Week Two: Eating My Way To Aphrodite

Week Two: Greek Goddess Goal

Week Two: 3 Pound Weight Loss (9 Pounds in Total)

Current Weight/Situation: 175.0

I came a crossed a quote this week that really resonated with me, "If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you will find an excuse." This is true in every aspect of my life. I am the master of making excuses, especially when it comes to my workouts. I am the meanest person in the world in my head. I say the absolutely rudest things to myself, every time I look in the mirror. It is a natural instinct that I have developed over the years. It does not seem fair. I give everyone else in my life so much encouragement, but cannot offer the same courtesy to myself. I keep mentally shutting myself down. I can feel my body, slowly adapting to working out regularly. I have felt so good, eating food that makes my body happy. I should be relishing in the joy of these slight changes this week. I should also be celebrating the fact that I accomplished most of my goals from last week (other than unpack and start watching How I Met Your Mother) which deserves a mighty large pat on the back. Instead of doing the 'Booyah Dance,' I make excuses and feel defeated. I am going to work on this during the week.

This Week's Goals:

*Work on Giving Myself Positive Feedback

*Drink More Water

*Stretch More

*More Body Pump!

*Add Another Class

*Unpack (Grumble Grumble!)

*Mix Up the Food Menu (Learn a New Recipe?)

The Workout Routine Queen:

Gold's Gym was my friend and foe this week. 2 of my goals last week were to accomplish 2 lifting sessions and adding a new class into my routine. I figured I could kill to birds with one stone by doing a class called, "BodyPump." According to the description on the Gold's Gym website this class is, "a rapid fat-burning class that uses barbells to give you the fastest way to tone and condition muscles! After an exhaustive study, BodyPump was verified by The University of Auckland as providing the fastest body fat loss of any fitness class." With a description like that, how could I not join in on the fun? The below imagine is the exact emotions your body will go through while doing this class. The one thing that is missing is you lying on the floor when you get home, wondering if you will ever get up again. The answer is yes- but only if you bribe yourself with new shoes.Today, I thought it would be a joyous time to do a BodyPump and Zumba back to back. It is a miracle I have the strength to type right now. I think even my eyelashes are exhausted.

Outside of a group exercise class, I have started a new hard-core-kick-butt circuit for myself! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND TRYING THIS. You can be creative or boring. You can be fast or slow. For now, I will just focus on the cardio aspect, but I will keep adding things to the circuit as the weeks go on. 

The Circuit Dealio: Jump onto an elliptical or treadmill (I prefer elliptical, it is easier on my body). Warm up on resistance 20 for 10 minutes. After you are warm, turn off the TV and get your tunes on! Bump that baby up to 40-50 resistance for 1 minute and go as hard and as fast as possible. It burns, it hurts (in the good way), and you will sweat like a mofo! After that minute is over, bump it back down to 25 resistance for 1 minute. Do this for 30-60 minutes for the best workout you can get out of the elliptical! As I said, next week I will ad some abs and other fun moves every couple minutes.

Is everyone ready for FAB ABS FEBRUARY?!?! Well, ready or not, here it is! The below will be my routine this month to strengthen my core. It is an area that I often forget about, (mostly because I hate crunches with a passion) and plan to focus on it all month.

Motivated Mood Music: 

State to State Edition

I feel like California got too much glory last week. Besides, I am still kinda of bitter and angry with the Sunny State for kicking me out. Other States have some kick-ass ballads as well. I feel it is only fair to share some of the lime light with them as well. The rule for this was that it had to have the State in the title. I did break it once, as you will see below. I live in a state that doesn't have any songs about it...so I went with Seattle. Also, Queen does not have any songs with States in the titles, so I thought I would distract you with the classic, Bohemian Rhapsody to make up for it. Let's face it, a week without Queen is a sad week indeed.  

