Tag Archives: food

The FitExpo – Los Angeles

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I had a blast attending the Los Angeles FitExpo this past week, Feb. 7-8, 2015.  I was able to meet a lot of fun and exciting fitness experts who shared some of their top secrets to success.

I spent the first day, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015, improving my culinary skills.  I participated in cooking classes taught by celebrity chefs, athletes and fitness experts/models.  They took me step-by-step through some tasty and healthy recipes.  Their main focus was “how to include 50+ grams of protein in a meal.  It smelled delightful in this chef’s kitchen and the samples tasted outstanding.

Chef Patrick Stark 

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Chef Stark prepared a delicious Vegan Curried Vegetable meal that contained 50+ grams of protein.  His secret to adding 50+ grams of protein involved adding vanilla whey protein to his curry milk sauce  and pouring it over his veggies and brown rice.  This was a spicy and delightfully seasoned vegan/vegetarian meal.
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Dymatize Protein Athletes were hosting and preparing delicious 50+grams of protein meals as well.  They prepared a curry chicken meal and protein pancakes.

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What a delight to see handsome and fit men cooking in the kitchen ;).

I also received a ton of free samples to try out.  All were very good. One of my favs was Oxygen magazine.  The fitness models of Oxygen were handing out free issues (Score!).   I received lots of backpacks and T-shirts as well.

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On Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015, I had the pleasure of meeting the beautiful and oh so sweet Follow the Lita!  Lita is a Physical and Spiritual Motivator Ambassador/fitness expert/trainer/fitness model and my daily inspiration.  She is such a happy and friendly person.  She prepared Turkey Burger Patties.  She included olives and sun dried tomatoes.  I’ll have to try that with my TVP mix (texturized vegetable protein) the next time I make homemade veggie patties.

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I’m such a fan of Lita! Isn’t she gorgeous? Her figure is to die for as well.

I also attended an amazing presentation by Dr. Levi Harrison, M.D.  I cannot begin to tell you how much I learned from this man.  I will be dedicating an entire blog to review his book, “The Art of Fitness” and his DVD, “The Art of Fitness (Cardio Core Workout).  So look out for this blog post because the book and DVD are phenomenal!  He is a dynamic speaker, caring motivator and incredibly cute!

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I so enjoyed my time at the LA FitExpo.  I will be attending another in August 2015.  I’m so excited.

Peace and Love

 

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Instagram:  http://www.instagram.com/pinkrunningkicks

Facebook Page:  http://www.facebook.com/pinkrunningkicks

Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/copperlady2009

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PACt Cranberry Extract Water- A Delicious New Hydrating Drink

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I’ve been searching for a drink that would instantly hydrate me after a long day at work or through the night.  As I was flipping through SHAPE magazine, I ran across an ad for Ocean Spray PACt Cranberry Extract Water and decided to give it a try.  I normally enjoy all flavors of Ocean Spray Cranberry Juices so I decided to get all of the PACt flavors:  Cranberry Blood Orange, Cranberry Pomegranate, Cranberry Raspberry and Cranberry Mango Passion Fruit

I enjoyed every flavor that I purchased.  Each were mildly sweet and definitely flavorful.  There was no weird after taste and  they were not too watered down like other flavored waters I’ve tasted in the past.

Ocean spray has also created a fabulous PACt Cranberry Extract Water website (www.pact.oceanspray.com) that details all of the nutritional benefits.  I’m especially grateful for the many health benefits described on the website including the following:

  • Only 10 calories per serving
  • No genetically engineered ingredients
  • Color straight from cranberries

I really enjoyed all of the information provided by the website.  There is a section called #evenbetter that features motivational quotes, articles, lifestyle and health tips.  There are also numerous recipes for preparing healthy meals.  I’ll definitely be creating the Wild Rice with Cranberries and Caramelized Onions this weekend.

