Healthy Donuts?!

Everyone loves a donut, even if they do not go out of their way for one everyday, but when presented with a box of fresh donuts anyone would oblige. I personally love donuts but I cannot tell you the last time I had one. I cut donuts out of my everyday diet way before I began trying to loose weight, I knew donuts were one of the worst things to put into our body's so it was best to cut them out completely. The other day I was at Target and I stumbled across a donut-baking tray, almost like a cupcake tray but for donuts. I did not even hesitate, once I saw it I knew I had to have it. Of course I had to make donuts as soon as I got the chance because I was curious to see if this tray would even work.

Recipe:
1 tbp of coconut oil
1 tbs of cinnamon
3 tbs of truvia
3/4 tsp of baking powder
3/4 tsp of baking soda
1/4 tsp of salt
1 tub of Greek yogurt
1 egg
1 cup of perfect fit (any protein powder will work)

You should get a fluffy constancy once you mixed all ingredients together.

Glaze:
1 tbs of honey
1/2 tbs of truvia
1/2 tbs of cinnamon
1 tsp of vanilla extract

These donuts are great for breakfast or a sweet afternoon pick-me-up. They have a bonus healthy factor by not being fried, so you do not have to feel guilty when reaching for seconds!

Week Four.

Whoa this challenge is almost coming to a close! I am pretty surprised at how fast this month went, and I only have four more days till it's completed. For this blog entry I did not want to bore anyone with an update post on how the challenge is going, I am sure all of you understand how I operate now on a daily basis with this challenge. The challenge is still going great and these upcoming three days will be intense and will most likely go by fast.

Have you ever tried to go on a diet and you are the only one on the diet thus making the diet extremely hard right from the start. That is how most diets play out for people, one person wants to change their eating habits and the other person does not find any need to change their eating habits. This usually results in the person on the diet giving up on the diet or just cheating on their diet any chance they get until they are no longer focused on their diet. I was the only one who chose to do this challenge; my parents, boyfriend and friends thought I was crazy when I first told them about it and as much as a challenge it was for me, I know it was also a slight challenge for them as well. I'm sorry for my parents since they had to put up with me using my loud juicer everyday and for putting up with my diet meals that they would always claim "stunk up the house". Also, sorry for my boyfriend having to deal with me eating like a bird and ordering non-existant items at restaurants just so I could go out to eat with him while I was still committing to the challenge. Also a big sorry to my friends having to put up with me turning down eating out and going out with them during this challenge, and I am grateful that they stayed by myside and supported me throughout this challenge. Most times during this challenge I was grumpy and tired, I stayed really focus to this challenge and I know it's not easy to deal with someone altering their diet entirely so I appreciate everyone who stood by my side and put up with my antics during the challenge.

I also want to thank everyone who's been keeping up with my blog postings during this challenge, and sorry for not posting more towards the end of this challenge. I know I could have posted way more content for my readers but this challenge on top of school and work made it pretty difficult to keep daily content on the blog. I just want to give everyone a big THANK YOU for all of your encouraging words and feedback throughout this challenge, it seriously made this challenge go by a tad faster and even made it easier for me to complete. Thank you all a ton and keep a lookout for the final challenge blog that will be up on the 31st!

The Past Four Days.

You know those whirlwind days where everything is just a blur and you only made it through the days because you we're simply going through the motions, well this past week has been that and a bag of rock on the side just to drag me down. This week has been something else since it's midterm week, and it just so happened that my Internet was down for the past few days so daily blogging was not an option. Besides all the hoopla going on with college right now, my diet and exercise has stayed on track and I'm still going strong. Week three of the 30 Day Challenge starts tomorrow and I am stoked! Mainly stoked because I know I'm only a couple weeks away from reaching my goal and I'll finally be able to eat what I want again. Not like I am going to go order a massive greasy burger with soda and fries, but I have been missing my oriental foods and I will make sure that fine asian cuisine is the first meal I have after the 31st. Also during the jumbled mess, that was the last four days, I ordered an actual grade A juicer and it arrived Wednesday. Let me just say that I have been juicing everything in my line of sight, I am obsessed with it and I have completely abandoned my blender. For the last four days my mid-morning and mid-day snacks have all been the juice I made that day. All the juices have tasted great and I have not experienced any hunger cravings after drinking whichever juices I made. I don't know if I could ever do a juice fast though, it seems pretty challenging to stick with just juice for 7+ days. As far as my workouts go I have been incorporating quite a bit of yoga and pilates into my normal workout routine. I can tell that my stomach and upper thighs seem to be tightening up ever since I started the classes.

