The Healthy Sandwich

This is a super random post but I felt compelled to write about this topic. The other day my brother and I went to Subway, which if you don't know is a place where they sell subs and sandwiches. We were discussing how some people believe that if they eat subway regularly, they will lose weight. That is kind of ridiculous, especially because they order foot long subs with extra meat and mayo. Being the sandwich lover that I am, I wanted to think about ingredients you would put in a sandwich to make it healthier. Here is what I came up with:

1. 100% Whole Wheat Bread
-None of that white bread, or multi-grain stuff.

2. No Mayo
-Mayo has a ton of calories and fat, and many times people don't realize how much mayo they put in their sandwich. I noticed my brother uses amout 2 tbsp of mayo, which is over 200 calories and 22 grams of fat! That is insane~  (But he is still as skinny as a stick! Not fair!)
A great substitute for mayo is mustard. I use Jack Daniel's Hickory Smoked Mustard which is 5 calories per tsp and zero fat. Did I mention sandwiches taste really good with mustard? No? Well it does!

3. Lean Meats
-Instead of using beef or pork meats, use lean meats like chicken and turkey. I love using thin turkey ham for my sandwiches.You can also try tuna sandwiches!


4. Cheese?
-I prefer sandwiches with no cheese, and I think that makes my sandwich even healthier. But if you like it with cheese, just make sure you don't add too much. Cheese is not unhealthy, but too much can be.


5. Veggies FTW
-Go crazy with other healthy ingredients. You can mix and match so many different veggies and herbs. My personal favorites are lettuce, avocado (good, healthy fat), tomatoes, and pickles. I also love to put basil leaves in my sandwiches sometimes. But the beauty of a sandwich is that you can always make it different because there are so many choices.

These guide lines are great for people like me who eat sandwiches all the time. I never get bored of them! It is also great because I am always at school and I hardly have time to make a proper meal. A sandwich thus can be something quick and easy to make, but it can still be healthy and nutritious. It is much better than eating fast food and junk food! I swear that when I eat these types of sandwiches often, I lose weight, really.

Thank you for reading and until next time :D

*I am not a nutrition expert, this is merely my own opinion. always consult with your doctor/nutritionist for professional advice.

Health Diary #1 + Tips

Hello darlings!
Today was my second day of my journey to a healthier lifestyle. I want to share some meal ideas and overall tips that I have been following. This will give you guys an idea of what I am eating. I will also update you on any weight changes and on how I am feeling overall. Let's begin :)

Also to clarify, this is not what you might think of as a "diet". I am not restricting myself completely to things I would want to eat. I will probably treat myself once a week to some form of junk food, but only in very moderate portions. This way, I am not depriving myself of everything, and merely encouraging myself to eat more veggies and fruits.
*I am not a nutritionist or anything of the sort. This is merely what I am doing. I advice seeing a professional for any of your needs and/or concerns.

Breakfast
I have never been much of a breakfast person, and I also detest eggs and bacon. I am also always in a rush in the mornings, so my breakfasts have always consisted of cereal/breads/ and foods that are quick to make. Because I wanted something quick, I made a protein smoothie. I went to Costco the other day and bought a bunch of strawberries, bananas, and blueberries. I freeze half of them and use them for smoothies, while I keep the other half fresh for salads/cereal/ect.

My smoothie consisted of:
1 banana
1 cup of freshly frozen strawberries
1 cup of soy milk
1 tsp of soy protein powder

I blended all of the ingredients in a blender. It was yummy :)

Lunch
I am a huge lover of soups. I was craving some soup so I made a chicken rice soup. My grandma used to make me this type of soup when I was young and I never noticed that it is actually very healthy. This is a Mexican version of chicken soup, haha.

Ingredients:

1 breast of organic chicken
1 tsp of chicken bouillon
1 tsp of oregano
1 tbsp of cilantro
1 tomato
1/4 of an onion
6 carrots
5 potatoes
1/2 cup of rice
(You can add any other veggies if you like)

I first cook the chicken breast in a pot filled with water. I add the chicken bouillon for more flavor. I also add the oregano.
When the chicken in half way cooked, I dice the tomato and the onion and add them into the pot. I guess this is added to add flavor to the broth.
When the chicken is cooked, I add the rice, the chopped carrots and potatoes. The rice will cook as fast as the carrots and potatoes.
The best thing about making soup like this, is that left overs taste ever better. You can make loads and keep in in your fridge.
This soup is delicious and it reminds me of my grandma. Of course, if you want to make it even healthier, you can use whole grain rice instead of white rice.

Tasted soooo much better than those canned soups, and it is much healthier and fresher. 