Overall, I really enjoyed the new PACt Cranberry Extract Waters.   I think that this would be a nice drink to enjoy before, during, or after a workout.  You could even enjoy it with lunch, dinner or to supplement a snack. Drinking it before you go to bed would aid in restoring your body’s nutrients and muscle regeneration throughout the night.  I will definitely be purchasing more PACt waters in the future.

Peace and Love ♥

Pink Running Kicks

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The DASH DIET Weight Loss Solution Book Review

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I just finished reading the book entitled, “The DASH DIET Weight Loss Solution” by Marla Heller, MS, RD  and I must say that I’m absolutely impressed.  The author, Martha Heller, a registered dietician in private practice and at a naval hospital outpatient nutrition clinic, provides a simple step-by-step 2 week plan for losing 10 lbs.  She ensures that you will not only reduce your weight, but improve your overall health.

 

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My interest was spurred to read this book after my mother challenged me to start adding book reviews to my blog.  I’m grateful for her suggestion because I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  Furthermore, my interest was sparked because the author stated, “You can lose 10 lbs in 2 weeks.”  She provided valuable research based findings on combating heart disease and diabetes as well.  The DASH DIET Weight Loss Solution will ultimately help reduce your weight, lower your blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels and reduce risks of developing diabetes or kidney stones.

As I paged through the 2 week plan and recipes that the author included, I realized that this was something that I could do successfully.  Mostly because it includes meals and snacks that I normally eat on a regular basis.  It doesn’t list those foods that I normally will not enjoy eating and leave me feeling like I’m starving.

There are 2 phases to the diet.  Phase 1 reboots your body and appetite.  You phase out starchy foods and concentrate on protein and veggies.  No fruit in this phase as well.  Phase 2 then slowly incorporates items back into your meal plan in a healthy and sustainable way.  The diet involves “preparing meals and snacks that are satisfying and actually help to curb hunger.”

Candidates for the DASH DIET Weight Loss Solution include the following:

  • individuals who carry excess weight around the middle
  • individuals diagnosed with high blood pressure (see your physician for assistance)
  • individuals diagnosed with diabetes (see your physician for assistance)
  • individuals who are sick and tired of yo-you dieting
  • individuals who desire to take preventive measures to reduce risks of developing high blood pressure and diabetes

So, forget about the junk food, refined grains and overeating.  These will just make you stay hungry, crave the unhealthy foods and keep excess weight on your body.

List of things to avoid:

  • refined grains
  • junk food
  • skipping meals

List of things to enjoy:

  • healthy fats (e.g. nuts) they help keep you sustained especially in the late afternoons right before dinner.
  • fruits and veggies
  • cooking new recipes
  • meal planning
  • meal prepping

I now enjoy grocery shopping, reading labels and of course my all time favorite thing to do, COOKING!

I enjoy planning my meals followed by meal preparation for the entire week.

I recommend that you download this book or purchase it at your local bookstore.  You won’t be disappointed!  I finished reading this book in 2 days so that’s an indication that you won’t be able to put it down once you pick it up.

Peace and Love

 

 

 

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

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Very Inspiring Blogger Award

It’s such an honor to be nominated for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.  I’d like to thank 3 phenomenal and beautiful bloggers who nominated me and write fantastic posts on a daily basis:

l. chantalandshekinah.wordpress.com

2. courtenaysbeautybox.wordpress.com

3.  vogueinfatuation.wordpress.com

 

Chantal of chantalandshekinah@wordpress.com you have such a beautiful spirit and your beauty and fashion insight is impeccable.  I always enjoy your OOTD and makeup and hair photos.

Courtalex95, of courtenaysbeauybox.wordpress.com I enjoy all of your fashion updates, makeup tutorials and knowledge of trends in fashion and entertainment.    Despite the fact that you are a full-time college student you still find time to provide us with several great blogs everyday.  Your determination and dedication will definitely payoff.

Amy of vogueinfatuation.wordpress.com you are a such an inspiration and provide me with makeup, fashion updates, a great eye for jewelry and snippets into your life.  I always look forward to your next post.

