Love/Hate Thing

This literally describes my sister's and my lives right now:

But then...

Overage

This whole MyFitnessPal is making me obsessive. Especially when you know you have to enter EVERY.SINGLE.ITEM. The good news is that it definitely makes you more accountable and more aware. The bad news is that you become overly critical and second-guess yourself.

However, last night I went to El Torito with friends so I knew I would probably go over my  allocated calorie intake...so beforehand Ryan and I went for another beach run/walk, but even with that, I still went over my calories by 200! Oh well, win some, lose some!

Today's lunch was somewhat of a healthier choice - except for that foccacia bread - that damn foccacia bread put me over at 570 calories...but trust me, I enjoyed the 3 pieces I ate!

green apple & walnut salad from stone oven

Beachy Keen

Ryan's knee has been bothering him, so instead of running on the pavement, we decided to go running on the beach. Running on the beach, I swear, is like 10x harder than running on the sidewalk and like 100x harder than running on a treadmill. The resistance! The weird pivots and angles! But it's an amazing workout. Don't judge me, but for a moment, I did consider buying VIBRAMS because it would be perfect for beach runs.

Last summer I used to run next to the beach (on the pavement, not on the sand), maybe by the time summer ends, I'll be much better at running in it...because last night, I thought I was going to throw up.

According to my MapMyRun app (which did not take into consideration that I was running in the sand), the 65 minutes Ryan and I were out there, I burned 485 calories! Now where's that brownie?

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Juiced Up

11 celery stalks +
1 cucumber +
1 red beet +
1 golden beet =
25oz of fresh juice

If I juice the night before, I can pop it in the fridge and chill it for tomorrow's breakfast or snack! Add ice because it can be a bit too...juicy. haha.

MyFitnessPalApp

During our weekly statuses for work, we often recommend shows, songs, concerts, or apps to explore. One suggested by my director was MyFitnesssPal available on both iPhone and Android. You can input where you are weight-wise, where you want to be, the level of activity you do, and it'll pop out how much calories you should eat per day. You input your exercise, your food intake, etc. and it monitors and tracks your progress. The funny thing is, I have 2-3 apps that do very similar things (Nike+ and MapMyRun both track my fitness and calories burned), Calorie Counter allows you to input what you eat each meal and tracks it accordingly. But the great thing about this is that our coworkers (and my sister) signed up so now we can see any new activity. It also is pretty educational (tells you how many carbs, sugars, fiber, etc.) each food is worth, and also has a barcode scanner for packaged foods!

Today is my first day. It's almost 2pm and I've had both lunch and breakfast...here's a screenshot of the website. I have 816 calories left for any snacks, dinner, and dessert. 

I usually input the food intake on my phone:

We'll see if we keep this up. The most annoying thing is to be THIS detailed, but just like my blog, it definitely keeps me accountable. I recommend it...but again this is only Day 1. haha.

Oh and in case you were wondering what construes a 95-calorie workout, it's just a 13 minute, 0.64mile morning walk with Dallas:

Sadly, the pluot I ate for a snack was 80 calories. WHY!

Generic

Hey I'm budget-conscious!

Afternoon snack. Greek yogurt and a banana.

Also this is my first mobile post!! Hence the tiny pic. Haha

08/13 Lunch

Sliced carrots, cucumbers, yellow bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of Athenos Hummus (Roasted Garlic):

Change Up

Lately on AskPhivy I've been getting quite a few health/diet/exercise questions and while I'm on my kick to be healthier and be better both inside and out, I thought I'd switch up my blog a little!

So for the next few...I don't know how long...depends on how much you guys like this...I'll make my blog more of a Tumblr-style place, focusing on my diet*, exercise, and little health tid-bits I learn. (*By "diet," I don't mean a restricted diet, I just mean food intake in the general sense).  Updates may be more in real-time versus daily posts, I'll even do some on the go and I'll have multiple posts per day.  I'm hoping that blogging about what choices I make helps me keep ME accountable and maybe inspires readers/friends to be a little healthier.

I'll try to focus on what I've been eating, what exercises I'm doing, etc.  I figured no one wants to see that on Twitter or Instagram, so this might be the next best thing.  I'll include pictures and maybe some relevant info (like calories if I know it).  I'll also post when I cheat, what I do when I do cheat, and what my favorite cheating food is (hint: it will always be Del Taco, haha).

As always, feel free to e-mail me or ask me a question on AskPhivy or even provide your own tip here!  I haven't figured out how to answer questions on the comment section of this site, LOL.   I'll also try to do more fashion posts, maybe even workout clothes!  I have so much workout clothes (2 dresser drawers worth...)

