Nutrition Intuition

Urban Dictionary word of the day--
Foodie: one who appreciates fine cuisine, or one who just eats too damn much.

Hey! First blog of the New Year! Look at that!
So I have been stressed to the max lately, I mean I haven't had time to watch House in like 2 weeks!! And I was almost done with the 6th season! THIIIS CLOSE!
Anyway, I decided to get blogging again. This post is going to be about food. To me, food is a HUGE thing: its good, its fun, its stressful, and its important. Why stressful out of all those things? Because if you're worried about weight and losing it, it can be a big deal. So I make a great effort to make sure I cut down (or out) sugar when I can, watch carbs (no or little white bread), and watch my portions heavily. Because people have been asking me about weight, fitness, and food, I wanted to focus on that for a post. I also bought this new book and I plan to be able to fully use it starting next week. I'd planned on this week but have just been tooooo busy. Too busy to even run or lift weights, and I HATE that I can't. It literally makes me angry if I can't work out. Yes, that is where I am in my journey to fitness now. Its that serious.

Here are some tips out food(s)!:

The portions could be smaller here.

In the summer, I LIVED off of berries! I would usually use them in a parfait or mix them with other fruits such as kiwi and apples. Sometimes making these things feels like they take forever, but its so worth it. They taste great and are full of vitamins and great flavor. Sometimes, I would eat a mixed bowl of fruit for break fast and/or a small bowl of some Special K. It depends on hungry you really are but make sure you portion these things out as well.
Fruits have natural sugars in them and things such as cereal have sugar added to them. Special is not as bad as other cereals but you still have to make sure to read the lables! (Also, milk has sugar added to that as well. Did you know that about a cup of 1% low fat milk can have about 12g of sugar in it? I mean, its milk people!) Skim is best, in my opinion.

Another example of a fruit salad. This time it had pineapples, blueberries, apple, and grapes. I also added a few banana chips, almond slices, and sprinkled granola on top. YUMMY! Its a great balance: you have your complex carbs (good ones--apples), your antioxidants (blueberries), and great vitamins and citrus taste (pineapples). Almonds are a great source of protein and granola adds a great crunch!

This was a great snack, three sushi rolls, raw carrots, small peanut butter cups, and a cup of tea! (With some vitamin supplements on the side--thing I take when I am eating.) It was a yummy light snack!

This was SOOO SUPER DELICIOUS! I work at Panera Bread, I'm sure some of you know that. I had something special whipped up for me 'cuz I am so specific about what I eat now. WHAT'S ON MAH SALAD?! Well:

• Field Greens
• Tomatoes
• Salmon
• Asiago Cheese
• Basalmic Vinegearette

You usually get a side choice as well, in which 90% of people who order choose the french baggette for their side. Its good, especially with soup and salad but its white bread, which means carbs. So I ordered an apple and saved it for later. :) You can do great thing's with apples. Also, just to be careful of how much dressing was on the salad, even if it is light, I make sure its on the side. Its a good way to go!

This was fun to make. I bought a great stir-fry mix from Trader Joe's (AMAZING place, bt-dubs), cooked it in a little bit of olive oil, made some chicken, added pepper, cajun seasoning, and a dash of garlic, slapped on a little cheese, and laid it down on a whole grain tortilla (yes, they exist.). It was great to eat after a long bike ride to the lake with my aunt. Wholesome and filling. :) You only need one.

Yes'm, another salad. You don't have to eat just salads in order to eat great and lose weight but I do think they are very good for your goals. I steamed some carrots for a side dish and threw together some spinach, tomato, orange and yellow pepper, edamame, and shaved roast beef (didn't have any other kind of meat around at that time), and used some left over balsamic vinaigrette from the previous salad above. It was so good. Decent mix of flavors. Did you know orange and yellow peppers have more of a sweeter kick to them?