My meals for the past four days.

Day 10:
Breakfast- black coffee and some Greek yogurt with local honey.

Snack- freshly made juice

Lunch- glass of water and an arugula and goat cheese salad

Snack- freshly made juice

Dinner- more water and sautéed vegetables

Day 11:
Breakfast- black coffee (fasted cardio)

Snack- juice

Lunch- egg whites omelet with vegetables

Snack- juice

Dinner- two chicken breasts sautéed with peppers and garlic

Day 12:
Breakfast- black coffee and a cup Greek yogurt with muesli

Snack- juice

Lunch- salad and some more juice

Snack- cup of Greek yogurt and with muesli and a teaspoon of organic blackberry jam, topped off with some peanut butter mix with coconut oil for the "syrup"

Dinner- salad with grilled chicken and shrimp with vinegar and a teaspoon of olive oil for the dressing

Day 13:
Breakfast- black coffee and some juice (fasted cardio)

Snack- rest of my juice and water

Lunch- seaweed salad with a cucumber, avocado and carrots in a lettuce wrap

Dinner- water with grilled chicken, sautéed vegetables and grilled vegetables

Day Eight & Nine.

Temptations are everywhere since the holiday season is right around the corner. The trick or treating candy is out, everything pumpkin is in reach, and candy canes are on the horizon. How is it even possible to stick to a diet with all of these treats right in front of your face? Well it's all about planning, try to have prepacked snacks where ever you go in case you get a craving, if you don't have time to prep every snack your little heart would ever desire then try to stay smart while snacking out. Last night my boyfriend wanted to go to Starbucks and of course I just wanted to run and hide since tea is the only thing that has no sugars or carbs. If it was my choice I would have completely avoided it all together but since we went I decided to play it smart with my drink selection. Typically I order an unsweetened tea but this time I was really craving a pumpkin spiced latte, but that is not on the diet menu. Instead I opted for a grande iced black coffee with one small pump of the pumpkin spice syrup, this way I am fixing my pumpkin spice craving yet avoiding all the calories with whip cream, milk, sugar, and syrup. Now I know most people do not like their coffee that plain and strong, my advice is to try to tweak their original recipe to whatever you think would be the tasty healthier version.

That was the sum of how my night went last night, I am glad that I stayed smart with my Starbucks drink choice but I am not pleased with the amount of sugar cravings that I am experiencing today because of that drink. That one pump of artificial syrup totally sent my body into overdrive on how much it wants to devour a whole cake but I need to stay strong and fight through this phase since I just need to wait until the "fake sugar" is out of my body again. The reason why diets fail is because we justify that bad thing we just put into our body and then we follow up with "Well I already ruined my diet for the day, so I might as well eat whatever I want now." This is the flaw, never let yourself fall into your own self destruction. Whenever you have these doubts then just remember to remind yourself why your doing this and what your ultimate goal is.

As far as my meals went, these past two days, it was pretty good but like I said now its tough cause im dealing with cravings. On day eight I have some muesli with some Greek yogurt and black coffee, for lunch I had tuna salad with Greek yogurt, onions, mustard/hotsauce, purple cabbage, and some goat cheese on top.

For dinner that night I sautéed a chicken breast and cooked up some broccoli with fetta cheese.

For day nine I had a cup of Greek yogurt with cinnamon for breakfast, I then made protein pancakes for lunch, and I made sautéed mushrooms with cabbage and broccoli for dinner. Week two is going by pretty fast and hopefully I'll get my secret package in the mail tomorrow, take care everyone.

Day Six & Seven.

Weekends are a bit like rainbows; they look good from a distance but disappear when you get close to them. - John Shirley

I can't think of a better quote to describe how this weekend came to pass. It seems like it was just Friday and now everyone is gearing up for the start of the second week of October. This is good news to me because that means I have completed Week 1 of the 30 Day Challenge. Looking back at this week I am proud to say that I did not slip up one bit and I stuck to everything, even thought it was a challenge at some times. The main struggle I am facing is posting everyday, it's becoming very tedious and time consuming since I have homework, work, gym, cooking, and family to contend with as well. I figured I would try a grouped post on the past two days to see how everyone feels about it, I find it easier and a lot less time consuming. So just for future reference, you guys might be seeing more of these grouped postings.