Sweet Home Alabama- Lynyrd Skynrd

There is No Arizona- Jamie O’Neal

I Live in Connecticut- Aerosmith

Georgia- Ludacris

Hawaii Five-O Theme

Blue Moon of Kentucky- Pasty Cline

Louisiana Saturday Night- Mel McDaniel

Especially in Michigan- Red Hot Chili Peppers

Down in Mississippi- Sugarland

New York, New York- Frank Sinatra

Heads Carolina, Tails California- Jo Dee Messina

Ohio (Come Back to Texas)- Bowling for Soup

Oklahoma-Texas Line- Rascal Flatts

God Bless Texas- Little Texas

Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle (Washington)- Nirvana

Queen of the Week: Bohemian Rhapsody

Guilty Pleasure of the Week: Montana- Frank Zappa

Featured Fantastic Food Friend: 

Greek Yogurt

"Who put the glad in gladiator? Hercules!" According to the fantastic Disney movie. How do you suppose he got that body (besides being the son of Zeus and having super human strength)? The local cuisine of the land he grew up in: Greece. I am just going to focus on my obsession with Greek Yogurt for the Food Friend this week. It is so diverse in what you can do with it and it is so incredibly healthy. Sure, I do not eat a 'Sexy Beast' for breakfast, but I am eating my way to be the next Aphrodite.

Protein. Greek yogurt is high in protein, which helps promote fullness. A typical 6-ounce serving contains 15 to 20 grams, the amount in 2 to 3 ounces of lean meat. That makes it particularly appealing to vegetarians, who sometimes struggle to get enough of the nutrient. An identical serving of regular yogurt, on the other hand, provides just 9 grams, meaning you may feel hunger pangs sooner.

Carbohydrates. Going Greek is a smart choice for low-carb dieters. It contains roughly half the carbs as the regular kind—5 to 8 grams per serving compared with 13 to 17. Plus, the straining process removes some of the milk sugar, lactose, making Greek yogurt less likely to upset the lactose-intolerant. Remember, however, that "both types of yogurt can contain high amounts of carbs if they're sweetened with sugar or another sweetening agent," says Kari Hartel, a Missouri-based registered dietitian. "No matter which type you choose, opt for yogurt with less added sugar."

Fat. Be wary of Greek Yogurt fat content. In just 7 ounces, Fage's full-fat Greek yogurt packs 16 grams of saturated fat—or 80 percent of your total daily allowance if you're on a 2,000-calorie diet. (That's more than in three Snickers bars.) Dannon's regular full-fat yogurt has 5 grams of saturated fat in an 8-ounce serving. Saturated fat raises total and “bad” LDL cholesterol levels, increasing the risk for heart disease. Read nutrition labels carefully. If you're going Greek, stick to low-fat and fat-free versions.

Sodium. A serving of Greek yogurt averages 50 milligrams of sodium—about half the amount in most brands of the regular kind. (Low-sodium versions of regular yogurt are available.) Too much salt can boost blood pressure and increase the risk of other heart problems. The federal government's 2010 Dietary Guidelines urge Americans to cap sodium at 2,300 milligrams a day, or 1,500 milligrams if they're older than 50, African-American, or have hypertension, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease.

Calcium. Regular yogurt provides 30 percent of the federal government's recommended daily amount. Greek yogurt loses some of its calcium through the straining process, but still packs a wallop. A 6-ounce cup typically supplies about 20 percent of the daily recommendation. If you're still worried about calcium intake, load up on milk, seeds, and almonds, says Sarah Krieger, a registered dietician and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. (For more info, see:

www.health.usnews.com)

Greek vs. Regular Yogurt:

Greek (5.3 ounces, nonfat, plain)

• Calories: 80
• Total fat: 0 grams
• Cholesterol: 10 milligrams
• Sodium: 50 milligrams
• Sugar: 6 grams
• Protein: 15 grams
• Calcium: 15 percent on a 2,000-calorie diet

Regular (6 ounces, nonfat, plain)

• Calories: 80
• Total fat: 0 grams
• Cholesterol 5 milligrams
• Sodium: 120 milligrams
• Sugar: 12 grams
• Protein: 9 grams
• Calcium: 30 percent on a 2,000-calorie diet.