I hope this helps you, those who are interested. I have been eating lots of veggies lately and loving them. If you don't find yourself BIG on them now, you will. There's so much you can do with them. If there are questions, suggestions, or anything. You know how to find me. I want to help others meet their goals. Its hard to do it alone and I want to give all the support I can.
In future posts, I want to incorporate the types of work outs I do and maybe give out some ideas for each individual person depending on what their goals are. Also, depending if people actually read this and come to me. :/
I am an RA now, motivating people and helping others is officially what I do now. Please, help me help you. I want to be the best leader I can be, so I can lead you to be the best you that you want to be.

~Shi <3

Hey hey hey, its the Holidays

Hey people who actually read this.

I know its been SOO long, again, since I've written. I am about to lay down some serious, but truthful excuses, so bare with me.

I have been so been super busy--swept up in 3 major group projects, finals, presentations, being involved, finding time to relax....It was a big semester. Then traveling to two cities in one week. From South to North, hahah. On top of that, I have been dealing with some of my own emotions and sometimes I don't like to blog out of fear that something will come out negatively.
Also, I was sorta feeling like no one actually read what I wrote.

So, sparing you the long list of reasons why and a detailed list of my thoughts, I will leave this post small. I want to blog more, even though I am going to be swamped with my online class work and actual work. When it comes down to it though, I want to know who actually reads my blog posts. Please comment on the Facebook link that I have for this blog so that I know people actually read it. Even better, tell me about something that you may want me to talk about. A lot of people have been asking my advice on weight loss and I have a lot of tips if people really wanna hear them. ('Cept the holidays are the worst time to be so into weight loss and calorie counts. Ugh, I have been struggling myself! UGH!!!!) Anyway, stamina is the key!
Let me know what you, people who actually read my blog, want to hear or to prove that you even read it at all.

Thanks,

Happy New Year. (I hope.)

~Shi<3

The Little Things

Urban Dictionary Word of the Post:

Rad-core--Totally awesome.

I couldn't find a better word this time. :/

But, long time no blog huh? What, did you think that I forgot or something? Naw, I had some shittake going down. Midterms and stuff, you know. The last two weeks especially have been crazy! But please, don't think I've quit bloggin! (I have this blog, my Japan blog, and other people's blogs to read!) So like someone once said, "Don't stop, be-lievin!":D

Technically, I should be doing something more productive than this. Like figuring out how my plans for next year are going to pan out, or doing homework, or studying. But I think I've had a little too much business lately and I have been craving to blog, write, and finish what I started (Japan blog, cough). I really don't want people to think that story is finished, because its not. So I am going to keep emphasizing that fact until I say it really is done. I still get asked about it to this day, so I may as well milk it to some degree, yes?

This blog is about the little things. Because oh what a year! (I still hate you, 2011). With that said, I am trying to take pleasure in the little things. Like the changing color of the leaves, or the the flowers planted around campus are still hanging on as they shake in the cold morning wind, or my delicious Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins I love oh-so-much. Those little things, even if its for only a short amount of time, make me smile. I think that everyone needs that. Speaking of reasons to smile, CHECK OUT THIS SQUIRREL!!!

SO! I am walking to the gym, of course, and I see some girls pointing and laughing at something in a tree.

Now a closer look! It was a squirrel goin' at something he found lying around. Pizza? Quesadilla? IDK!

Its so cute right? Who wouldn't want to see a squirrel goin' at something he thought looked tasty? It was awesome because he was so intent on eating what he found that he didn't care how close I got to take a picture. :D 

Anyway. Like I was saying (before I really do get to my homework, scouts honor), try to enjoy the little things in life. A lot of people I know are going through like a College Life Crisis--that is what I am officially calling it. Several people that I know are saying they don't feel up to par in some places or compare themselves to the successes or others and what not. I understand, trust me. I am going through that right now. So anyone and everyone, go do something that makes you even a little happy. It helps to smile even for a short amount of time than not to smile at all. (People are always telling me I need to smile more... well T_T is what I say to that...) But I'll try to be positive----> :D 

THE LITTLE THINGS, PEOPLE! 

Go watch a squirrel get its mack on in a tree, or something.

By the way! Its been about a month since I posted, I AM SO SORRY! DON'T STOP READING! (Next post, more about Japan!)

<3Shi

Words

You know, I don't think I am going to call it Urban Dictionary word of the day anymore. I think I am going to call it Urban Dictionary Word of the POST. I don't post everyday so it seems silly to have a word of the day when this isn't a daily thing. Right? Right!

Urban Dictionary Word of the Post:

Jib-Jab--A generalization of  something that requires an explanation in which the speaker rather not get into.

OR Something that isn't even worth talking about.

So interesting thoughts lately. My History of Mass Communications teacher brought up an interesting thing in class this week. Of course since we are talking about Mass Communications and the evolution of it, dating all the way back to the Middles Ages. You know, history is very graphic; people have died for so many different reasons. And its sad because so much of these causes could have been really avoided. Black Death? Stay away from rats and wash your body! Getting robbed on the roads for the shillings in your pockets? Power in numbers! But really, in the days of Martin Luther, many people died for voicing their beliefs about God, life, and the in betweens. And why? Why are ideas and thoughts, hopes and dreams so 'dangerous'? My professor said, "Ideas were dangerous things back then. And when voiced, they were even more dangerous. People died for their words. Wars would start, countries could rise and fall, and men would would up in arms all over words. Words, words are dangerous things." And you know what? They are. They really are. There is this commercial, I had to throw something regarding my major in there, by either Colgate or some toothpaste commercial that focuses on the mouths of different people and all the things that a mouth a capable of. So when he gave his spiel about words, it made me think of that commercial, because its true. As humans, we are capable of so much and out of all those abilities, the power of speech has to be one of the strongest.

Words are strong, so strong. They can life us up, tear us down, inspire us, break us, go through one ear and out the other...Think about it. Think about a time someone has really said something that just broke you, and remembering those words and the thoughts behind them that it took to say them...its damaging. Then are the words that make you feel like you can do anything, and sometimes, that voice has to be your own. But those words, those positive words can be something you may really need to hear.

Later that day, I worked a show at the auditorium about race. The Race Show: N*W*C. They are the derogatory terms used for the Black, Latino, and Asian cultures. But instead of hitting the audience with something hard, they play with it; they gave us the message through laughter. There were three guys, one male to represent each member of the stated ethnicities in which they expressed their hardships of simply being who they were. Each person talked about a time where they pretended to be someone they were not, a time they pretended to be White just so they could be seen as someone more than just their skin color. I, obviously, could relate to the Black guy, who talked about growing up and going to school in a suburban community that was predominately White. In class one day during his middle school days, they were reading Huckleberry Finn, and you all know the story right? 'Bad ass little White boy hangs out with his big Black friend and shit goes down ', as the character explained it during his story. Anyway, because of the time period, certain words were used to refer to the Black slaves in the story. We all know that word so I do not need to state it, I hate that word so even hearing it makes me cringe. He was chosen to read aloud in class and of course, he came across that word in class. Long story short, there was dead silence once the word was uttered and hung in the air. He mentioned how he felt the whole class turn to stare at him. 'That was the moment I realized that I was Black. That was the moment that I realized that that word, that word was me. And everyone knew it but me...' That has happened to me. I've been in class reading words such as that. I've been told that I was an Oreo or 'acted White'. Now that I am older, people try to clean it up, telling me that I 'act proper'. But when it comes down to it, why does it matter? I am me, you are you. What is the damn problem?

So I tell this story because its all about words; what they can do, how they make people feel...Words are strong. What my professor said in class and then going to the show that night really got me thinking about words and what the can mean. Even the absence of words, when someone is so upset with you that they don't even bother to speak to you, can hurt just as bad if not worse.

In summary, think about your words and think about what you say. They can change our world or change a life...

<3 Shi

And now, to tickle your pickle.

Urban Dictionary word of the day:
Fishwrap--Newspaper, or any type of publication or newsprint.

So I am starting to realize that most of the words in my urban dictionary aren't as funny as I initially thought. That sorta sucks. Doesn't matter, I am still going to flip through it. I used this one because I am an Advertising major and decided to honor my first day of Ad classes with this word. Oh, how appropriate!

Well, people who actually read my blog, its the second day of class. Whoot, whoot! I got to start with the most awesome class for my first day (yesterday): Japanese! 'Cept I felt really stupid again; things I really should know or remember, I do not. Yes, yes. I went to Japan. We all know. I was getting good right before I had to leave and I was still good for about a month or so. But, by the way that things unfolded, a lot has drifted out of my head. At least I will be able to relearn some things this semester, I am trying to keep positive about it. Japanese has been my passion for too long to throw in the towel now for ANY reason. I'm pretty sure in a past life I was Japanese. And adorable. An adorable Japanese girl. Named...Kaori or Kashiyuka or something. :P

Anyway, so the first day of class was awkward, everyone was fresh from summer so we were all rusty. Today, classes part 2, was interesting. Sadly I have to use Macs in my Mass Comm. Writing class. I almost cried walking into the room. (Ha.) My professor is cool though. She's this trendy older lady with an awesome hair cut and a tolerance for breaking the rules regarding the allowance of coffee near the computers in the room. Kudos to her on that, she and I will get along juuust fine. I'll be careful even if they are Macs. But here is the best part, my Foundations of Advertising class has a very interesting group of students in it. Its very diverse but there are these two guys who talk way too much even if they are funny. But the best BEST part is that my professor's name is Professor Um. HOW freakin' awesome is that?! Too awesome for words! His full name is like Korean and a little hard to pronounce correctly even though its short. He cracks a lot of jokes and carries a lot of Engrish because he's Asian so I am down for this Prof. :D
My last prof is kinda odd. He cracks jokes too but he looks like someone's dad from the '80s. Maybe like he played Molly Ringwald's dad in some movie. He's cool though, relatable and such.
All in all, this seems like its gonna be a good academic year. (Let me cross my fingers or knock on wood or something.) I'm even lining up a lot of plans for myself; traveling and finding myself/making something of myself or some jib jab like that.

Here comes the tickling your pickle part I guess. Have you heard of this new thing where you can personalize your car to where someone can tell that its a woman's car? NO? You mean you have not heard of the latest ridiculous female accessory? Where do you live, under a rock?! No I am just kidding, I had no idea they existed until I moved in my apartment at school and saw a car in the lot with then. They are called Carlashes, people. CARLASHES! What is this world coming to?! We have Apps for everything (thanks to you, Apple), short cuts to do certain tasks faster, microwavable foods, everything has gone digital or online and now we have this Godforsaken Carlashes! Dear Buddha, that's ridiculous. I took a picture on my phone of the black car that had them, promising that there would no mercy in regards to blogging and making fun of it. But here is this God-awful picture of someone degrading a perfectly beautiful VW Beetle with these damn things. See here:

They are even on Jeeps! Ugh! Who created this blasphemous item?!

I mean what is this?! I hope that tickled your pickle with very ridiculous vibes.  

Ready for more? Then get this: there is this thing called vajazzling. Can you guess what that is? (Disclosure: this could get inappropriate.) Women are doing this new "craze" of bedazzling their lady parts. I heard this about 30 minutes ago while typing this very blog. Excuse me? You put crystals/rhinestones where?! Again, this world is becoming extremely retarded. So in my plan to call out the world of all its retardation, I did some research. Jennifer Love Hewitt, an actress I only recently started paying attention to by watching the Ghost Whisperer obsessively on my crash-return home. Although beautiful, she's lost some serious kudos points with me. I found this video above about her talking about a book she has written (I like the title, though) and how there is a whole chapter about this INSANE act. 

This is the world that we live in people. Can you believe  it? 

That's enough posting I guess, the content of this post is way to out there to keep going. Hence, your pickle being tickled. :D 

~<3Shi

1,2, 3, and 4! And 1, 2...

Urban Dictionary Word of the Day:
Soup to Nuts: From start to finish.
I mean ha! Who'd say that?! I just thought it was funny so I decided to use that one this time 'round. Whatevs, I won't be using it too much in relation to this post. SO!

Workin' it out.

Constantly, people have been asking me/wondering how I lost all the weight. Its been a long rough road and for that, I will not actually say how the dramatic weight loss actually started. Its actually not great how it started. But if we wanna go back ('I'm goin' going, back to Cali, Cali...') I guess I can give a little history lesson. 

I'd never felt comfortable in  my own skin. There was a time, maybe up to 4th grade, where I actually could deal with talking in front of others and felt that I had all the friends in the world who would accept me no matter what I looked like. 

Sadly, that drastically changed by 6th grade. I still loved all my friends and was happy in that aspect, but my body image was taking turns for the worst. I would be depressed/angry/unhappy with how I looked compared to other children in my classes. Long story short, for years and years and years onward, my self image took even a larger nose dive. I'd tried off and on to lose weight and begin a good regimen for change but I always ended up backsliding and giving up.
What really changed, you wonder? 

JAPAN. 

Japan, as many of you know, meant/means THE WORLD to me. Among all the the things it did for me, a healthy lifestyle and diet was one of them was yet another thing Japan offered me. During my short time there, I'd ride my bike to classes daily, up a witch of a hill at one of the main gates. I also walked everywhere when I wasn't biking. And the natural plus, Japanese cuisine is so much healthier than American food. I could buy these amazing Baum Rolls (little Vanilla cake rolls of delicious goodness that made you just go "MMMMmmmm") from Top World and eat like 3 of them and still lose weight. Why? Ingredients. Plus, each roll was only like 63 kcal (just about the same thing as 'cal's. 'Sup with the K, Japanese people?) so you didn't feel so bad after eating them. Regardless, I limited myself to only 1 or 2 after a meal. Since I was on my own for food, I could control what I ate; that meant awesome Japanese supermarket shopping and buying rice, fish, veggies, fruits, milk, BANANA MILK!, and the like. This inspired me to take more control over what I ate once I got home too. 

On top of the diet change and automatic daily exercise, I joined archery and a running club. The Japanese students in the archery club didn't seem to like me much, well, the girls anyway but regardless, the practice meets were good for the arms and for correcting bad posture. Running club was awesome. A roommie and I would encourage each other; she would bring her friends and I would bring mine and before you knew it there was a big group of encouragement. Plus the Professor who ran it was very inspirational, hilarious, encouraging, and knew how to switch up our runs: (running to the Kuzuha Mall just for cheese bread; a contradictory goal really, running to see the plum blossoms, and running to see the greatest displays of cherry blossoms; which I missed be heard was awesome...).

So that is the back story. Here are so more tips though as my experience goes:

1. GIVE YOURSELF A REASON:
• Why are you doing this? For you? GOOD! That is the best person you could do it for. If there is something YOU want to change for YOU, you're already half way there. 
2. CHANNEL YOUR MINDSET:
• Come up with exercises that you feel capable of doing. For me, I used to hate running and I have come a long way in not only liking and enjoying it, but becoming capable of doing it. If you want to shed pounds first, I'd start with power-walking or jogging. Arms, legs, buns? Pilates and yoga are your new best friends. 
• Another important thing is not to look at working out as something you dread. If you dread it, you'll have so much less motivation to actually do it.
3. DIETING ISN'T SO BAD:
• I LOVE sweets; chocolate, cookies, cake, cheesecake, ice cream,  WHATEVER. You don't have to necessarily leave all your guilty pleasures in the dust in order to get where you want to be. Lord knows I still reach for my share of cake and someone's party. Do you wanna have your cake and eat it too? Then portioning is VERY important. Have a slice, but that's it. Don't get a huge piece and don't keep going back for seconds, thirds, and so on.  (BTW: I'm not perfect, I've gone for the second helpings too.)
4. TAKE CONTROL:
• I've been home since March and I've been living with people who buy and/or consume M&M chocolate chip cookies, Lemon icing cake, pizza, hot dogs, fried chicken, etc. and so on. (Again, if you must have these things too, PORTION!) Otherwise, since I do not agree with what's here, I go on and buy my own things or request alternatives. My parents will sometimes graciously buy salmon or chicken patties, deli salmon, tilapia, chicken breast, and yogurt for me. On my own, I purchase low fat Yoplait vanilla yogurt, granola, just about all the berries (straw, rasp, black, and blue), other fruits such as kiwi, mango, banana, apples, and peaches. Also, WILD RICE (so healthy), zucchini, squash, broccoli, and tomatoes. 
• Also, if you really cannot stay away from the sweets, buy alternatives. SKINNY COW is a life saver. They actually taste good unlike most diet ice cream/candies. Try it. You'll like it. I also tried the Fiber One brownies. No, they don't taste like brownies should, but nevertheless, its chocolate and only like 80 calories per package. Quaker is nice for the little rice snacks and SPECIAL K protein shakes, snacks, cereal, etc are pretty essential.
5. KEEP MOTIVATION RUNNIN': 
• Make a visual reminder of why you're doing what you are doing. I've always loved making things with my own hands so I've made collages and inspiration boards for myself around my room. Also, little post it notes help too. Stick 'em on your mirror, kitchen cabinets, wherever you will see them! BE YOUR BEST CHEERLEADER!
6.  HYDRATE & SUPPORT!!!:
• Water is IMPORTANT--I cannot stress that enough. Dump sugary drinks. (Few to little soda and juice consumption.)
• VITAMINS, I take vitamin D and C and Biotin daily. Take what you're comfortable with, whatever that may be. (D supports bone health, C supports the immune system, and Biotin supports nail & hair growth.)
7. FUTURE FEELINGS:
• Think of how good you'll feel when you realize that you can't fit those jeans anymore, in a good way! Or, ladies, think of how awesome it'd be to get a great new wardrobe! They say "No pain, no gain" (freakin' cliche sayings, LOL) and "Feel the burn" for a reason. Do it to it, there's nothing but good that can come from such drive, self-empowerment, and goal reaching.

I hope that helps. I am speaking from experience and its been a long tough road. There are days where I say I'm going to go for a run and then I don't. And days where I realize I'd had way too many sweets or fats. If you have your splurge days, that' fine. You can always work it out the next day.

Good luck and I hope for those of you who wondered benefited from this.

~Shi<3

Jared from Subway

Urban Dictionary Word of the Day:

Ridic-Short for "ridiculous". 

Why? Well, Friday I was simply trying to wear some jeans since I surprisingly have not done that in a long time. Scary right? Long story short, I found out my jeans, practically all of them, are way too big now. Even dah skinny jeans man! Its kinda awesome.Makes me feel so accomplished, at least in that aspect. 

I had this Jared from Subway moment; remember the commercials? This man named Jared lost all this weight by eating Subway and changing other aspects in his life and then to prove it, he holds up a pair of pants he used to wear to show the significant amount of weight lost.

Well, DRUM-ROLL PLEASE!

I mean what?! I could not believe it! People told me a lost a lot, and yeah I noticed changes. But hot-damn! Okay, I just felt that I had to share that with the world. Yay ME! If nothing else, this strongly encourages me to keep it up! I mean look! I bought these very skinny jeans only one year ago, last May in fact. I am now two pant sizes smaller than this now. God Bless America. Man! 

::Pats self on back:: 

Now, I have the greatest excuse in the world: I can't fit my clothes anymore! I HAVE to go shopping!:D 

~Shi<3