Ignore the top shelf, which is primarily the property of my BF.

Brocolli

Kale, and Arugala.

Rice chips, red pepper hummus, Smart bacon (vegan), veganaise, veggie cheese shreds, firm tofu

Pink grapefruit, massive oranges, avocados, and bananas

I only spend a little more than $58. That got me:

- Kale

- Arugula

- Romaine lettuce

- Pink Grapefrut

-Oranges (that look like they’re on steroids!)

-Bananas

- Avocados

- Cherry tomatoes

- Hummus

- Firm tofu

- Honey

-Rice chips from Rice Works-the one “chip” thing I eat with abandon.

- 1 eggplant

- Veggie cheese

- Smart bacon for my FLT’s (fake bacon, lettuce and tomato-my Saturday breakfast of choice)

- Veganaise, a vegan mayo

- Panko breadcrumbs

- Pre-diced onions, because I hate cutting the bastards.

- 2 bottles of tomato sauce

Some food were organic, and other items were not. Either way, don’t be scared of spending too much at the grocery store. It’s the pre-packaged food that generally is pricey, so as long as you are buying mostly veggies and fruits you’ll be okay.

I went to another, cheaper, grocery store after this one, where my boyfriend bought meat, some frozen blueberries for me, cleaning products, and other stuff we need at the pad. We spent more on that trip, but that’s because lots of that food was pre-packaged and purchased in bulk.

Make sure to check in tomorrow to see some of the things I made with my new groceries.

To remake these dishes into something more healthy and diet friendly, I nixed the oil, milk and eggs. I also used low fat mozzarella for the Chicken Parm dish, and vegan cheese for mine. The end result? Keep reading to find out.

Chicken Parmigiana

♣ 2 chicken breast or more, depending on how many people you are serving. Clean and beat chicken flat with a meat hammer if you can’t buy them pre-beaten.

♣ 1 Container of non-fat Greek yogurt

♣ 1 TBS of Dijon mustard

♣  Seasoned bread crumbs

♣ Whole wheat rigatoni or at least pasta that has been fortified with fiber

♣ 1 bottle of tomato sauce

♣ 1/2 cup of diced onions

♣ Seasons- Salt, pepper, basic, and garlic powder

♣ 1 cup of shredded low fat mozzarella

♣ Cooking spray

♦ (optional) 1 TBS of brown sugar or honey/agave

Directions

1. Mixed yogurt and mustard in a bowl. Add 3 shakes of basil. Preheat oven for 350°.

Greek yogurt adds moisture, and is super thick.

2. After cleaning chicken, dip it into the yogurt mixture, then coat in bread crumbs.

I really don't like touching raw meat, but for the sake of love...

3.  Spray a frying pan with cooking spray, place it on a medium to high heat, then add chicken breast. Flip over after 3-4 minutes.

By using cooking spray, you save more than 300 calories

4. While chicken is frying, place tomato sauce in a baking dish. Mix in the onions, a few dashes of basil, garlic powder, and some salt and pepper to taste. You can also add 1 TBS of brown sugar or a drizzle of honey or agave to cut the acidity. This is an old trick an ex taught me.

5. Once chicken is finished frying, place into the baking dish with the sauce. Place this in over for 35 minutes, uncovered.

6. While chicken is baking, boil water for the pasta. Add some olive oil and salt to the water. Once the water is boiled, add pasta. I know you probably know how to go about this step, but just in case…

If you're going to have white pasta, aim to buy the kind that has added fiber.

7.  Drain pasta once it is cooked. Take out chicken from oven (once 35 minutes is up) and sprinkle with cheese. Place back in oven for 5 more minutes.

8.  Take chicken out of oven. Take some of the sauce and place it on the pasta (that you’ve placed in a bowl or dish for individual eating), then top with chicken.

I used a brand of sauce called Rao's Homemade sauce. I LOVE it!

FYI: If you cut into chicken and it's pink, pop it back into oven.

Sorry about the messy photo. I'm still working on my photog skills.

My boyfriend was pleased overall. I’m not into the whole meat thing, but the sauce was superb!

Eggplant Parmigiana

Ingredients

♣ 1 medium sized eggplant

♣ 1 bottle of tomato sauce

♣ 1/2 cup of onions

♣ 1 package of veggie cheese

♣ 1/2 cup of veggie parm

♣ Breadcrumbs

♣ Cooking spray

♦ Seasonings- salt, pepper, basil, and brown sugar or honey to cut the acidity of sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 350°. Cut eggplant into circles, and place into a bowl of cold water.

To be totally real, I have no idea why people do this, but…

2. Spray frying pan with cooking spray and place on medium to high heat.

3. Take eggplant pieces out of water and spray each piece with cooking spray.

4. Coat sprayed eggplants in breadcrumbs, then place in frying pan for 3 minutes on each side.

5. While they are frying, place sauce, onions and spices into a baking dish.

6.  Add fried eggplants into baking dish.

Eggplants have fiber, and manganese. They also have a firm, meat-like texture.

7. Cover eggplant with veggie cheese, and veggie parmigiana. Feel free to top it all off with a sprinkle of additional breadcrumbs, and basil.

If you don't like soy cheese, try rice cheese.

8. Place into oven and bake for 30 minutes.

The finished product!

This was my first time making this dish, and I pretty much invented the recipe. I’m very proud of myself. The eggplant was soft around the edges, but still a little firm, which I like. When veggies are too mushy I worry that I’ve cooked all the nutrients out of them.

Next time I make this dish, I will add the cheese closer to the end of the baking time. I think it got a little burnt. Plus side? When my boyfriend walked into the kitchen he said, “It smells good.” This is a huge compliment, as he often thinks the food I eat smells like boo.

Pair this meal with a nice side salad and you have a complete meal.

Want me to try to remix a favorite dish for you? Write me at ask4thegurl@gmail.com and I will do my best to dazzle you with my culinary efforts.

Water is my drink of choice

It’s fairly rare to see me without a bottle of water.  I drink it by the gallon, and if you can’t tell by the photo, I’m not being facetious.

I use to only drink Diet Coke and coffee. I know! So gross and unhealthy! I had chronic stomach problems, and horrible breath. Hey, I’m just keepin it real.

It took reading a pamphlet on water (courtesy of my mother, who’s a nurse) to make me change my water despising ways.  I had no idea (back in the day) how important water was. It flushes out toxins, and helps to carry nutrients to the body’s cells.  Not drinking enough water can zap your energy, and overall make you feel like boo. (Read more about the benefits of water here and here).

I try to get my fitness on 5-6 days a week.  I sweat so much during workout sessions that I begin with straight hair and finish with curly locks. Yeah, that’s a lot of sweat. If you read the recommended links above, you know that re-hydrating is important for all exercisers, which is why I try to carry a gallon of water everywhere.

It looks weird outside of the gym. Professors comment on it, my family shakes their head in bewilderment-I don’t really care.  The single thing that annoys me is relying on so much plastic to get my water fix.

I know that there are tons of cute water bottles, but I just can’t muster up much passion for them. Maybe they need to come up with one that is equivalent to a gallon? In any case, I have finally found something I can do with all the plastic (besides recycle).

Photo Credit: Fit Villains

How clever is that? With all the water bottles I have in my place, I could create enough DIY eco-friendly lunch kits for a week!

I’ll be attempting to make at least one of these bad boys this weekend. As always, I’ll post how it goes.

If you’re more of a non-plastic water bottle person, here are some very cute and affordable ones you may fancy.

I love to see dedicated runners outside during winter time. Even with the lack of light and low temps, there they are-running in the darkness, winter be damned.

If you’re a night runner, make sure to wear threads that are bright and reflective. See the above example.

Many of us, myself included, prefer to drink coffee drinks instead of having a solid breakfast. But breakfast is important. It literally “breaks” the “fast” that our bodies have just gone through while sleeping.

This is my recipe for those of us who prefer to drink our first meal, rather than chew it. It provides lots of protein, some potassium, and of course caffeine. I guess you  can have your breakfast, and coffee too!

Meet the ingredients!

Ingredients:

♠  2 handfuls of ice

♠ 1 scoop of vanilla or chocolate protein powder. I use a vanilla flavored vegan brand, that has 22 grams of protein per scoop. That’s half of the protein I need for the day!

♠ 1/2 frozen banana

♠ 1 cup of brewed coffee-choose whatever flavor you like

♠ 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk- I like unsweetened almond milk because it’s dairy free, provides extra protein, is creamy, and only 35 calories. However, you can totally use whatever type of milk you want.

♠ Truvia to taste- You can also use Stevia liquid, or whatever other type of sweetener you like, but I highly suggest trying to faze actual refined sugar from your diet .

Move over expensive coffee drinks! There's a new sheriff in the kitchen.

Directions:

♠ Place all ingredients in blender.

♠ Blend it.

♠ Pour in a drinking container, and enjoy!

Breakfast of champions!

The thing I like about Taylor is that along with being super sweet and approachable, she’s filled with lots of digestible knowledge about weight training. If you’ve ever picked up a muscle magazine, or sat through a fitness class in school, you know that hearing about isometric training and all of that jazz can kind of leave you feeling like, Huh? Trust, there is none of that with Taylor. Just solid info, that is easy to understand.

Without further adieu…

How easy was that? And you can totally do it in your dorm room, apartment, or parents basement. As Taylor said, you shouldn’t give up on strength training just because you’re afraid you’ll look like Jimmy Juice head. This video proves that there is a routine for you! Leave questions and comments below. Are you an easy gainer, or are you trying to gain some extra muscle? What does your weight lifting routine look like? Can’t wait to hear what all of you are doing.

Recently, I had the pleasure of become acquainted with trainer, Taylor Ryan of Liftingrevolution.com and Theartofweightlifting.com. Besides being completely humbled that a big time trainer reads my blog, I was/am super excited to announce that she will be contributing articles for this site!!!

What can you expect from Miss Taylor? Oh, some weight training workouts, advice-you know, good, sound, professional stuff!! I will also be doing a guest post for one of her sites, so make sure to check back, as I will be announcing when my article goes live.

I’m excited about this collaberation for several reasons.

1. Many of you lift, or are interesting in lifting. I’m totally stoked to introduce you to someone who can provide you with the 411 on weight training. I’m sort of a cardio queen, but you already knew that. Taylor can teach us all the benefits (I’m also referring to me) about weight training.

2. It’s good to have different perspectives on fitness, diet, and health.

3. I love to showcase other great fitness bloggers, sites, and pretty much anyone or anything that promotes a healthy lifestyle.

As mentioned before, I am a cardio queen. While I use weights for ab work, and  sometimes my back, I’ve been avoiding a real weight training program for awhile. I’ve had horrible experiences every time I’ve tried to join the army of weight lifters, and to be direct about it, I’m sort of phobic of the weight room. It’s not because of the myth of bulking up, but because in real life I did bulk up. No, I didn’t look like Superman, but the sleeves of my shirts were way tighter and I just didn’t look as feminine as I use to. I gave up on the weights, frustrated and pissed that this thing that was suppose to help me look leaner was making me toss out some of my outfits.

I decided to ask Taylor about this, because 1) she’s a professional and 2) she specializes in the female physique. I knew I wasn’t the only woman having this issue (I read your blogs, remember), so I figured by sharing my lifting woes with Taylor, she may have an explanation that could help all of us. As hoped, she totally provided me with the answers I needed to address my phobia of weight training. Here is a snippet of our recent email correspondence.

My Question:

On a completely different note, since you are a professional, can I ask you a question? I’m sure you hear this from women all the time, but I’m going to ask you anyway. I’ve had several trainers, and even have taken weight lifting classes. Each time I have HATED the results. I know that females can’t “bulk” up like their male counterparts, but I feel (from personal experience, and my own observations from being in the gym) that some females seems to have the ability to build more muscle mass easier than others? I know I’m not crazy. Could explain why this is?

Taylor Ryan’s Answer:

Yes, some women do find it easier to add on muscle, just like with men… some are hard gainers, others can workout all day long and not see a pound of muscle appear. It all boils down to:
1. Genetics being the biggest
2. Your ability to push yourself… some women say they workout hard but don’t know what that really means
3. Diet… muscle needs calories, if you eat to support it plus more calories to build it you see muscle.

If you’re an easy “gainer” of muscle, these women generally need more cardio than most, but not cardio that includes stair steppers, inclines etc as they often help increase muscle gain in the lower body. Easy gainers are better with steady state cardio (I don’t say that often). because it will help burn off some of the extra muscle that you may not want.

This answer makes perfect sense to me. I’m definetly a easy gainer. Don’t believe me? Check out this picture of me last summer.

Check out my guns as I feed this squirrel! Yep, and I don't lift anything but 3 pound weights.

Taylor’s answer has me really excited, because now that I know what kind of muscle gainer I am, I feel pretty certain there is still a program I can follow to obtain the health benefits of lifting-and believe me, there are some serious health benefits to hitting the weights, other than looking fierce! But more on that in another post.

Ok, so now it’s your turn. I want to hear your weight lifting stories. Do you lift, or don’t you? Why or why not? Let’s discuss.

Fitness trends can be frustrating because so many of the trendiest workouts are not offered in every city. If you don’t live in New York City or Los Angelos you may not have access to striperobics, or piloxing.

That’s not f*$!ing fair, so here is my suggestion to all who crave a new and unique workout-Workout DVD’s!!! Novelty is a click away if you have a computer. Check out vids from Netflix or purchase some from Amazon. You’re bod will look just as hot as any celeb (make sure you keep a good diet,too), and just think-you won’t have to worry about stalkerazzi trying to snap pics of you when you leave your apartment.

Pole Dancing- the exercise for naughty fitness buffs

1. X-Pole Xpert 50mm Chrome Stripper pole from Amazon. It’s pricey at $364, but pole dancing is a full body workout. Purchase the Pole Dancing- A Beginners Guide DVD, for $14.99 and you’ll have you’re own profession stripping instructor to teach you the moves.

A dancers body always looks fierce!