The Kitchen Counter with Katie:   

A Typical Day with My Friend, Greek Yogurt

You must be thinking, well, this is wonderful Katie, but I get tired of getting the same thing- especially when it is yogurt. I challenge to you think outside of the box. There are literally bottomless things you can make with this delicious creaminess!  There are very few foods that excite me to the point of shouting,"hip-hip hooray", and this is one of them (I am still trying to get my friend spinach to excite me, we aren't there yet!).

Breakfast:

Yum-chicka-yum-yum! Take any flavor of Greek Yogurt (my favorite brand is Chobani). I add half of scoop of vanilla protein powder and 1-2 tbs of non-fat milk (it helps the powder get creamy). Then I add a crap ton of my favorite fruit. Add fresh, frozen- whatever! Be creative and mix it up! The above and below pictures are two different takes on the same thing. I also like to add Fiber One- Honey Squares (only 80 calories per serving) in for a crunch. I usually add cinnamon to jump start my metabolism too (see below picture).   

 SUPER BOWL SNACKS!!!!!: 

Healthy Ranch, anyone? Yes, please!

 It is a tradition in my family to gather around the TV for the Superbowl commercials and halftime show (and my dad watches the game) while eating the most unhealthy and glorious food on planet earth. This year, I am planning a little but different menu! I am going to have a HUGE veggie platter with a few different dips made out of plain non-fat Greek Yogurt. The main course will be shredded chicken breast, placed in butter lettuce wraps with an array of fresh herbs to put on top (along with the above photo and below video sauces to be added to the wrap).

 Tzatziki Sauce:

 Dinner: Chicken Salad

This is my kind of cooking instructions: MIX INGREDIENTS AND SERVE. Heck yes.

Makes 3 sandwiches

Ingredients:

6 oz shredded chicken

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup sliced almonds

2 green onion, sliced

2 small ribs celery, chopped

Dressing:

1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

2 teaspoons soy sauce

squeeze of lemon juice

salt, to taste

Still Not Convinced? 

Smoothies
Add up to 1 cup of Greek yogurt to your favorite fruit smoothie to add protein and creaminess.   

Sour Cream amd Mayo Stand-In
Top your tacos and chili with low-fat Greek yogurt, and no one will miss the sour cream. Seriously. Creamy Dips and Dressings can be healthy. It also works well in guacamole!  

Sauces/ Marinades
Tangy yogurt-based sauces are a nice way to cut the richness of proteins like salmon, lamb or chicken wings. Add lemon juice and shredded cucumbers for a tzatziki-style sauce, or stir in a spoonful of Dijon mustard along with some lemon juice and zest like in this recipe for Dill-Crusted Salmon with Lemon Yogurt Sauce Use it as a topping for fish or chicken. A savory idea for Greek yogurt is to mix it with canned chopped green chiles and grated lemon zest. Skin and thinly slice cucumber, and then cover the cucumbers in salt and drain. Pat off the salt and add to the Greek yogurt mixture. Use it to top your pan-fried fish or chicken. 

Oatmeal Mania Add it into a bowl of oatmeal with a little Truvia and cinnamon.  

Frozen Yogurt Because Greek yogurt is much creamier than standard yogurt, it's similar in thickness to full fat ice cream when frozen.

For even more amazing recipes, go to: www.chobanikitchen.com  

Chubby Cuisine Challenge: Leavenworth Edition

 I realize that 'eating in' is not possible every day. It is part of life to be social and go out to dinner. This is a huge challenge for someone so bound and determined to eat healthy. After my third interview with a tasting room in Leavenworth, my parents and I decided it was time for dinner. They chose on of their favorite restaurants with German cuisine. To be honest, I wanted to cry when I looked at the menu. Everything was deep fried and sounded amazing. However, eating that food was not worth undoing all of the hard work I did during the week. When I asked the waitress what the healthiest thing on the menu was, she laughed. She couldn't even pretend there was a healthy option for my sanity's sake. I ordered a cabbage roll, which is essentially a giant sausage wrapped in cabbage. It was delicious and I did not feel completely guilty for eating it. I ordered extra red cabbage and sauerkraut on the side, rather than eating bread, potatoes, or fries. I made the meal as healthy as humanly possible. 

Have a freaking awesome week! Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions!