Holiday Eating....

Do you "cheat" while on Holiday? I do. I encourage you to do the same. Do not deny yourself, you will regret it.  All in moderation of course.

Confession: I've been a naughty, naughty girl. During my approximately 8 day stay in Ireland I did absolutely no calorie counting, consumed and tasted a little bit (sometimes a lot a bit) of every thing I fancied and boy, was it worth it!

The food in Ireland was incredible. Fresh. Organic. Chemical and processed-free and absolutely delectable.
Most of our stay was at a 500 year-old Gaelic castle where we had the entire facility to ourselves. The "facilities" included two amazing kitchens complete with commercial-sized ovens and dishwashers, who wouldn't be motivated to cook? We purchased groceries from the local markets, guaranteeing only the freshest farm-raised produce, since the castle was situated in the agricultural hub of the  country, we had no doubt we were getting only the best. With so much fresh food at our fingertips, it would be a heinous crime not to cook incredible banquets, and banquets we made indeed. Menu items included mashed potatoes (probably the fluffiest, most divine "taters" I've ever tasted), wine-marinated pork chops, fresh steaks, spinach salads, garlic bread, fresh brie with honey and walnuts, steamed carrots, delicious organic eggs made in a variety of yummy ways, we even baked fresh cookies and scones....

Yes, we ate, and rejoiced.

We also did a lot of running around, including climbing the 73 narrow stone steps in the castle to get from the ground floor kitchen to the tip top where we would convene nightly in the "great hall." To say that was not an intense workout would be to fib. All in all, my clothes seemed to fit just as good at the end of the trip as they did in the beginning, if not a tad bit loser. Ironic isn't it?

That being said, I am back on track. Back on the Healthy Hottie wagon after a brief, but much enjoyed hiatus.

Meanwhile, let me share one of the many incredible feasts we enjoyed while in Ireland...hope to leave you salivating :)

Our first breakfast at the castle. Bacon, Potatoes and Scambled Eggs with veggies. Aside a pot of steaming french-pressed coffee....

Favorite Low-Cal Quick Dessert

Cast of Characters:

1 cup of Non-fat Organic Greek Yougurt - my favorite is Oikos or Fage

1 cup of organic frozen rasberries (frozen is key)

handful of walnuts

drizzle with raw organic agave

and enjoy!!!!!

Will be leaving on an airplane to an Emerald Isle today...promise to be as Healthy and Hottie as possible!

Updates coming soon:)

Healthy Hottie Banana Bread.

Hello lovelies. Today I will be sharing a brief updates on my progress as well as one of my favorite baking confections of late (you know those cold, snowy winter days that put you in the mood to do nothing more than bake warm yuminess....) Banana Bread, done the healthy hottie way.

First is first,after spending quite some time trying to record a video with updates for this week and trying to upload it to this post - I gave up. Me and videos and youtube are not getting along right now....ha! As a result here goes a summary of updates in a very concise format. Last week, this is what I accomplished:

• I met my calorie and water intake goals, despite being sick for 3 days.
• Because or the aforementioned sickness, I was only able to work-out 3 days out of the intended 6 days. .However, I Zumba'd to my heart's content the rest of the week.
• As much as I tried, getting to bed by 11p.m.still proved to be very difficult for me -  hoping I do better with this goal for this week.
• On Sunday, my "weigh-in" day - I was happy to report that despite the sickness, I was down 1.5lbs! I also like using clothing and a measuring tape as a progress indicator instead of the scale alone (which can identify water weight but not inches) and when I tried on my "goal pants" this morning - there was definitely an improvement from last week:)

On to the recipe...
 Here is the recipe I use for my Banana Bread. I take a traditional recipe and modify a few ingredients to make it lower calorie, lower in fat and more rich in whole grains. (on those items I have replaced with a healthier option or reduced I will italicize.)

Cast of Characters: 

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/4 cup melted butter (original recipe calls for 1/3)
1/2 cup of organic cane brown sugar and 1/2 cup of raw organic agave  (original recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar.)
1 cup of roughly -chopped walnuts.
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of stone ground organic whole-wheat flour (original recipe calls for all purpose-white.)


Method
 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In food processor or large bowl combine:  butter,  mashed bananas, sugar, agave, egg, and vanilla. In separate, larger bowl, combine the flour,baking soda and salt. Then pour the wet ingredients from the food processor into the dry ingredients and mix well with a spoon. Lastly,  add the chopped walnuts.  Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Wet Ingredients. Mixed and ready to be combined.