2.  Zumba doesn’t really do it for me. I’m more attracted to leg-warmers, cut-off sweatshirts, and feeling like I’m the woman from Flash Dance. Dance with Julianne: Just Dance DVD cost $7.49 through Amazon, and will lean you out, while simultaneously teaching you some potential moves for the real dance floor. No Ryan Seacrest required.

If my abs looked like Warner's, I wouldn't wear a shirt, either.

3.  Jackie Warner is hardcore! Didn’t you catch her reality show on Bravo? The woman is ripped, lean, and tough as a piece of meat left out of the fridge. Ok, not a nice visual, but your abs will be if you let this lady train you in her workout DVD Workout: One-On-One Training with Jackie. Priced at $10.99, the purchase will be oodles cheaper than hiring a personal trainer, and when all your friends ask how you got so hot, you won’t be lying when you smugly reply, “I train with Jackie Warner!”

Don't wait till spring break to work on your bikini bod

4. SHAPE was the first women and fitness magazine to provide readers with info completely backed  by medical and fitness experts. When you’re not flipping through the magazine, check out one of the workout DVD’s put out by the publication. Shape: Ultimate Bikini Body Workout is only $8.22 and only takes 40 minutes, with 30 minutes devoted to fat burning cardio, and 10 minutes left for toning. Sometimes workouts can be found on Netflix so make sure to add them to your instant queue.

What are some of your favorite workout DVD’s? Have you had the chance to try a “trendy” workout. Let me know in the comments!!

Don’t believe me? Check out some essential workout accessories, that work perfectly in small apartments, dorm rooms, and other “cozy” spaces.

Workout Mat

My Pilates Mat and power cords.

If you practice yoga, Pilates or calisthenics, you want/need a mat to cushion your bod. My boyfriend gave me a Pilates/yoga Mat by Shape, which also came with power cords for resistance.

Depending on the brand and where you purchase one, the price of a mat ranges from $17 to $140, and can be rolled up to fit under a bed or in the corner of your closet.  Click here to see some potential mats for your workout.

Weights

My set of dumbbells that equal a total of 20 pounds.

Free weights or a set of dumbbells are another must have for the fitness buff.  They help improve strength, build muscle, and tone the body. Better yet, they can be perfect for small spaces because they fit beneath beds or against walls.

Prices for dumbbells can go from less than $10 to in the hundreds. To see my choice, click here.

My boyfriend bought this kit for me, because I don't like the weight room at my gym.

Stability Ball

One of my favorite pieces of equipment.

I love my stability ball.  It can be used to train the abs, practice push ups, and even tone legs. Blow it up, and shove it in a corner or closet when done. Mine came from Dick’s Sporting Goods, and cost $19.99-pretty cheap!

Fitness DVD’s

DVD's bring personal training into your home.

I actually like to hit the gym or road for my fitness, but some days I just don’t want to leave my crib. That’s why I have a selection of workout DVD’s that allows me to work up a sweat in the privacy of my home. They’re a must have for those who hate public exercise, or need guidance on what to do and how to do it. Amazon has a great selection of DVD’s and the majority of them are under $20.

If you have Instant Nexflix, check out their selection. I’ve tried Crunch Boot Camp, Ab Attack, 10 Minute Target Training just by hitting the play button.

Chair

The unsung hero of fitness equipment.

Non-rolling chairs can be used for leg raises, dips, and even push-ups. You probably have one, but if you don’t, don’t panic. Mine was left by the previous tenants of one of my dad’s buildings. Sweet!!

Sneakers

I dream in pink.

This may seem like a no-brainer, but you MUST have good workout sneakers. I’m not talking about fashionable sneakers that are purely for show, but shoes intended to help your performance. If there is one place you should NEVER be cheap, it is when you are shoe shopping.  I buy new sneakers every 3 months. If you’re clocking 20 miles a week or more, I suggest you do the same.

What is your “must have” for fitness equipment? What would you add to this list? Let’s discuss.

Inspired by a recipe from the cookbook Power Foods, I have created a simple yogurt like dish that literally takes 5 minutes to make. It’s vegan, packed with protein, creamy, and sweet! All you need is a few ingredients, 4 cups or small serving dishes, and a blender.

Ingredients

♦ 1 package of silken tofu

♦ 1 container of blueberries

♦ 1 lemon

♦ 1/2 cup of honey or agave nectar

♣ (optional) 4 sugar cookies

Tofu is high in protein, and a great alternative to meat and dairy

 Steps

♦  Drain silken tofu and place in blender

♦ Add 1/2 cup of honey or agave

♦ Cut lemon and squeeze its juice into blender. Make sure not to get any seeds in there!)

♦ Puree in blender-should take no more than 20 seconds

♦ Pour into 4 cups or ramekins

♦ Garnish with several fresh blueberries (make sure you’ve rinsed them) and cookies.

This is a dessert recipe, but nix the cookie and it can totally be for breakfast. Score!