Dinner
I like to keep dinner light, and because I felt extra lazy tonight, I merely warmed up some left over soup and ate that. I should mention I don't really eat much of the chicken. I make my brother, who is as skinny as a stick, eat most of the chicken. He needs it way more than I do xD I also felt in the mood for some "dessert" so I had some plain yogurt. I like yogurt because it makes my stomach settle down. I also had a cup of really amazing, organic green tea. No sugar added.

TIPS

Protein: 
Meats are the usual source for protein, but if you are cutting down on meats, you need protein from another source. In my smoothie, I used soy protein in a powder form. I bought a protein supplement to makeup for the lack of protein in my diet. Soy protein is the healthiest form of protein. You can eat all kinds of soy products; I personally like edamame (cooked soy beans) and miso soup. Protein also keeps you full, and that is why I like to have it for breakfast, because it will kept me from being hungry, which in turn will help me to stay away from eating junk food for lunch.
I noticed that Japanese people constantly eat miso soup for breakfast. Miso soup is made from miso, which is made from soy beans. And of course, the Japanese are one of the healthiest people is the world, and  they have the longest life expectancy. Lets take a page out of their book and consume more soy products :D

Salt:
You should control the amount of salt that goes in your diet. Salt is absolutely necessary for your body, but too much can be harmful. Try not too add salt into your food, or if you do, try to make it very little. I added bouillon to my soup, which has salt, but I only used a tsp for an entire pot of soup.

Sugar:
As with salt, try not too add sugar to your food. I mention this because I notice many people add sugar to their smoothies. Of course it will make the smoothie taste better, but it defeats the purpose of a healthy drink. Besides, fruits already have natural sugars in them; you don't want too add more.
I enjoy drinking green tea, but I do not add sugar. I actually prefer the taste of green tea without sugar.

Okay that is all for today! I am not going to do these posts everyday since I am sure they would take over everything else. But I can do them about once a week or so. Let me know what you guys think ^_^

Quick Post: Health and Diet

Hey guys!

I wanted to do a quick post about health and diet. Recently, I have heard of a lot of people who have been diagnosed with tumors/cancer/really bad illnesses. It is really scary D:  I have been thinking a lot about it and its driving me crazy.
I have noticed that most of the people who have gotten sick have really bad diets/lifestyles. It has made me want to change my way of eating. Not too long ago, I did a body detox; I was eating so healthy, but that did not last long. When I was eating healthy for a month [I didn't eat meat, white breads/or any form of junk food] I felt the healthiest I have ever felt in my life. I was so energized and my mind was so focused. I can definitely see the link that your diet has on your overall well being.
That being said, I started my jump start to eating healthier today. I am not going to be as strict with my diet as I was when I was doing the detox, but I am going to try and gradually change my diet.
For starters, I no longer drink milk; instead I will be drinking soy milk. I actually love soy milk, so its a perfect substitute. A long side that, I am cutting down on the meat I eat severely; I will only eat fish and poultry.
Junk food is a given. But it is something that is so hard to completely cut out. Specially when you hang out with your friends! But, junk food will be a very rare eat! (Hopefully)

With this, I am trying not only lose a bit of weight, but just become healthier in general. I will post some updates and some healthy recipes! I hope you can all give me some much needed support. :)

Thanks for reading!

Do you have any advice for a healthy lifestyle?

How I Use Olive Oil

The use of Olive Oil for beauty purposes has been a controversy in the beauty community. Many people swear by it, and others are skeptical of the benefits it gives. I have used Olive Oil on and off for 4 years, and here is a little of my experience with Olive Oil and how I use it.

My Background With Olive Oil

I started using Olive Oil on my skin about 4 years ago, when my mom told me it was really good for dry skin. I have suffered from mild eczema most of my life, and if you have eczema, you know it can be annoying and sometimes painful. At first I only applied OO on the places I had eczema, which were on my arms. This helped a lot with my eczema, since it moisturized it and helped to smooth out the roughness of the dry patches.

How I Use Olive Oil
Because eczema leaves patches of dry, flaky skin, it is very important to get rid of those dead skin cells. Even if you don't have eczema you should still be exfoliating your body. I heard about people using sugar as a natural exfoliant, and I also heard of people using sugar and OO to create a moisturizing body scrub. So I started to use sugar and OO. Because the skin on my body is so dry, after I get out of the shower, I apply a bit more olive oil on my body. And that i show I have been using it.

I use about 1:4 sugar to oil ratio mixed in a small container. I use the scrub in the shower. [This is amazing to use before shaving. I don't even use shaving creams any more]. Then when I get out of the shower, I use a couple of drops of olive oil on my entire body, focusing on my arms and shoulders.