Dry Ingredients. Remember to always sift your flour.

Mix both ingredients together  by hand with a spatula. You will need to mix very thoroughly to make sure all ingredients are incorporated correctly. As a final step,add the walnuts.

Pour into greased loaf-pan. I typically use the  PAM spray-baking butter that is zero calories.

Baked and ready to eat:) I typically serve a slice along a cup of home-made Healthy Hottie Chocolate.

Recipe for the HH hot chocolate is easy peasy.  Simply break up about half a dark cocoa chocolate bar (I buy Greenback organic chocolate with 70% cocoa) into about 2 cups of non-fat milk steaming in a pot. Stir until the chocolate melts and then add about 2 tablespoons of raw agave or raw cane sugar and enjoy!!!!

Next post will be all about green juices....doesn't it sound divine?;)

The Goal: 2010 and 20lbs lighter....

Hi there. My name is Ly, welcome To the Healthy Hottie Blog.  This is the first post for this new blog  about a: new start, new body and new life...

As you watch as I ramble on and on  in the the very dark and badly taken video I recorded below, (it uploaded completely awkwardly and in order to view it you'll have to tilt you head to the left. sorry, I hope I don’t' give you a headache...if it wasn't that it took about 2 hours to upload to YouTube,  I would have gladly done another.. ) but I digress, you will learn that the The Healthy Hottie concept was created in January of 2009. Some of my friends and I decided to challenge ourselves to lose weight, get fit and lead overall healthier and happier lives. As a result of this challenge, I was able to drop approximately 35lbs during 2009 and drastically improved my metabolism, sugar, insulin,and liver enzyme levels, as well as looking and feeling much better and finally being able to fit into many of my old clothes. Always a good thing;)

The challenge however, is not over. Although I've continued to lead a healthy life-style and have been able to maintain my weight-loss of last year (give or take a few pounds, especially those that creep up each month during that unwanted visit...ladies,  you know what I'm talking about:), my weight-loss has slowed down and I've reached somewhat of a plateau. No Bueno. My Goal is to lose at least another 15 to 20lbs for 2010, to reach the ideal weight and size for my body and health standards.

This is my plan of action:

• 1500 - a day Calorie regime. (My metabolism is now at a normal, healthy range, and according to the last metabolic test I took, I am allowed up to 2200 calories a day while still losing weight,. However,  I want to cut those calories  in half to see if this deficit helps to jump start rapid weight-loss. I will return to a higher calorie intake after a few weeks. I plan to use Calorie Cycling, as well, a concept I will discuss in detail in a future post.)
• Cardio two times a day. Weight-lifting 3 times a week. (The exercise routine I used last year consisted of an intense 45-60 minute cardio workout everyday, plus 2 sessions a week of lifting and reps  to increase muscle mass and burn fat. Again, because the body gets use to a certain pattern after awhile, I plan to incorporate new and different cardio workouts (like Zumba!) on a daily basis. My goal is 20 minutes of cardio in the morning. 45 minutes in the afternoon and lifting every other day about 6 days a week. Let’s hope I don't drop dead from exhaustion. lol
• More sleep. I am a night-owl. It is very hard for me to get into bed before 11 p.m. However, I know the benefits of getting more sleep, not only for overall well-being,  but to aid in losing weight. My goal is to get into bed by 11 p.m. (and yet, here it is almost midnight and I'm blogging. baby steps, people, baby steps....lol)
• Keep a journal. I've used sparkspeople.com in the past and I highly recommend it. It tracks your calorie and water intake, exercise regime, etc. The problem for me is that I need something a little less formal (i.e. having to log in to the computer etc) and a little more functional - so I’ve decided to carry around a small note-pad and pen and jot every single item I consume - down to the chewing gum - as well as track my water intake. At the end of  the day, I can calculate calorie intake using a fancy program like sparkspeople.

And there you have it. Most importantly,  I will be using this blog as a platform for motivation and encouragement from my readers and hope that you can benefit from some of my ideas,recipes and anecdotes.

Next post will be all about yummy desserts made the Healthy Hottie way....

If you want to play the poor-quality video please click  HERE.


P.S. Like my Blog Header? A picture taken by yours truly. I hope it evokes Healthiness in the most delicious and colorful way possible!:)