If You're Going to Drink, Drink Smart!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

It was my roommate & good friend Jenna's birthday and we had a great time, went out for a few drinks to celebrate last night, something I haven't done in quite some time. It was a great night with great friends!

With eating so healthy, working out and obviously not drinking.. I was quite a lightweight. Two Pomegranate Vodka & Soda Water's with Lime and I was quite happy. Like I said, you still need to live life and have fun - just do it smart! Such as...

My drink: Pomegranate Vodka - 69 calories an ounce - a shot is 1 to 1.5 ounces on average.

Soda water has no calories and a slice of lime has 1 calorie. See Nutrition Facts below.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1/2 wedge or slice (1/8 of one 2" dia lime)
Amount Per Serving
Calories from Fat 0 Calories 1
% Daily Values*
Total Fat 0.01g		0%
	Saturated Fat 0.001g	0%
	Polyunsaturated Fat 0.002g
	Monounsaturated Fat 0.001g
Cholesterol 0mg		0%
Sodium 0mg		0%
Potassium 4mg
Total Carbohydrate 0.42g		0%
	Dietary Fiber 0.1g	0%
	Sugars 0.07g
Protein 0.03g
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 2%
Calcium 0% Iron 0%

My drink is about 70-105 calories, you really only need one one or two depending on the occasion and basically no carbs! Compared to most of the beers I like are at least 150-200 calories and 20grams of carbs and you usually end up drinking 3-4 of them. Adds up fast!

Basically stay away from the sweet stuff. If you do not like the taste of alcohol and need something to help cover up the taste - there is still smart choices. Such as a mojito, the classic recipe is - white rum, soda water, mint, lime, and sugar or simple syrup BUT you can use agave syrup instead! This is a cool website to check out if you're unfamiliar with the benefits of Agave (http://www.allaboutagave.com/index.php) I get mine at Whole Foods.

Healthier Mojito:

10 fresh mint leaves

1/2 Lime - sliced into 4 wedges

1 tablespoon Agave Syrup, or to taste

1 1/2 Ounces (standard shot) white rum

1/2 cup club soda

1 cup ice

Muddle (smash basically) the mint and one lime slice, add the agave and the other two lime wedges and smash some more. Add the ice, pour the rum over, add soda water - stir, taste, add more agave if need be and garnish with the final lime.

This is just an example... If you still need some juice opt for something that is 100% juice, no added sugars (why do you need sugar with naturally sweet fruit anyway?), and I opt for something like pomegranate, acai, blueberry, cranberry - something that has some antioxidants in it too.

I made a really yummy sesame chicken salad with kidney beans I'll post about it tomorrow. Insomnia is still about the same but alas I must crawl into bed as I have another appointment with the Orthopedic Surgeon tomorrow - wish me luck!

Wishing everyone health & happiness!

"Quick Tips" primarily for Breakfast & Morning time

Good Afternoon! As always.. thanks for tuning in!

Sometimes I don't really have enough for a blog per say, but chatting with different friends these last few days I have been slowly remembering just easy "Quick Tips" for healthy living. I will reiterate I am not a nutritionist, I am not a personal trainer, and these tips may not work for everyone. My goal in all of this is to motivate, push, encourage and hope that in some way I can help inspire you into some form of bettering your life. :) And I hope all of you know I am ALWAYS here for specific tips, questions.. or just support. I never push my beliefs on anyone, but lately I really feel like God is steering me and working directly through me :)

Morning & Breakfast Quick Tip's (Note: I will probably be continually adding to this as I remember as well as learn new great tips!)

