Just Eat It!

Over the weekend I did some experimenting and enjoyed some delicious kitchen creations.

Enjoy.

BB30s Easy Mango Wheat Berry Side

You will need:

• One Mango, chopped in small pieces or about ¾ pack of frozen chopped mango thawed (no added sugars and such-ingredients should just read: mango)
• A good handful of cilantro, chopped
• Quarter or a half of a medium red onion, minced
• Minced garlic (I love garlic so I use 4-6 cloves)
• One cup of cooked wheat berries (boiled, drained, sea salted with a little Earth Balance)

Combine mango, cilantro, garlic, onion with a little sea salt
Mix it with your cooked wheat berries
(Give it a quick spritz of olive oil with your Misto if you like)
Eat as is for a side, or put a scoop atop some spinach for a delightful salad.
Put on your sparkliest hat, because there is about to be a flavor party in your mouth!

source

Yes, this is basically mango salsa mixed with grain, but it’s so refreshing and tasty while being clean , kind, and good for you!

If you used the frozen bag of mango, you might be wondering what you are supposed to do with a quarter bag of frozen mango pieces. How about….

 BB30s Mango Smoothie

• Quarter of a bag of Whole Foods frozen mango (any brand will do as long as there aren’t any additives)
•  1 cup of Almond Milk
•  ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
•  Splash of vanilla extract (or pure vanilla beans if you are lucky enough to have them on hand)
•  1 small scoop of Purely Decadent Coconut Milk Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.
•  1 ice cube.

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Pour into a glass (a martini glass if you want to feel fancy or in a tumbler with a bendy straw)
So creamy and dreamy! No booties or bellies are made bigger with the consumption of this smoothie!

source

It's In The Bag

First, I'm getting nervous y'all! I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and like I'll never be able to firm up my remaining jigglies in three short months! I begin rehearsals for a new show in 1.5 weeks and each night begins earlier and goes later than a typical rehearsal schedule, so I really may not get a lot of opportunity to exercise. I have a good rhythm of cooking a big pot of something for lunches during the week, so I don't think it will be too much of an extra hassle to prepare grab-n-go dinners to have handy as well. Heck, maybe it will be helpful since I won't be home being tempted to snack! I just need to make sure to pack enough-I definitely had to do some trial and error to perfect how much food to bring with me to get me through a  work day. In fact, I'll share with you my typical lunch bag:

AN APPLE

I always eat breakfast at home, but I typically feel hungry again by 10:30am or so and I eat a fiber filled apple to tide me over until lunch.

LUNCH BOWL (I change it up, but lately this is my standard.)

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  I take a big rubbermaid container and fill it up with chopped, calcium rich, figure friendly greens (typically mustard, turnip and/or collard-there are some great pre chopped mixes out there, but fresh is of course magical and there isn't extra waste with packaging and such). I give it a shake or two of sea salt and some pepper, because greens are bitter and need a little something.
• 
  
  Then on top of that I layer between 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup of a pre-cooked whole grain such as red wheat berries (soooo delicious), quinoa, kamut flakes (so oaty and comforting), millet, or barley.
• 
  
  On top of that I layer between 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup of beans such as black, kidney, pinto, or if it's today-mung beans (I think the word mung bean is so weird don't you?). Sometimes I use canned beans, but I try to cook them ahead from dry if I can.
• 
  
  I'll throw in random seasonings for taste and variation like Tony's Creole Seasoning, cumin, or turmeric. I typically add in herbs and a little olive oil to my grains when I first cook them so they're ready ahead of time.
• 
  
  Sometimes I sprinkle in roasted flax seeds for some nutty Omega 3 action.
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  Come lunch time I will put my container in the microwave for about three minutes and the greens get nice and cooked under the grains and beans.

A BAGGIE OF BABY CARROTS

As yummy and satisfying as my lunch bowl is I get hungry again around 3 or 3:30pm. (Apparently I'm a metabolic machine now! Hahaha) So, I enjoy a baggie of baby carrots-more good-for-you fiber! Sometimes I'll bring some hummus along (but just a little bit-no more than two tbsps) My carrots and apple are interchangeable-sometimes I want my carrots in the morning and my apple in the afternoon.I listen to what my body says it wants first.

Get thee to Bed Bath and Beyond and get a couple sets of these I use them all of the time!

What else, what else? I have let two tough broads into my work out life lately. Meet the saucy Jeanette Jenkins and loveably feisty Jackie Warner:

I have done Jeanette Jenkins' Exercise TV 45 minute Kick Boxing workout a couple of times now and it's a great overall strength and cardio routine. I like it very much and feel really bad-ass and cool when I do it! They don't have it available to peak at online or else I would share :(

Did any of you watch the reality show Work Out on Bravo? Jackie Warner and her fierce abs were the star of that show, and I've been doing two of her works outs (one longer and one just focused on abs), because she knows what's she's talking about!

Click here for a snippet from the longer one.

source for both pics

Be sure to keep me posted if you find a great work out dvd you think I should try!

Happy Monday!

BB30

Violet Beauregard Was On To Something

A sunny Sunday walk through a beautiful park with my dog child and my need for a cool treat afterward inspired me to share with you my latest favorite healthy summery low cal snack...frozen blueberries. Freezing blueberries of course prolongs their life in your fridge, but also after a few minutes at room temperature they start to lose there super icy chill and taste like bite size sorbets! Such a treat! While blueberries can typically be an expensive grocery item, right now there have been sales due to the Fourth of July holiday. I happen to be lucky enough to be blessed with a nearby budget friendly produce store (Stanley's on North and Elston for you folks in Chicagoland). A nice 11oz carton is ringing in at a mere $1.49 right now and I am reaping the benefits!