Now onto my meals and daily workouts the past days. Yesterday (October 6th) my boyfriend wanted to take me to this new place in Tampa called Oxford Exchange; and I know what you're thinking, oh my she's going to go eat out and actually have a cheat meal. Well yes many would think that, because when we go out to eat we tend to let our diet fly right out the meal but making up excuses like: there is nothing healthy on the menu, well I'm eating out so I might as well eat whatever I want, etc. These are excuses and need to stay that way, we are not making anything about eating out justifiable if anything we need to become more strick on ourselves WHEN we eat out. I would also like to say that eating smart when choosing to eat out is about 70% important then the last 30% is making the right choices once in the restaurant. My boyfriend picked Oxford Exchange because it is a brand new Tampa restaurant and its main focus is serving food that is healthy, organic, and all grown local. So if you ever wanted to go to a restaurant where you are having a meal made with local Florida ingredients then I say check it out! I ended up getting a Mediterranean Sea Bass dish with sautéed vegetables.

This meal was delightful, and it was packed with ingredients that I can have while I am on this strict diet. I also ordered an unsweet blueberry and hibiscus green tea for my drink. As you can also see, my boyfriend opted for a burger and fries. This lunch filled me up so much I did not even need a midday snack before dinner. As for dinner I cooked up a very simple dish since parents when out to eat and my boyfriend and I decided to cook for ourselves since we did not want to eat out twice in one day. I made my lemon basil chicken with brown rice and some sautéed vegetables.

This meal is very simple and I have the recipe for the chicken in Day Two's blog. After dinner I made some green tea and just relaxed for the rest of the evening.

As for today, day seven, I decided to start off my day with some more protein pancakes. This time I made them without the banana and I only used a table spoon of honey for my "syrup" since I wanted to make these pancakes with the lowest carbs as possible.

This version tastes the exact same and they are not dry tasting without syrup so that's a plus. These pancakes really filled me up and held me over till my midday snack. The snack I ended up making was greek yogurt with peaches, muesli, cinnamon, and coco nibs. I also took a 1 Tbs of coconut oil and mixed it with 1/2 Tbs of honey and drizzled that over my cold greek yogurt. The magical thing behind coconut oil is that it has all the properties of that Shell Chocolate Syrup for ice cream, just it's all natural. If you wanted any type of syrup for your treats or snack just mix some healthy ingredients with coconut oil and voila you have yourself a healthy syrup. I also had my midday snack with some chocolate coconut water which surprisingly tastes just like chocolate milk.

Woohoo and now we're on to dinner, I kept this dinner quite simple as well since I was not feeling that hungry. I just made a huge vegetable medley with some seared salmon strips.

Tomorrow is the start of week two! I cannot be anymore excited and I have a surprise that will be revealed in Wednesdays post, take care everyone!

Day Five.

You know it's always the days where you have nothing to do that suddenly become the most unorganized chaotic mess of a day. It never fails, I have yet to see a day where I don't have anything coming up for me to do. I actually planned to have a relaxing day today but that's another story, this low carb day wasn't that bad since I've been swamped with things to do all day and I've had very little time to eat. Days like this are bitter sweet because if you keep you calorie intake really low you force your body into ketosis.

Ketosis is the secrete key to carb cycling, you want to keep your body in and out of ketosis through out the day. In this article, they talk about how carb cycling is the best diet when trying to loose that last little bit of stubborn fat. They point out that this diet will work on anyone if they are willing to stick to it. They also talk about how ketosis is the major benefactor here since your body switches to a fat burning state when it is in ketosis, verses a carb burning state which is normal for our bodys. Basically ketosis is what makes eating disorders so extreme, by girls/guys starving themselves they are putting their bodys in this ketosis state. Their body starts eating at their fat cells to keep energy levels up but once all the fat is gone ketosis will begin depleting nutrients from your muscles. Ketosis is a great trick of the trade when it comes to fast diets but it is also a very dangerous way to diet if you are not educated on the allowed food plan for this diet. I recommend checking out the article and looking into ketosis if you are really interested in loosing those last 5 to 10 pounds.