 

The rules for this award –

  1. Thank the person who nominated you and add their link to your blog
  2. List the award rules so your nominees will know what to do.
  3.  State 7 things about yourself.
  4. Nominate other bloggers.
  5. Contact your nominees and provide a link to your post.
  6. Display the award logo (button) on your blog, whether on your sidebar or about page, or special award page.

7 Things About Me:

l.     I was a vegetarian for 3 years and I recently became a pescatarian (I think I’ll be switching back though).

2.  I love decorating my Lilly Pulitzer Agendas and I think that washi tape is the greatest invention of all times.

3.  I love my Nike+ App.

4.  I wish I owned a blueberry farm.

5.  I love Chococat, Hello Kitty’s buddy.

6.  I collected stickers when I was a girl up to my teens and I’ve started collecting them again.

7.  I like to watch fishing shows on television and I like to fish.  However, I’ve never caught a fish LOL!

 

I nominate all of my friends who follow and support my blog.  You all inspire me!  More nominations to come!

 

Peace and Love!

Falafel Salad

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I decided that I wanted to make something low calorie and satisfying for dinner tonight.

I chose to use my Falafel Mix that I purchased from Wholefoods.  I decided to bake the falafels rather than fry them.  Directions for preparing the falafels are on the side of the box.

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The salad turned out to be very tasty.  I made my own dressing for the salad.

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Falafel Dressing Recipe:

Ingredients:

3 tbs of Sour Cream or Yogurt

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp dill

1/2 lemon’s juice

3 small bell peppers (yellow, red or orange) diced

4 green onions diced

Combine all ingredients in a food processor.  I used my NutriBullet.

salt and pepper to taste

Peace and Love

New Recipe- Curry Shrimp

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Curry Shrimp

 

I usually use this brand of curry sauce to make all of my curry dishes.  In the past I’ve made Curry Tofu and Veggies.  Today I used shrimp to make a delicious pescatarian meal.

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Ingredients:

1 box of curry sauce mix

1-2 lbs of raw shrimp (de-vein)

2 large russet potatoes

2 carrots

1 white onion

1-2 tbs minced garlic

2-3 tbs of oil (olive or canola)

3-31/2 cups of water

steamed brown or white rice

Step 1:

Dice up russet potatoes and carrots.

 

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Step 2:

Wash shrimp.  I thawed frozen shrimp which were already de-veined.

 

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Step 3:

Chop up a white onion and add 1 tbs of minced garlic to 2 tbs of oil (olive, canola, etc.).  Sauté until onions are translucent (4-5 minutes).

 

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Step 4:

Add potatoes and carrots and 1 1/2 cup of water to pot.  Add 1/2 of the curry brick and stir.  Heat for about 20 minutes or until potatoes and carrots start to get tender.

 

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Step 5:

Add another 1 1/2 cups of water and the other half of the curry brick.  Stir until curry brick is dissolved.  Add shrimp.  Add another 1/2 cup of water.  Cook until the shrimp are bright pink (8-10 minutes)

 

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Step 6:

Serve with steamed brown or white rice.

 

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Peace and Love

 

 

Rest and Relaxation

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I saw this post on Facebook today and it pretty much sums up my thoughts right now.

 

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My fitness routine today consisted of getting out of bed and walking into the kitchen to grab something to eat and then heading back to bed.  It feels soooooooooooo good to be on vacation.  And a much needed one at that.  I had a great phone conversation with my Daddy today.  My pop likes to quiz me on theology.  I never get any answers correct, but it’s okay.  It’s just fun listening to him educate me with his Bible knowledge.

 

I did make it out to the mall today.  Lots of sales.  I just paid my Macy’s bill and looked at jewelry, handbags and shoes.  I’m still trying to convince myself to purchase the Michael Kors MK Charm Rain Booties.  They are so cute!

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I also peeped the Ralph Lauren Half Rain Boots (online).

 

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Ralph Lauren

On the way home I decided to grab a quick treat.  Starbucks has the best Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Make sure they warm them up for you!

 

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My favorite Starbucks drink is the delicious Iced Caramel Macchiato anytime of year.

 

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Until next time, see ya!

Peace and Love

 

The Day After Christmas

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Well, I spent a fun evening with a childhood friend on Christmas evening.  I enjoyed a delicious dinner with her family.  We sang, danced and ate for most of the night.  I had the opportunity to try out the Panettone Specialty Holiday Cake.

 

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Tonight, I finished preparing a pescatarian soul food dinner for myself.  Fried Tilapia, macaroni and cheese, mustard greens and potato salad were on the menu.   It was delightful!  I watched Divergent as I ate.  It was a really good movie.

 

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I will be letting you know about all my Christmas presents in a future blog.  I just didn’t have time to take the pics.  My favorite is a Lilly Pulitzer Agenda that my mom sent.  I’ll be able to plan some exciting activities for the future.

 

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I also received my first Keurig, so excited to try it out.

 

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I’m still enjoying this time off from work.  It’s great to be back to blogging.

Peace and Love

 

 

 

 

 

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Saves the Day!

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I thought all was lost tonight when I tried to find an open Starbucks.  My usual tradition is to order my White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha and drive around the neighborhood to look at the Christmas Lights.  So, to go to three different Starbucks and find out they were all closed early put a slight damper on my cheery Christmas mood.

But lo and behold, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf was OPEN!!!! I was so excited.  I ordered my festive drink and went on my merry way.

 

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Saves the Day!

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As I cruised the streets tonight, I reflected on how happy and blessed I am in my life.  I have great friends, my parents are healthy, I love my job and God is the center of my joy.

Earlier today, I managed to get all of my grocery shopping done.  As I stated in a previous blog, my love of cooking is being rekindled.  I picked up a new item today that the grocery clerk was telling me was quite delicious.

 

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I will be preparing a Pescatarian Christmas lunch tomorrow.  Pics will be up on the blog tomorrow!  My evening will be spent with loved ones who are very dear to me.

I’ll leave you with the festive sounds of the Whispers tonight.  Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

Peace and Love

 

 

 

 

Day 2 of Winter Vacay!

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Another day of peace and relaxation Yaaaay!  I’m enjoying the days off to rest and recharge.  I can’t believe it, but I’m now watching Gossip Girl Season 1-5 on Netflix and I’m enjoying it LOL!  Tomorrow will probably be more eventful.  I’ve started to open Christmas gifts from my staff.  I’m now enjoying these sweet delicacies that are contained in these delightfully cute boxes.  There are chocolates, kettle corn, peppermints, and peanut brittle YUM!

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I purchased an interesting book from the Getty Villa when I visited the museum a few months ago.  I try to read an excerpt per day.  It is definitely well worth the purchase.

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My new candle from Bath and Body Works will really make the home nice and fragrant.  I love the three wick candles, especially when they are on sale.

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I will take my traditional drive through my neighborhood to look at Christmas Lights on the night of Christmas Eve.  I always enjoy cruising down each street and sipping on a White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks while listening to my favorite Christmas song by Ledisi.

Well, have a great evening.

Peace and Love

Today’s Doctor Visit and My Awesome Weekend!

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Phew!! I went to the Orthopedic Surgeon today to get a diagnoses for my shoulder pain. The doctor tried to narrow it down to tendonitis in both shoulders, however, he is also requesting an additional neck MRI to see if there are further complications. He gave me 2 cortisone shots in both shoulders OUCH!!!!! I tried to relax after the visit by going to see a movie “Marvel Avengers”. Movie therapy usually relaxes me, but it didn’t seem to work. I’m home now and my right shoulder is aching like a toothache. I think this may mean another day off from work if I’m not better. Wow! I’m so glad when this subsides. I really want to be better by summer.

Now to my awesome weekend! I started it off on Friday night by picking up the nieces and coaching them through a vegan sprinkled donut recipe. Vegan donuts are a much healthier alternative to regular donuts. Great fun! A great math lesson also using estimation with measurements. My nieces are so smart. They said that they didn’t need my help LOL!