Thank you chocolate-festival.org

Blueberries are loaded with anti-oxidants and according to http://www.healthmad.com/ these are just a handful of the many benefits:

They help to slow the aging process.
They help reduce cell damage that may lead to some forms of cancer.
They help prevent and even cure urinary tract infections.
They help clean our blood vessels, our arteries and veins.
They are proving to be beneficial to folks suffering with arthritis and fibroses myalgia.
They benefit the nervous system and may help to prevent mood swings.
They help you maintain good vision.
They are good for your complexion.
Help you stick to that "diet" and aid in weight control.

Delightful and super good for me?! Yes please!

Of course I haven't passed up the great prices I've found on raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries either! Tossing frozen berries in a plastic container and bringing them with me to work makes for a scrumptious fruity addition to my lunch! By the time the noon hour rolls around the fruit is at a perfect cool and refreshing temperature! Sunday I put together several containers of mixed fruit to grab-n-go all week:

Have you taken advantage of nature's candy this summer?

Wrap With Me

Hello Week 8!

So how'd I do this week? I did not burn 3500 calories exercising. I came to the realization that this was a bigger goal than I was ready for, but hey, this journey is about learning. So, what else did I learn? I learned that I CAN burn 1900 calories through exercise in one week if I put my mind to it.

Here is how it was broken down:

Tuesday 500 cals
Wednesday 500 cals
Thursday 550 cals
Friday 400 cals

Yesterday I did a ton of errands so I was up and moving and active, but not doing concentrated exercise.

I got myself up and exercising four days over the last week. That's great! No jeers for not meeting my huge goal, only cheers for what I did accomplish. Negativity is how I've approached every other weight loss/fitness journey. Not this time!

Allow me to share a great portion control lesson I learned yesterday. So, I actually slept in on Saturday (a great feat for me-unfortunately I can't get off of the internal work clock on the weekends). So, breakfast came around 10:45am. I had an errand to run soon with the fella, so I needed something quick but with some substance, because it would be a few hours before I would be eating again. I was strapped in the grocery department, so I went with a little spinach, cheese, and tomato wrap.

Thank you 11streetsaladworks.com!

I have been obsessed with fresh tomatoes this week (mmmm they just taste like summer), so I had part of one left as well as some spinach that was on it's last leg before Dumpsterville. I keep my breads in the fridge to prolong their life (it seriously works) and I had some whole wheat tortillas on hand. I knew there were some carbs in my future, so I needed to mindful of that as well-gotta balance those starches. Taking some Naturally Thin advice, I practiced some portion control. I used half a tortilla and made a little warm wrap (no doubt I sprinkled in some Tony's seasoning-oh yessss). I wasn't so sure it would do the trick, but it was super delicious, and much to my surprise it actually filled me up! To be honest, I don't eat a ton of starchy breadsy carbs, my main carbs come from other places like fruit and beans. So, the whole wheat tortilla really stayed with me (warming the wrap and adding spice helped too). Point being, I totally thought I needed way more food than I actually did. I got a complete serving of bread, vegetable, and a little protein, and I was good to go on so much less than I assumed. Love that!

My goal for Week 8? Burn 1900 calories through exercise (we all know I can do it!).

Did you make any discoveries this week on your fitness journey?

Drink and Watch

Behold one of my favorite things to consume:

Thank you marthastewart.com

I love vegetable juice. I think it's so delicious and it makes me feel so good with its vitamin rich goodness! It is one of my very favorite snacks. I typically have an after work snack like apples and peanut butter or a cheese stick and almonds, but if I get home later than usual, closer to dinner time, then I bust out my drinkable lover. I doctor it up Bloody Mary style with some dashes of Worchester sauce, lemon and/or lime juice, hot sauce, and sometimes celery salt or my beloved Tony's Creole seasoning. It's delightful and keeps my hunger at bay while I make dinner!

Please pour yourself a glass of drinkable healthy happiness and enjoy it while you watch:

http://www.cookyourselfthin.tv/

Per usual, we have stolen a television program from England, and per usual I am glad. Cook Yourself Thin airs on Lifetime but episodes can be found On Demand through some cable providers which is how I watch them. Each episode of this show takes a woman who wants to shed some weight and teaches her how to cook her favorite things in a healthier way so she can lose a dress size in six weeks while still eating her favorite foods. My favorite tricks tend to be about the baked goods. I knew you could use applesauce in place of oil in cakes and such, but zucchini and beets? Neat! I guess moisture is moisture is moisture. Their rule of thumb is that you take your goal weight and multiply it by 10 to get the number of calories you should eat in a day to reach the goal and maintain it. 150lbs=1500 calories 120lbs=1200, etc etc. Mind you, the women on the show are b-b-b-bad eaters, some consuming upwards of 3,000-4,000 calories a day with fried food, cream based soups, and desserts. Still, the three hostesses' tricks to making comfort foods not so detrimental to your booty and belly are great because they keep it flavorful and find ways to give you the tastey pay off you crave.

AN OFFICIAL EDIT:

I have been reminded that I mustn't down play the amzingness of the veggie juice concoction. It is simply not a spiced up cousin of plain ol' veg juice. Once you try it you shall come to know what my bestie and I have known for years. This beverage is in fact the Elixir of Life, sure to cure any ill feelings and energize you for the day!