So let's get it!

So today's morning "run" was much more of a walk quite honestly - I was tired, Dallas was tired, and so we took a 2.42 walk around the neighborhood.  According to my MapMyRun app, I burned 246 calories...not bad for 6:45am.

Before heading into the office, I stopped by Ralph's to pick up some groceries for my breakfast.  My issue is by the time I get back from my morning run/walk, I have to rush to get ready for work, then I'm STARVING by the time I'm in the office, normally eating my lunch as breakfast.  I figured if I'd keep 2 different cereals, some milk, and some yogurt IN the office, it'll help me from always going hungry and even if I forget to pack my lunch, I'll still be able to eat something.

I googled "healthiest cereals" because I was pretty sure that I'd be making the WRONG decision going in that crazy cereal aisle and seeing such deliciousness like Fruit Loops and Frosted Flakes.  I got 2 different cereals to keep me from getting sick of my breakfast: Kashi Go Lean Crunch and Honey Nut Cheerios.  Okay, Honey Nut Cheerios did NOT make the list of the healthiest cereals, but Kashi did!  With 9g of protein and 8g of fiber, it packs the most filling punch.  Calories-wise, it's average with 200 calories per serving (1 cup).  I did a little less than a cup and poured about 1/3 of cup of Silk Organic Unsweetened milk and added 1/2 a banana:

I also can't live without my morning coffee.  I drink about 2-3 cups of coffee (black - no cream, no sugar, no milk) each morning.  I also make sure to fill this tumbler with water every 2-3 hours with ice water:

I think I'll start doing daily weigh-ins...or depending on how much I weigh, maybe I won't. HA.

Good In, Good Out

I'll be honest - when I went to Vegas, The Four Seasons had a scale in the bathroom...and it was probably the worst idea in my life to step on it after month of inactivity and not knowing my weight.  I mean, I've ran occasionally, but I did not monitor what I was eating.  I felt like I had gained weight but didn't really think about what I was really doing (denial, much?)  So when I finally stepped on the scale, I guess I was surprised with HOW MUCH weight that I've gained.  Not that I gained weight in general, but just the amount.  I think I gasped and then went into the bedroom and lied down.  I know, I'm dramatic.

Now, you guys know I'm a fan of fitness and health, not skinny and gaunt.  I would rather weigh more and be able to run a 5K than skinny and malnourished.  But let's be real - I want to look good too.  I KIND OF like the look of being slimmer...but with definition.  YOUKNOW what I mean.

That moment at the Four Seasons kicked my ass into April fitness month and more recently, April health-eating month.  It's only been a month of hittin' the gym and only a few weeks of eating right, but I'm working on losing weight and getting in shape.  I decided to write down what I've been doing as I hope to encourage girls not to go on a 'diet' per se, but more of a lifestyle change that you can stick with.

(And also, by writing about it, I kind of commit myself to it too).

Continue reading:

Weekend Update

I'm definitely trying to do better about blogging more and I feel like recapping weeks and weekends are the perfect excuse opportunity for me to obnoxiously chronicle everything.

On Friday, I went to my second Pilates class.  A reader (turned friend!) invited me to try Pilates with her at Sweat Pilates in Culver City a few weeks ago.  It was great!  It worked my core, my back, and my inner thighs.  We had a great time.  I realized it was the perfect addition to my cardio I do on my own.  So when I wanted to sign up for another class, Ryan and I did some research and another studio, Pilates Platinum, had more classes at a better bulk rate, so I checked it out.

I actually ended up buying a 10-class package because I knew I'd want to stick with it.  It was my first time at that studio...and it kicked my sorry ass from here to China.  Not only was the class 10x faster than my original class in pace and in expertise (did I accidentally sign up for the expert series?!), but every person there knew what she was doing...except me.  Luckily the instructor was nice enough to turn off her mic when she scolded told me I was completely tangled in my straps with the machine going all crazy.

I left the class and could barely walk to my car.

Saturday morning it felt as if I got hit by a semi truck.  I could not move.  Couldn't get my legs over the edge of the bed.  Couldn't raise my arms to put my bathrobe on.  I was a mess.  But a good mess.  I haven't felt that sore in years!  I was so sore, I couldn't get out of bed until 2pm!  But eventually I did get up, went to Easter Vigil with Ryan and my sponsor, Rhona, and afterwards went to Sunny Spot in Venice for a late dinner.