My morning breakfast was very simple and great for an energy boost midday snack if you'd want. I used fat free Greek yogurt with 1/4 cup of muesli and a table spoon of organic blackberry jam. Mix all together and let sit for softened oats or eat instantly for a little crunch to your yogurt. I didn't have anytime for mid morning snack and lunch but I did have an organic PB&J on an egg based "bread" for my midday snack. For dinner I just had a salad with beets, feta cheese, red peppers, and wasabi dressing. I missed the gym today since I was helping out my parents with stuff around the house all day, so I burnt some calories but not as much as I would with my normal workout. So tomorrow I am getting up bright and early to do my leg workout and end with some yoga.

Day Four.

Don't you just love it when you wakeup and you know almost instantly that it is going to be a great day? That's how I felt this morning because the first thing I thought to myself this morning was, "Heck yes, today is low to normal carb day!" So when I woke up this morning I jumped out of bed and ran down stairs to cook up some protein pancakes. I also knew it was going to be a great day because my pancakes turned ended up being the best protein pancakes I have ever made. These pancakes are sugar free and all the ingredients used are beneficial for your body.

The ingredients:

• 1/4 cup of Egg Whites
• 1/4 cup of Almond Milk
• 1 cup of Natural Oats
• 1 Tbs of Coconut Oil
• 2 Tsp of Almond Extract
• 2 Tsp of Cinnamon
• 1 Tbs of Flax Seeds
• 1 scoop of Protein Powder
• 1 Banana
• 2 Eggs

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or a blender. Then mix all together then pour into a pan and begin making your pancakes. Cook on low heat for the best results, it may take longer but you won't end up with scrambled protein cakes. This recipe usually makes 6 to 7 small pancakes.

For the "syrup" I just took a cup of frozen strawberries (you can use any frozen fruit you prefer) then microwave it for 2 minutes for a natural strawberry jam syrup. Then drizzle over pancakes and you have a tasty nutritional breakfast. 

 For my mid morning snack I had a small handful of almonds with half a handful or sunflower seeds. Then for my lunch I just had the 2 left over protein pancakes. Dinner is where I wanted to incorporate protein into my meal and I had chicken with more vegetables.

The ingredients:

• 1 Chicken Breast
• 1 leaf of Purple Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Mushrooms
• Handfull of Sunflower Seeds
• Garlic and Red Pepper for seasoning

Tonight's workout is focusing on back and abs.

Day Three.

Today was a low carb day so my energy levels have not been treating me well, as far as today goes. Besides that little bump in the road currently, today was great and successful just like the rest. For breakfast I had the same thing I did yesterday, which was muesli, but instead of jam I did a scoop of peanut butter with half of a banana. For my midmorning snack, which ended up being after my workout, was plain fat free greek yogurt.

The ingredients are:

• 1 cup of Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 of a Banana
• A handful of sunflower seeds (raw/unsalted)
• Cinnamon to taste

This "snack" also doubled as my lunch since my workout today took up my whole midmorning/midday. I figured it would be fine since today was ment to be low carbs and lower calories are never anything to complain about when dieting. My workout today was pretty intense and was 90 minutes long. I spent an hour on my legs then spent the last 30 doing some HIIT. This workout was really draining because I plan to do my cardio every morning so I will not feel so worn out when I finish lifting later in the day (basically maintain the same energy level throughout the whole day). Basically what I am trying to get at is do not do this workout in one sitting while you're carb cycling, I felt very drained and almost in complete haze throughout the rest of the day. Luckily I had nothing to do for the rest of the day so I spent those lovely hours just laying around the house relaxing. 

Now it's time for dinner and tonight ended up being a sautéed vegetables with a side salad. I chose to prepare this for dinner since it is the easiest to make and it does not require much of your energy or time for the finished meal.

The sautéed vegetables:

• Mushrooms
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Cashews

Combine all ingredients to a pan, use 2 tsp of avocado oil OR olive oil then flavor with whatever seasonings you desire. Sauté them for 10 minutes on a low to medium heat so the vegetables don't end up burnt or soggy.

The salad:

• Spring Mix
• Fresh Strips of Salmon
• Wasabi Dressing 

This dinner was great and made full, I also had some black coffee right after dinner which provided me with enough energy to make this post then head right to bed. So goodnight everyone and I'll see you tomorrow.