*I have not tried using OO on my face. I am still hesistant to use it as a cleansing oil. Many people have had great results, but other have broken out.
The Good Stuff
~Leaves your skin radiant, smooth, moisturized, and just amazing.
~All natural
~Way cheaper than most body creams/lotions
~Multi tasker! You can use it for your hair, cuticles, feet, and your salads :D
The Bad Stuff
~The first time I used it on my entire body, it made me a little itchy. But it only happened once.
~The first time you use it in the shower, you might find it odd; it feels weird having oil on your body while you are showering.
~Some people won't like the smell
[I don't think it smells like anything, but some people say that it has a strong smell]

Overall Thoughts
Using Olive Oil has made my skin a lot smoother, and more moisturized. After you use olive oil, you will notice your skin has a Greek goddess glow. I recently started using it every day and wow, I am amazed. It is amazing to use in the summer when you will show off your skin more. But don't forget, always apply sunscreen~~

Health: Detoxify Your Body!

Good afternoon everyone!
I wanted to do something a little different today, and I am going to go into the topic of health. As a fellow makeup enthusiast, I know that makeup is a tool used to enhance our natural beauty. And as a user of foundation, I know that it is very easy to cake foundation on. I think many of us feel insecure about our skin and we forget that our skin looks better with less makeup on.

I think this really applies to me. I have been so self conscious about my skin for a while now. I started getting acne when I was in 11th grade in high school and it was really bad in my senior year. I tried a lot of things to get rid of my acne, but it never worked. That is when I started using foundation, and when I look back at that time, I really should have not used foundation. I think using foundation made my acne worse, but I was stubborn and I wore it because I hated how my skin looked. When I started, college my skin actually cleared up and I would only get some minor breakouts during my menstrual cycle. But I had a lot of acne scars, so I still continued using foundation. I tried some different things to lighten my scars, and they worked okay.

I am currently in my second year of college and it is almost coming to an end. I think I was super stressed out last quarter, and I noticed that I started breaking out again. I was so frustrated because nothing seemed to work on these breakouts. This acne persisted for a couple of weeks. I have never and am never going to take oral acne medication. I don't think that taking medications is worth it, because many times the medications are so strong and the are bad for the body. I thought it would be better to take a more natural approach. Thus I decided to do a detox.

 A detox is a detoxification of the body. The goal is to cleanse the inside of your body, and that will help with the overall health of your entire body [including your skin]. Detoxes are great for people trying to lose weight as well. If you want to start a diet or exercise plan, I recommend that you do detox before hand. It will really improve your results.

There are many different methods of doing a detox. There are supplements, and all kind of crazy things out there. I again am going for a easier, cheaper, and all natural way. Here is what I did:

1)First thing I did was to have three days were I only ate vegetables. Yup, only veggies. Preferably raw veggies, or if you must cook them, don't over cook them. Broccoli is a must eat because it contains fiber that will help to regulate you digestive system.
2)After the three days of veggies, start to incorporate fruits in your diet. This should go on for another 3 days. So a total of a 6 days is dedicated to fruits and veggies.
3) Through out the whole six days I have been drinking a lot of green tea. Green tea is really good for you. Also, do not add sugar.
4) After the six days you can start to eat other things like wheat bread, whole grain rice, legumes,eggs, nuts and any other healthy food. I love white rice, but try to avoid it. Whole grain rice is much healthier for you. You can drink milk, but soy milk is a better alternative. Yogurt and cheese are okay as well. I am not eating any dairy or eggs. Since I am doing this detox mainly for my skin, I want to avoid things that might have added hormones. So I am drinking soy milk at the moment.
5)I also recommend that you take vitamins. I think everyone should take at least a multivitamin on a regular basis! You do not get all you vitamins in the food you eat! Very important for you health. My parents take vitamins like crazy. My mom is going to be 50 years old and she looks younger that she did 15 years ago. People usually confuse my mom to be my 26 yr old brother's sister.
6)Drink tons of water, and make sure you are going to the bathroom properly. ;)

The point of the detox is also to try and eliminate junk food for as long as you can. This is most likely going to be impossible. But once you feel ready, you can start eating meat, and other food. I would never be able to stop eating white rice. I love sushi too much <3 But I will only eat white rice rarely. The same thing with meat.

So far I am still in the process of doing this detox. I  have noticed my skin is clearing up, and I feel that I lost a bit of weight. The most important thing though, is that I feel freaking great!! I feel energized, and awake. I will update you guys on how this is going. I also started going to the gym, so I hope that I can lose some more weight! :) Thanks for reading!

*Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or any health professional. All of this was done on my own knowledge of health and I was not advised by any one else.