Easter is one of those holidays I kind of wish I had babies or more friends with babies where we could do cute things like Easter egg hunts and egg decorations.  But it was just me and Ryan.  So we went to Old Town Pasadena.  Not very Easter-like at all.

But first!  I was so proud of my fancy morning breakfast that I enjoyed outside in my backyard: pate and a caprese salad and my favorite mug I bought from Austin, Tx:

And Dallas, who kept trying to smell the air around the pate.

Ryan and I happened to stumble across a great restaurant, Villa Sorriso, that had its Sunday Brunch Buffet for $39/pp!  Oh, you had me a buffet.  From prawns to oysters to an omlette station, this place had the perfect combination of breakfast and lunch.

Lastly, Ryan and I enjoyed the surprisingly 80-degree weather in Pasadena where I made him take pictures of my new favorite (and easy!) hairstyle:  the wrap around bun:

How were your weekends?  I would love to hear cute Easter stories!  Hop hop hop!  

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Royal Dream

So I guess my hopes of marrying Prince William is shot. Bew. [insert Rye Bread saying, "But you have your prince right here."] [cue my eyeroll following that]

I've had this dress for awhile now, since 2007, but I always felt it was just a tad short (maybe because my mom would walk behind me & say "YOUR BUTT IS HANGING OUT"), but maybe I shrunk (or I got sluttier) because it's not AS short as I remember it to be!

I wore this to eat at The Bazaar at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills with a colleague of mine. We had their $55 tasting menu where they bring their most popular items out tapas-style. It was great! Some of the highlights include their mushroom risotto, tomato-spread on toast, modern olives (I have no idea what those were - they were just juicy olives that exploded in your mouth), caprese salad, and cotton candy around foie gras (amazing!). Their desserts were also tasty, but it was their tasting menu that stole the show.

dress from francesca's, shoedazzle shoes, accessories from h&m & nordstrom

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been working on eating healthier, exercising & trying to live a better lifestyle. So I've been walking / running almost every morning; it's only been my 3rd week & I try to go at least 5x per week (with one weekday & one weekend break). The entire route is about 3.2miles, so while not anything extensive, it is a good amount of walking & running a day. I run about 1/3 of it, walking the rest. It could be my mind playing tricks on me, but I definitely do *feel* better & have started to look forward to it. I use streetlights as markers, making sure to add an extra "running" leg every week. It feels good when you start off heaving for air on the 4 lightposts that I ran don't seem so bad the next week. Hey, gotta start off somewhere! Rye also started to run, but he's a night-runner (I prefer mornings), so to really make sure I hate my life, I started to run both. We'll see how long this lasts...

by golly, is that muscle definition?! i was honestly happy! talk about motivation!

I used to eat whatever for breakfast - old fried rice, cup-o-noodles, or pop-tarts. But when my boss called my pop-tarts "breakfast diabetes" and my sister said I would DIE if I kept eating those things, I decided that to start off my day on a good note, that included a healthier breakfast. So I've also started to make breakfast smoothies every morning & am getting pretty creative on what to throw in my Magic Bullet (not a sexy toy). I change it up every week, adding different fruits & juices, but the base is always:
+ 1 banana (for creaminess texture)
+ 2 - 3 spoonfuls of non-fat vanilla yogurt (currently trying wallaby's australian style...thinner texture than what I'm used to)
+ 1/3 - 1/2 cup of carrot juice (not as tasty as OJ, but hasVitamin A & D)
+ handful of frozen fruit (this could be frozen berries, peaches, or mangos)

For snacks, I've been eating 1/2 of 2 pieces of fruit (pears, apples & bananas are my favorite) & a boiled egg (SORRY OFFICE). Lunch is usually lighter with a salad & homemade dressing - my sister has this thing about preservatives. Afternoon snack is the rest of the fruit.

For those of you who are interested in my GMAT journey (snore to everyone else), this is my second week of class & we've reviewed the first writing portion of the Argument Essay. The funny part about it is I said, "I can write a pretty damn good email, even proposals & presentations...but man, HOW LONG has it been since I had to write an argumentative essay?" Completely different style of writing. I have to take my 1st practice exam this weekend as well as catch up on my "homework" - which are more questions & quizzes. I realize that having my class 2x a week wasn't a great idea - there is simply not enough time from one class to the next to catch up on all the reading & practicing, so I spend a lot of my weekends playing catch-up. My goal is to take my exam in the beginning of February. Who's with me? Anyone in LA who wants a study group? No creepers please, lol.

questions? ask here! / twitter tracker