Vegan Sprinkle Donut:

On Saturday afternoon, I picked up the nieces and we went to Costco to meet the author of the vegan cookbook, Chloe’s Kitchen.

We told her all about our new vegan cooking adventures and visiting vegan restaurants. She was so nice and really down to earth.

The nieces and Chloe:

After meeting Chloe, we did some shopping for fruit and a pizza to snack on for lunch.

Yummy Watermelon:

Lunch:

We ended our glorious evening with watching DVDs and Netflix. I couldn’t ask for a better weekend.

Grocery Shopping

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I ended a long day at work by shopping at Ralphs for a few items. I stocked up on oranges and vegetables. I’m really loving corn on the cob right now.

I’ve been eating a lot of laughing cow cheese. I scored this new flavor today:

I can’t wait to slather it on a toasted whole wheat bagel.

I picked up some POM Cranberry Juice. It tasted pretty good! I know it’s super healthy for me. Chalk full of antioxidants.

I’ve been indulging in the breakfast of the champions lately, greek yogurt and whole grain snacks.

Healthy dinner choice tonight! Loved it. Oven roasted corn and a garden salad (romaine lettuce, tomatoes, green onion, cucumbers, cilantro) and oil and vinegar dressing.

Questions:

l. What do you love to pick up at the grocery store?

2. What did you have for dinner?

I’m Backkkk!

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This weekend was a ton of fun with my nieces. We went to Universal Studios Hollywood and then ended the night with watching The Hunger Games at AMC CityWalk.

Morning Breakfast with the nieces involved a stop at Jamba Juice. I had a smoothie “Orange Dream Machine” and I shared a spinach, egg and cheese wrap with older niece. My younger niece had a cup of steel cut oatmeal with apples, cinnamon and brown sugar. She loved it even though it doesn’t look like it in the picture.

My nieces love to take pictures when we are out. Universal Studios was a blast! My nieces took a photo with the Austin Powers Performers.

I had several vegetarian choices at Universal Studios. So happy! I like to purchase the all you can eat band for 30 bucks and spend the day grazing. You always get an entree, side order and dessert.
I choose veggie pizza for my first meal and yummy raspberry jello for dessert. I scooped off the whip cream it was delicious but too sweet.

The Hunger Games was pretty good. My nieces loved it. My older niece read the first book in the ninth grade so she was totally into the film.

I’m still looking forward to purchasing a bike to include in my cross training program. I’ll have it by summer I’m sure.

This morning’s breakfast:

I ate pretty healthy today. So happy!

Questions:

What did you do this weekend?

Motivation

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It takes a lot of effort, time and sometimes money to motivate myself to exercise, eat clean, go to work, step out of my comfort zone, etc. I just watched an incredible movie on Netflix, entitled “Running the Sahara”. This movie captured the many facets of pushing past one’s limits, braving extreme elements, and enduring pain and overcoming fears. I was brought to tears at many times in the movie as I thought about how I would handle similar situations in my life. This documentary is a must see!

My day has been pretty peaceful. I got up this morning in a baking mood. I whipped up a new recipe from one of my current favorite cookbooks.

Whole Wheat Baking Powder Biscuits and Fresh Juice:

Fro-Yo always makes Saturday a good day.

I love toppings on everything.

What are your favorite toppings?
-potatoes (butter, sour cream, chives)
-chilli (cheese, onions, tomatoes)
-Fro Yo (cookies, granola, almonds, mini chocolate chips)

Hello Weekend!

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It’s been a couple of days since I last made a post. Just so busy at work. Well, the weekend is here and I’m ready to blog the weekend. I’ve had some great food for breakfast and lunch this past week.

Jamba Juice

Fro-Yo with yummy toppings (granola, almond slivers, coconut cookies, chocolate chips, chocolate syrup)

I can’t wait to get started on my new homework assignment. I’ll be studying the Eat Clean Diet info on vegetarian lifestyle. This is going to be great!

I’ll post the pictures of the new recipes that I try!