• Very first thing I do when I wake up is chug a big glass of water - sometimes it's tough to do but seriously, just do it. You'll get a bit of a headrush and you can just feel your body waking up. Plus it's a good idea for us coffee drinkers as your body is already dehydrated from sleep & coffee on top of that just makes it worse which can make you fatigued.
• If you do make a habit of purchasing coffee, don't do the drive through and as painful as it will be without any caffeine intake yet - park as far as you can away and walk. Wake up your body!
• Say you usually wake up at 7:00 every other week start setting your alarm even 5 minutes earlier so 6:55 then 6:50 and so on. Use that 5 minutes to do something... anything! Walk, do some crunches, have a dvd cued up and just get a little sweat on. It's tough to start but once you do you'll notice how much more positive you are and how much better your day is!
• Everyone says it and so will I - EAT BREAKFAST especially after you 5+ day kickstart workout! I don't believe in huge drastic changes.. ease into breakfast or a healthier breakfast then you are less likely to give up! You like sweet breakfasts like pastries? Try Greek Yogurt - lots of protein and so yummy! I love plain Greek Yogurt with a little local honey in it. Trade in those sugary cereals for brands like Kashi which are whole grain high in protein & fiber and will keep you full longer and no sugar crash! If you like eggs and not eggs whites what I like to do is one egg and one egg white - I throw in some spinach and mushrooms usually. If you're not a veggie person just start off with a tiny bit of a veggie and if you need to throw in some low fat cheese (or something like feta) and slow up the veggie portion and decrease the cheese!
• If you like oatmeal one of my favorites is old fashioned oats, scoop of whey protein powder, and raisins with a little cinnamon.
• I know no carb diets are popular and I limit my carb intake but in my opinion carbs=energy and you need energy in the AM. The thing is you don't want to "sleep on energy/carbs". Again, ease into it but for me no carbs after 5:00pm and I go to bed relatively late. If you want to eat carbs as I always say "Whole grain or bust!". Whole grain has more fiber, is usually more hunger satisfying and has much more nutrients then white flour products. Make a bunch of brown rice and keep it in a tupperware so you don't just eat it at night when you have time to make it (Great in eggs, with lunch). I also space out my carbs - "Ok, I have had a whole wheat english muffin 3 times this week, I'm going to skip it today".
• Drink lots of water. I know some people hate water and if you need a little help from Crystal Lite.. Then so be it. Keep your body hydrated! Never consume anything with high fructose corn syrup, stay away from drinks branded as energy or sports drinks (gatorade, powerade, even vitamin water [if anything get the zero version] - they have a LOT of sugar! For me as long as I keep a water bottle by me when I'm out & about, on the computer, near my bed - I find myself unconsciously reaching for it and BAM I'm a few bottles down! I like to use reusable aluminum bottles :)
• Many times when you think you're hungry you're actually thirsty! If it's not necessarily meal time yet and you want to snack try drinking down a big glass of water and wait ten minutes. If you're still hungry - eat! The benefit of doing this anyway is you'll be less likely to over eat now! If I know I'm going to be out and about I'll literally keep a gallon jug of water on me.

More to come! I have many general throughout the day tips that I will post all together in my next blog. If you have more to add or questions - write me or comment! mikaelaacrist@gmail.com

No excuses start incorporating a few tips in every day! Trust me.. eating well and taking care of yourself starts making everything in your life better and goals & dreams seem so much for feasible!

Lots of love...

Timing of eating & a healthy cooking base quick tip

One thing I am horrible at is eating when I am suppose to. I won't eat all day then eat a huge dinner which I know is horrible. I was really good at eating breakfast before - I've always loved Greek yogurt and I used to make a habit of eating my old fashioned oats with a scoop of protein powder and raisins. Lately, I have my cup or moreso cups of coffee and don't eat until late in the afternoon. I have always been a why eat if I'm not hungry person... one of my biggest things to work on.

For breakfast.. well nearly lunch I should say I made:

-2 egg whites, 1 egg

-some little pieces of chicken breast (just pulled some off of a rotisserie chicken Greg has)

-maybe 1/4 cup of sliced mushrooms

-little pepper and veggie salt

Yumm...

I need to remind Greg that once most of the chicken is off the carcass to save it...

Quick Tip: What I love to do is fill a pot up with water and boil the carcass for 3+ hours. Why 3+? To get the bone marrow out which has a lot of healthy antioxidants. I let it cool, scoop off the fat on the top and what I do is pour it into ice cube trays, freeze, then put them all in a ziploc bag in the freezer. Perfect for cooking instead of oil or if you have a recipe that needs a little moisture as well as a quick and easy base for sauces, soup etc! Convenient and much healthier then the alternatives - butter/oil.

Thinking of buying a whole turkey soon and cooking it up and freezing some of it. So much better then icky salty overpriced lunch meat and great to just have on hand for snacks, incorporate into meals... I wonder what's better for you turkey or chicken? Something I have never researched.

Going to do some exercises, finish up some laundry then meeting up with Jessica to go to the Giants game. Think we might take the ferry so I don't have to crutch as far!

I still need to get on the before & after pictures... Not exactly the first thing I want to do but hey, the point of the blog was to motivate myself and others so I need to get on it!

Until next time...