Ever since I’ve been unemployed, I’ve been kind of sitting on my arse and snacking way too much, mostly because I’m looking for something to do.  What’s worse is it’s holiday season and I won’t can’t say no to all food and all the trimmings.

Right now I’m down in Orange County and my aunt is out of town, so there’s no one to cook.  You would think that this would help me eat less but all I want to do is go to the grocery store and buy junk to eat for the next 10 days because no one will know 

Well guys, you’re gonna be proud!  I just got back from the grocery store but instead of all that bad-for-me food to snack on, I picked up a few of my favorite fresh fruits and brought them home to make fruit salad.

Those of you who know me will know that I’m kind of obsessed with my favorite quarterback, Peyton Manning.  Finding inspiration in one of his many endorsements this season, I remembered this hilarious Mastercard commercial and decided on the fruit salad.

This was so easy to put together (took me less than 15 minutes to cut everything up) and is so much healthier for me to snack on at 10pm when I’m drooling over what the Top Chefs are making.

There are no rules to fruit salad, just pick your favorites so there’s no excuse not to finish every last bite and enjoy some healthy eating in between those decadent holiday treats!

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I really hate to admit it but since I’ve been unemployed, I’ve gained a whoppin’ 5 pounds in just over a month (eep!).  I’ve been travelling a lot so my eating and workout schedule has been all over the place and I need to figure out a good way to get things back under control.

Lucky for me, I found these great five tips from Stacy Berman, a fitness trainer out of NYC, to get me on track again while I ride through the economic slump.

Frugal Fitness Tip # 1: Strength in Numbers!

Quit your one-on-one training sessions in favor of a group discounted rate. Many trainers will accept a larger group of people for a lower individual rate making a great way to reduce spending on fitness but keep the motivation factor there.

Frugal Fitness Tip #2: The Cheaper the Meat, the Bigger Your Waist

Many people will have to make sacrifices when it comes to consuming high-price items, like meat. If you are a meat eater, don’t go overboard with cost cutting. Often the cheapest cuts of meat are also the cuts with the highest fat content. You may be saving a dollar or two, but it could add up your calorie content higher than it used to be. Instead, chose moderately priced lean cuts of meat and scale back on side dishes.

Frugal Fitness Tip #3: Every Little Bit Counts

The world is your playground – literally! Use everyday activities to burn extra calories.  You don’t always need fancy gym equipment to get into great shape, just a set of dumbbells and a chair can get you to your fitness goals without breaking the bank.

Frugal Fitness Tip #4: Be Prepared to Prep!

The place where money is wasted the most is in the pre-packaged food aisles. Spending extra money on things like pre-washed and pre-cut lettuce, for example, is a huge money pit. Buying whole foods and preparing it yourself will not only cut back on costs but it will ensure you are not eating extra preservatives or additives in packaged foods.

Frugal Fitness Tip #5: Use the “Dollar Menu” Wisely

There are times when you may have no choice but to eat at fast food restaurants. However, many, if not all, fast food chains are offering healthy but appetizing options for those both on a diet and a budget.  Avoid the words ‘crisp,’ ‘double’ and ‘big’ and you’ll find that there are some great choices to be had at many restaurant chains – including Wendy’s Small Chili, McDonald’s Salads with Grilled Chicken and Burger King’s Whopper Jr. without cheese.

I’ve always been kind of against frozen yogurt.  For me, if I’m going to eat something sweet, I might as well eat ice cream (since it’s a rare indulgence for me).

However, on this day in Hollywood, it was so hot and I was in total dire need of something really cold to eat or drink.  We were with some friends, one of which really wanted some frozen yogurt right across the street from the Mann Theatre.  I agreed to go with her, only to watch her get her scoop and not really for me to eat.

The longer she stood in like sampling yogurt flavors and making yummy noises, I totally gave in - okay lady, I’ll take a small raspberry pomegranate frozen yogurt, or Fro-Yo, as the trendy So Cal folks like to call it.

Then she hit me with a curve ball and asked what toppings I wanted.  I was about to say no when I looked over at my friend with mochi, strawberries and Oreo cookies on hers.  So I told the girl, “I’d like strawberries please.”  She then hit me with another unexpected, “and..”

