Mallisa's Food Staples

Mallisa here...

Thought I'd let you guys in on my health food staples, too. I haven't exactly been grocery shopping recently, so it will be a little "pic skinny", but we're all pro-skinny around here!

I work from 6am through lunchtime at a coffee shop most mornings, so I try to get enough good energy in when I can while also trying to avoid muffins, scones, cookies, brownies, and other evil things. Here are a few of my go-to breakfast and snack items (dinner is usually me trying out a new recipe on pinterest or just picking up sushi or Subway).

Breakfast/Snacks

(my snack food is kind of breakfast foods)

-Egg whites (separate them yourself or buy All Whites)

-Wheat/Light English muffins

-Instant grits

-Instant oatmeal (add fresh fruits and nuts!)

-Greek yogurt (add fresh fruits and granola for a home-made parfait!)

www.seriouseats.com reviewed different brands

Image also from www.seriouseats.com

-ALL FRUITS!

-Sliced turkey for egg white/turkey/tomato muffin sandwiches

-Fat free cheese for breakfast sandwiches and grits

-Special K cereal

-Almond Milk/Light soy milk

-ALL FRUITS!!

-Yogurt parfait (either home made or store bought)

-Kashi Light granola

(If you want to make home made parfaits- this is the choice I'd make for granola!)

-Special K Cereal

-Multi-grain wheat bread

-Almond butter/Apple butter

-Sugar free jelly

-Kashi multi-grain wheat waffles

These are great for toasting and adding a little spray butter for "fancy" toast, or adding peanut butter and a banana for a more filling meal. MMM!

-ALL FRUITS!!

I can't stress this enough. I was never a big fruit eater until recently, but not only are fruits good for your body, I think they have a healthy effect on your mind as well. Nothing like eating earth's candy.

I'm sort of an "on-the-go" type of eater. When I'm not cooking dinner its usually foods like this. I try to make smart food choices during the day, and save my calories for lunch or dinner when I'm eating with my man and there's no telling what we'll end up having or where we'll end up going. I stay on top of calories by using my DWLZ app (you look up a restaurant and it has the nutritional facts for most items on the menu- SUCH a life saver!)

Also, log your food! Everything that you eat! I can't say that enough. People have always said to me "Oh, you use Weight Watchers? That doesn't work for me", or "Oh, you count calories? That doesn't work". Well, I don't know what kind of parallel universe this happens in, but from my experience (and most others' that I know) if you account for EVERYTHING that you eat and drink and stay under your calorie goal, it works. You become hyper-aware of what you're eating and you start making better choices about your food.

The MyFitnessPal app makes it TOO easy to log all of your food. (I know, I know. Chinese food. I was bad today- but because I ate really well the rest of the day AND did a little cardio, I didn't go over!) Once you get into the habit of logging everything, it becomes second nature and it's not a hassle at all. It's kind of even become like a game with myself.

Hope this short list will help jump-start your new shopping and snacking habits! Until next time...

-Mallisa

Oh, P.S. LOOK WHAT I MADE THIS WEEKEND :)

I found an old piece of crappy wood in the garage, spray painted it lightly with Krylon Multi-Surface spray paint so that some of the imperfections would still be there, and then used a GIANT permanent marker and some paint to do some simple swirls. Total time (including dry time) was about an hour! Thank you, thank you very much.

RUN YOURSELF THIN

Mallisa here...

I used to think you'd only catch me running FROM a psychotic clown with a bloody knife or TO a free, endless chocolate fountain, but guess what? Kendall and I ran our first race on the 4th!

It was just a 2 mile run, and we couldn't run the whole two miles straight, but we finished in 23:10. Not bad for first timers! We are going to keep up with the running and hopefully be ready to run a 5k by the fall.

Hope everyone had a fun filled 4th of July. I know I ate bad. I've been trying to recover from that cheeseburger ever since (once your body gets used to eating super healthy, it punishes you after cheeseburgers). I haven't felt skinny since! Such is life, you have to cheat every now and then...

I'll be posting my "Health Food Staples" soon, but until then, I'll leave you all with some tid-bits.

And remember:

What you eat in private, you wear in public.

-M

Health Food Staples

  

        My Hubby and I lead a very routine lifestyle, and I like it that way! One of my favorite routines is our Sunday routine. We wake up, I make us both breakfast, and we head out the door for church (we attend an AWESOME church in Woolmarket, by the way – check it out here). After church we usually grab some lunch in the Promenade and, every other Sunday, we go on our bi-weekly grocery shopping trip! Fun fact: eating healthier makes grocery shopping so much more fun (to me it does, anyway)! It’s like a mission to find the healthiest items that I possibly can.

       Just like any household, we have “staples” in our house that keep us afloat and eating delicious for the duration of two weeks. When you are first starting out a new healthy eating lifestyle, it is hard to figure out what is the best/healthiest/your favorite foods to keep in the house. I am no expert, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to share what I lean on to get me through each day. If you could make a few substitutions and start picking up some of these items on your weekly shopping trip, you could save yourself hundreds of calories and loads of unnecessary fats and carbs! These are the things I keep in my house to help me make healthy choices on a daily basis.

Breakfast:

        Generally for breakfast I try and pack lots of fiber and protein to get me through the morning. Throughout the summer I have been working out in the morning, so I have been eating more hearty breakfasts. However, at the beginning of my diet I would simply eat ¾ cup of dry Kashi GoLean cereal, and that would get me through until snack time about 3 hours later. The fiber in the cereal really keeps you full! I am all about EASY cooking! I don’t like to mess up too many dishes or wait 15 minutes for my breakfast. I like quick and easy. Here are some of my breakfast staples that I keep in the house (generally, I rotate these on a daily basis):

Fruit and Yogurt Parfait (my creation) – 180 calories + whatever fruit you add

1/2 cup cereal, 4 oz. cup of Greek yogurt, diced fruit of your choice - mix and enjoy!

Kashi Blueberry Whole Wheat Waffles with sugarfree Syrup – 210 calories and delicious!

A sweet treat for breakfast!

Whole wheat English Muffin with Natural Peanut Butter and Banana – my “fuel” breakfast, what I eat before an intense workout – 400 calories

This screams "FUEL"!

Quaker Lower Sugar Oatmeal and Fruit  - 120 calories + your fruit

Turkey and Veggie Omelet (create your own!) - One whole egg and 1/4 cup egg whites with 2 slices of diced turkey lunch meat and veggies galore!

Turkey Sausage and Egg Whites – 180 calories and lots of protein!

Add mushrooms, onions, spinach, peppers, garlic, seasonings, etc!

Lunch:

         Lunch is a much simpler affair for me. I try to eat a small lunch daily. Lunch is mainly there to curb my hunger until dinner. Being off during the summer, I usually just eat something quick and easy at home, or I will meet up with my friend(s), Mom, or Hubby for lunch, during which I usually get a salad. Generally, I rely on these for lunch when I eat at home:

Healthy Choice 

Smart Ones

My favorite! Yum!

I know, they’re not the healthiest, but they’re low calorie, quick, and easy. <3

Dinner:

        Being the healthy housewife that I am, I spend about an hour prior to our biweekly Wal-mart adventure figuring out what I’m going to cook for dinner for the next two weeks. Most of the recipes I try come from my Pinterest board – Recipe Box, and I am constantly adding new recipes on there! I usually leave one or two nights for Allen to cook (turkey burgers or grilled sirloins) and a couple of nights are dedicated to eating out. We enjoy a date night at least once a week!

Some items on this week’s dinner menu are:

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken – 215 calories

Chicken Taco Chili – 200 calories

Breaded Pork Chops – 210 calories (pork loins and a box of shake and bake ;)

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas

Salmon with Brown Sugar and Mustard Glaze

Fish Tacos (double date night with Mallisa)

Spicy Honey Brushed Pork Loin - I'm tweaking this recipe to be pork instead of chicken

I won’t know the calorie count on the last few meals until I make them and figure it out on MyFitnessPal.

Sides:

Veggies! (frozen or fresh) – broccoli, asparagus, squash, mushrooms, onions, brussel sprouts, corn, sweet potato fries, green beans, black eyed peas, edamame, mixed greens salad, etc. Explore the produce section! 

Brown Rice

Whole Wheat/Low Carb Tortillas

Whole Wheat Pasta

Snacks:

        Ahhh, my favorite meal of the day! Snacks! I consider myself a snacker. I’m a “5 small meals a day” kind of girl. I enjoy a snack between breakfast and lunch, lunch and dinner, and sometimes even after dinner! Here is a list of some of the snacks I have in my house right now:

Quaker Mini Rice Cakes – 130 calories for 13 (beware: highly addicting)

Reduced Fat Wheat Thins and Hummus- 200 calories for 16 chips and 2 tbsp of hummus

Kashi Banana Chocolate Chip Soft N’ Chewy Bars - 130 calories (so good!)

Unsweetened Apple Sauce – 50 calories for ½ cup, sprinkle with cinnamon

Jello Live Active Sugar Free Pudding Snack – Milk Chocolate Bliss – 60 calories

Sugarfree Sno-cone – Avg. 3.5 calories/oz. of syrup at $1.50 = perfect for these hot summer days!

Frozen Yogurt – a decadent (and addicting) sweet treat. Visit your local frozen yogurt bar to enjoy ice-cream deliciousness at 25 calories/oz. Don’t load up on toppings! Stick to fresh fruit and granola if you are a topping-aholic like me ;)

TCBY - Frozen Yogurt Bar, Strawberry Swirls – 100 calories

Weight Watchers Chocolate Fudge Ice-cream Bar – Snack Size – 45 calories

But most of all, FRUIT – watermelon, apples, cantaloupe, bananas, strawberries, tangerines, pineapple, blueberries, kiwi, and anything else I can get my hands on!

