STAY LEAN.

 

 

 

 

 

Dani <3

 

 

 

Starvation mode/ Calorie intake

Once again, I abandoned my blog. I’m going to be honest, the only reason I haven’t been writing is because I haven’t been keeping up with my healthy eating habits. It’s a little hypocritical of me to blog while I’ve been eating sweet bread for the past NINE days. My grandfather passed away last week and in my culture, after a loved one passes away, a rosary is done for nine straight days. I’m sure a lot of you know what I’m talking about. The rosary part was great but the hot chocolate with a conchita/empanada was not. Now that the rosary is over, I think it’s a great time to write about a common mistake some extreme dieters make.  

CALORIE INTAKE:

This morning, a friend of mine on FB wrote “I’m determined to lose weight. I’m only eating 500 calories a day from now on.”  DON’T DO THAT! Yes, the fewer calories you eat, the more weight you will lose. But the weight you lose will come back and sometimes it’s even double the weight you lost in the first place. A lot of people (I was one of them) take their calorie intake to another level. Of course, if you consume few calories, you will lose weight but make sure you don’t put your body into starvation mode.

Starvation mode is something I never understood before my pregnancy. I always thought the way to lose weight was consuming 1,000 calories a  day. Most nutrition experts recommend never going below 1,000 to 1,200 calories per day. Now I know that’s not the way our bodies work and thats probably the reason why I wasn't losing any weight.

The last month of my pregnancy was the hardest for me. Not only because I was anxious to meet my little guy but because I was at my biggest EVER. Gaining 53 pounds in 7 months (I didn’t gain anything the first two months) was definitely not my plan. I thought the most I’d gain would be 30 pounds. But sadly, I almost doubled that number. The first step I did to get my body back was do a bunch of RESEARCH. I’m talking hours of research. I know that sounds funny but that is exactly what I did. I was nine months pregnant, 53 pounds heavier, doing a bunch of research on weight loss. I was determined to wear my favorite pair of jeans and feel fabulous in them. But most important, I was determined to do it the healthy way.

While researching, I came across a BUNCH of diets; tons of them. Some I can’t believe people put their bodies through. The words “starvation mode” came up a lot. Putting your body on starvation mode slows down your metabolism. While it will burn fat, it will also start burning lean muscle mass, which will slow down your metabolism even further. People on starvation diets always find that they regain all the weight they’ve lost (and then some) very quickly as soon as they start eating again.

How to avoid starvation mode & determining how many calories I should consume daily to lose weight/ maintain weight?

Everyone’s daily calorie intake is obviously different. It depends on your weight, age, sex and your goal weight. The amount of physical activity also plays a role. Tracking the calories you’re eating also teaches you how to make healthier choices. It’s like Weight Watchers, (which I did for a month but that’s a whole new post). I know some of you don’t pay attention to the nutrition facts (I didn’t before) but you HAVE TO. Not reading the nutrition facts is probably the reason why you’re not losing weight or gaining weight. Knowing how many calories the piece of brownie you’re about to eat makes you think twice; 400 for two bites? Is it worth it? I hope your answer is no.

Once you reach your goal weight, you can add a few calories to maintain the weight. That’s what I am currently doing. I don’t want to lose any weight anymore. I want to maintain & tone up for the Summer. To figure out my healthy daily calorie intake, I used the Calorie Calculator. I’ll share the link with you guys so you can figure yours out too.  While dieting, I used the MyFitnessPal app on my iphone to keep track of how many calories my meals were. I kept track of everything I ate, and whenever I lost a pound it would encourage me to lose more. I promise you, if you keep track of how many calories you’re feeding your body, you will lose the weight. DON’T STARVE YOURSELF. That will only give you short-term results you’re aiming for a HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE. Also, take it one pound at a time, don’t expect ten pounds a week. One to three pounds a week is a healthy pace.

Here's the link to determine how many calories you should be consuming to maintain/lose weight.

http://nutrition.about.com/od/changeyourdiet/a/calguide.htm

MyFitnessPal.

"Don't workout because you hate your body,

work out because you love it"

oxox,

Dani

New Year, NEW YOU.

The beginning of a new year is always a good time to start a healthy/healthier lifestyle. I myself have gained a few pounds since summer and now that the new year is here, I’m ready to start my healthy eating again. Now, a lot of people think in order to lose weight, they need to practically live at the gym and work out nonstop. NOT TRUE. A lot of the weight comes off with simple modifications in your eating. Here are just a few changes I did while dieting..

BREADS: Goodbye white, hello Wheat. ONLY WHEAT BREAD. If you have it for breakfast, make sure you don’t eat it for lunch/dinner.  

Beverages: h2O. Water. Agua….OR unsweetened iced tea.

This is something I had trouble with in the beginning. I LOVE diet coke!!!! The first two weeks were the hardest but after a while you really just get use to it.

For those who drink flavored iced teas and think it’s healthy, it’s not.  It has TOO much sugar. It’s ONLY healthy if it is unsweetened. Same thing with lemonades, they have TOO much sugar.

I know how hard it is to completely stop drinking flavored iced teas and lemonades so, if you can’t make the switch to only water, start with half water and half tea/lemonade.

Protein: LOTS of Protein; Turkey, salmon, fish & chicken.

 Ditch the ham for some turkey. & when eating chicken, make it the breast. White meat is the healthiest.

Milk: I went from 2% to 1%. Modifying my milk was surprisingly not hard. 

CEREALS: I LOVE CEREAL!!!!!!!! I can eat it for breakfast, lunch & dinner. But, I don’t. Cereal can be VERY UNHEALTHY if you buy the ones that have TONS of sugar. When buying cereal, read the nutrition facts & make sure how many calories it has PER SERVING. But, most importantly, make sure your serving is at least ONE CUP. Some cereals say 100cal per serving but the serving is not even a cup.

If you pick a cereal with 100cal per cup.. & you eat 3 cups, that’s 300cal WITHOUT the milk already. So, be smart when you eat/buy cereal again.

Salad dressings: VERY IMPORTANT NOT TO OVER DO IT WITH THE DRESSING.

If you choose to eat a salad, it’s most likely because you’re trying to eat healthy. BUT, if you add TONS of dressing to it, there is nothing healthy about it; you’re better off eating a burger.  Dressing is used to give your salad a bit of flavor since you’re basically eating water (lettuce is 95% water).

How much dressing is enough?

Dip your fork in the dressing; letting ONLY the tip of the fork touch the dressing. I did this for every other bite when I was trying to lose the baby weight. For those who want to lose more weight, ditch the dressing and eat your salad with lemon & pepper.

Find the motivation…

A lot of people think getting to their “dream weight” is impossible but it’s not. Little changes make a BIG DIFFERENCE. I know most of us were once thinner; so, grab an old picture of your thinner days and use that as motivation. USE a picture of YOURSELF that reflections how you want to look because you looked like that once before && no one says you can’t look like that again. EVERYTHING is possible, if you MOVE and do something.

For those who need inspirational stories on weight loss, BUY THE NEW ISSUE OF PEOPLE MAGAZINE! Hurry! I bought it this morning and it inspired me to write this blog.

I’m really hoping I inspired at LEAST ONE reader. && If you do decide to make healthier changes in your diet, let me know how it goes. I’d really love to hear all about it.

Till next time,

Dani

 

 

 

                               

                                               DRINK LOTS OF IT.

People Magazine.

Must Read.

This is the picture that motivates me.

Aug 2011.. only 6mon after Mateo.

5 pounds lighter.