Oh my, I get to choose more?  “Yea..” she says, with an underlying “duh..” in there somewhere.

I ended up getting pineapples and kiwi atop my raspberry pomegranate frozen treat.

Let me just tell you, I ate the entire thing like there was no tomorrow!  Granted I shared some with the Boyfriend but I could have inhaled that entire thing by myself!  I don’t know if it was the heat or what, but it was the best thing I’d eaten in a long time.

And to make things even better, frozen yogurt is actually good for you and with fruit toppings there is absolutely nothing in it to make you feel guilty.

So while I still haven’t gotten in the swing of things with my diet, now I know that whenever I want a treat to eat, I can run to my nearest fro-yo shop to satisfy my cravings.  And they’re not hard to find either because this trend is popping up everywhere!  I even noticed a couple of new Tutti Frutti shops in San Francisco since I’ve been back!

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I’ve been wanting the Wii Fit ever since it came out earlier this year but was too lazy to join the millions of other people in the hunt for this constantly sold-out game slash potential God-send for gym-o-phobes like me.

But yesterday, perhaps an random act of fate, the Boyfriend and I were at the mall together for the first time in weeks and decided to pop into Game Stop.  The way this scenario usually goes is this -

Game Stop/Target/EB Games guy:  Can I help you?

Boyfriend: Yeah, do you guys have any Wii Fits?

Game Stop/Target/EB Games guy: Nah man, we’re sold out.

Boyfriend: Oh, okay.. do you know when you’ll be getting any?

Game Stop/Target/EB Games guy: Nah man, we never know, they just send them.

Boyfriend: Okay cool, thanks.

And we continue on our merry little way, doing whatever we were out to do that day.

Instead, this trip was very different.  Per our usual tactic, we walked into the game store and asked if they had any Wii Fits, fully expecting for them to turn us away on our merry little way.  But much to our surprise, the sales associate told us that they just got a huge shipment in the back and that if we came back in 30 minutes, they’ll likely have some after he had a chance to unpack the boxes.

So we went shopping, returned to Game Stop as instructed and what do you know.  He had a brand new Wii Fit waiting for us behind the counter.  Surprised, and not wanting to miss our chance we bought it and went home $100 poorer - and hopefully now a little bit more motivated to actually work out!

Today, the Boyfriend unpacked and set up the game and I took it on a test drive.  We each set up fitness profiles and allocated goals for ourselves to try and get to a healthier BMI (Body Mass Index) number.

Since the balance board is also a scale, the Wii Fit starts out by asking your age and height to determine your BMI.  As expected, the system set up my initial profile and told me that my BMI was in the 26-range (same as when I calculated it on The Biggest Loser website).

After the initial set up, I went ahead and did 30 minutes of aerobics - a combination of hula hooping, step, and short distance jogging really got my heart rate up and I even broke a sweat.  Who knew?

Do you have the Wii Fit?  How is it working for you?  I’d love to hear your progress too!

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Last week, true to my morning routine, I was watching The Today Show and I happened to catch a segment on metabolism myths.  I was playing along, trying to figure out if I knew the answers and what would help or hurt me while on the quest to a healthier lifestyle.

How many of these did you get right?  Some of the answer are a little surprising!

1. Your body burns more calories digesting ice-cold beverages and foods.  TRUE - Although the metabolism-boosting effects are small, it can’t hurt to pour no-cal drinks - water, tea, coffee - on the rocks to maximize your body’s calorie-burning potential.

2. Spicy foods will fire up metabolism. TRUE - Studies show that eating about one tablespoon of chopped red or green chile pepper - which is equal to 30 mg of capsaicin - resulted in up to a temporary 23 percent boost in metabolism.  Capsaicin can turn your metabolism up a notch while also enhancing satiety and reducing hunger.

3. Eating a grapefruit before every meal speeds metabolism. FALSE - Grapefruit won’t work miracles for your metabolism, but it can help you lose weight.  The reason: Its fiber and water fill you up on fewer calories, so you eat less at your next meal.

4. Celery is a “negative calorie food” because digesting it uses up more calories than it provides. FALSE - “Negative calorie foods” are nothing more than wishful thinking.  Include celery as a low-cal but filling addition to salads, stir-fries, and soups, but you can’t depend on it to magically melt away your trouble spots.

5. PMS cravings are related to the boost in metabolism before your period.  TRUE - If there is a silver lining to PMS, it’s that our resting metabolic rate may increase during the part of the menstrual cycle known as the luteal phase (the day after ovulation to the first day of your period). The metabolic boost we get from being “hormonal” can equal as much as 300 calories a day - which is why our appetite increases during this phase.

How did you do on this quiz on metabolism myths?  If you want to read the entire story, check out the Today Show website and see how savvy you are!

Source

Today, my friends and I hit the tennis courts for a little exercise that’s good for us and that’s also fun.

Between breaks and just chatting, I figured I did a solid 35 minutes of running around and while we didn’t spend a whole lot of time out there, I wanted to see how many calories I burned while on the courts today. After a couple of searches, I found a calculator online from Health Status that estimated how many calories I burned.

Health Status is online website that features calculators and tools along with health assessments to see if you’re at risk for heart disease, diabetes, and more.

According to the site, I burned 210 for my afternoon playing tennis today which is not too bad. Now I can feel a little better about the 2nd helping of spaghetti and garlic toast I ate yesterday.

Tomorrow is Sunday, which is my football and freebie food day.  Thank goodness because I don’t have enough will power to watch my calories at a sports bar where nachos, wings, and the alcohol will be flowing!

So what are your favorite exercises to do outside of the gym? I need to get some regular exercise if I’m going to make my weight loss goal of 115 lbs.

I don’t know what it is about this show but I love The Biggest Loser. I love that they’re fat, fun-loving folks that work their asses off to turn into borderline too-skinny people by the end of 6 months. At the end of the day it’s really inspiring and they make me want to just do something to make myself healthier as well.

Some of you remember that I started a food diary a few weeks ago to chronicle my attempts at weight loss. I started at 132 pounds and got down to 128 in 5 weeks but since I’ve stopped, I’m back at 131.

After the show tonight, I hopped onto The Biggest Loser website on NBC to check out what kinds of fitness tips and healthy recipes they had to offer. They’ve got a couple of recipes posted from celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirto that I’m kinda diggin’ and want to try.

The real scoop if you’re trying to lose weight is joining The Biggest Loser Club. They’ve got meal plans with recipes, a customized meal plan, and ways to track your progress. It seems pretty cool; the only downside is, it’ll cost you $20 a month. I’m not sure I’ll dive right into that but we’ll see how this month goes while I try to get back on the weight loss and exercise train.

So the first step for me to get back on track is to calculate my BMI, or Body Mass Index. It’s currently at 26.5 which puts me in the overweight category. I also calculated my BMR, or Basic Metabolism Rate, using the calculator they’ve got on the website. It uses your age, weight, and height to determine the number of calories your body naturally burns. The key to weight loss is to consume a number of calories that is less than your BMR.

For me to start losing weight, I need to consume less than 1,360 calories per day. I’m starting my food diary again tomorrow and will do my best to try and translate the food into calories to see how I do. We’ve also got The Biggest Loser Cookbook at home so we’ll definitely incorporate more of those recipes into our diets.

I’ll keep you updated regularly on what I’m eating and if I ever get back into the darn gym. That’s all for now, folks!

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I know I’ve been away for a few days but that’s because over here at The Daily Cookie we’re working on some changes that will hopefully make the site better.

In case you haven’t noticed, I love to bring you my adventures in food on occasion and now I have a section completely dedicated to that, and other things I like to write about - my fun stints out and about in San Francisco as well as get back into my food diary (I’ve been bad, but you’ll hear more about it later!). Now, you can use the nav bar to read about these things if you want to.

Out and About: all about my travels, local or afar
Munch on This: listen to me rant and rave about restaurants and see what I’m cooking up for dinner
Living Well: I gotta get back on the diet train and here’s where I’ll chronicle it

Otherwise, if you only want beauty stories when you come to The Daily Cookie then that’s all you’ll get on the main page.

I’ve got to rush off again - I’m on my way out the door to catch a flight to Orange County to visit my family this weekend! Hope you all have a great weekend!

xoxo, Lilan