Other necessities:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Olive Oil Spray

Parkay Buttery Spray

Minced Garlic

Almond Milk

Fat Free Sour Cream

Bottled Water (and lots of it!)

Salsa – 10 calories for 2 tbsp

Lemon juice – for flavoring veggies

Reduced sodium soy sauce – for flavoring veggies

And lots of seasonings and spices!

Remember:

ALWAYS look for reduced-fat or fat free options, especially when you are purchasing dairy! Fat-free cheese is more expensive, but you save so many calories and reduce your fat intake tremendously! The same goes for sour cream, cream cheese, and milk. Look for low calorie bread, and ALWAYS buy whole wheat or multi-grain. These grains take longer for your body to digest and keep you full longer, not to mention the added nutrients you get out of them!

***The trick to losing weight: Reduce your calorie intake by making SMARTER choices and SMALLER portion sizes! You’ll be on your way to your goal weight in no time!

Keep up the great work! With love, K

WHEW! What a weekend.

Mallisa here...

This weekend I had my first Saturday off from the coffee shop in MONTHS, and boy did I make use of it. Friday night Wayne & I drove to Baton Rouge, LA to see the band Eisley.

For your listening pleasures. If you like dreamy/spacey/romantic/strange sounds.

Friday definitely ended up being my cheat day. I ended up eating things like:

-Double iced soy latte from Starbucks

-CRAWFISH AND THREE CHEESE BAKED MACARONI (See Below)

Sometimes one must splurge.

-Crab cake sandwich with sweet potato fries.

All delicious. All totally worth it.

I didn't drink at all so that was a lot of calories I would have normally taken in that I didn't really need to worry about, and I made up for it all on Saturday and Sunday. We ate at The Chimes in Baton Rouge, so me not drinking and having eaten dinner there = BIG DEAL.

http://www.thechimes.com/the-chimes/the-bar/beer-menu/

Their beer menu is MASSIVE and quite amazing.

Saturday was a bit less eventful. I played productive and worked out at the gym. Had the house to myself and took advantage of it with some quiet time on Pinterest and some of this:

Pinot Noir is my guilty pleasure. One glass (about 8 oz) is around 180 calories, so if I'm good throughout the day I can enjoy a glass (or two if I've been reeaally good) at the end of the night.

Also enjoyed one of these:

I'm still skeptical. They literally taste TOO GOOD to only be 100 cal.

For lunch, a Which Wich date with my main squeeze.
My sandwich ended up being 420 calories and absolutely DELICIOUS.
I have a little trick for you if you like Which Wich.
Next time you're there, take a couple of the brown paper bags home with you. Use Dotti's Weight loss app or website (www.dwlz.com - She is a genius and this website is SO useful whether you're on WW or just counting cals) to calculate the calories in a few different sandwiches. Fill the bags out and label them with how many calories. Then, the next time you stop for a sammie all you have to do is turn the bag in or just transfer the info to a new bag if you want to save the info for another time.

Which-Wich alter egos.

THEN, bright eyed and bushy-tailed, Kendall and I met at the lighthouse on the beach at 7:45 this morning to run. We are going to be running in a two mile run on Wednesday and thought we should practice (practice definitely being a good idea). So we ran one mile in one direction using Nike+ app (awesome- you must get it) and then back. We ended up pretty tired and sweaty. Also experienced a little bit of a wake up call- running (especially in the heat that is July in south Mississippi) is HARD.

FOXY LADIES IN PHOTO ARE SWEATIER THEN THEY APPEAR

The rest of the day consisted of snacking on this:

Um, YUM! One of my regulars at work has been bringing me a TON of delicious fresh veggies from her garden. This week I scored some zucchini, squash, and eggplant.

What you're looking at is zucchini and squash drizzled with some apple cider vinegar with salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary. 2 cups = 40 calories. Awesome snack, low cal, healthy AND fresh.

Riding bikes, and swimming. Then for dinner I cooked this:

Yes, it just looks like a pile of unidentifiable stuff covered in marinara, but it was so good and SO low cal:

-Baked eggplant (drizzled with a little EVOO, S+P, 20 min on 350*F)

-Topped with [more] zucchini, squash, artichoke, mushrooms in marinara

-Then sprinkled a mixture of breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese and baked until browned (well, almost browned. I was pretty hungry).

Back on the grind tomorrow. Hope you gathered a few helpful hints from this post.

1. My awesome Which Wich trick
2. Go spend some time on www.dwlz.com. Pay up for the app- its SO worth it.
3. Get the Nike+ app to help with running.   
4. LOG ALL YOUR CALS ONTO YOUR MyFitnessPal App  
5. Buy Skinny Cow products to curb your sweet teeth!

Stay tuned for a DIY project post coming up sometime this week. Until then,

-Mallisa