Becoming Katniss - Destroying Reset

Usana reset day 4 - I know I can do this. I'm energized, I'm not starving and I'm feeling motivated by the weight loss. Today I had to blow it a bit, after my leadership meeting we were asked to go to lunch to bring in new leadership and say good bye to the old. I decided the best way to do this without a.) being that weirdo that is not eating and has no valid reason to not be or b.) "that" girl was to order a salmon Caesar salad with no dressing, no Parmesan and no croutons - it's super gourmet and also known as romaine lettuce and a piece if salmon. People were definitely looking and judging I'm sure #dontcare. I'll be honest, I indulged a bit on a few rings of calamari and I crumb of cornbread BUT, I know nutrition enough to know that if I skipped a shake and skipped a bar, calorie wise I'd be just fine. I had plenty of energy for the gym and didn't need to supplement additional veggies for dinner. I was up half a lb from the day before which was to be expected given the lunch "splurge".

Final Day!

Friday was a breeze. I was motivated to keep this going a f decided that since I would have to screw up a bit again tonight that I would continue this halfway through this weekend. I made it through the day, the hunger had subsided and I was full after one small piece of pizza (I never in my life thought that would be possible). I weighed in 4.5 lbs lighter than my pre workout weight Saturday and 3 lbs less than my post workout weight. I haven't been able to get down this low in a long time and seeing the difference really is pushing me to want to keep it up!

Conclusion - while tough I thought the reset delivered exactly what it said it would. I can also day that I chested a little and still saw significant results. I went to training today and despite the fact that I didn't fully sustain Friday (we had a movie night and I had a few snacks and a piece if pizza) - I still weighed in at the light weight I saw Friday before the "splurge" which leads me to believe that the weight loss was not strictly water weight. The recommendation is to continue in the diet by supplementing one to two meals still with the shakes. I have two left from my skips that I will be having for my next two meals this weekend to try and continue the. Hn and will supplement with a low carb, low calorie protein shake for at least one meal over tht next few weeks. I found that calorie wise, the Usana shakes are almost too high for me to supplement twice a day and continue to eat dinner. I definitely recommend this product and will not likely do it again before and after my trio to Italy!

The Hunger Games - Day II - Dead Tribute

Boooop, boooop, booop. It's day two and that's the sound of me flatlining. Today was horrible for the Usana reset. I'm not even going to try and sugar coat it. I'm starving, I'm crabby and I might be lacking a pulse. I know I'm over dramatic from time to time, most of its of affect and to entertain myself but holy space balls, I might be dead right now.

All jokes aside, I've had a constant headache all day and it eventually turned into the type of migraines I get that leave me nauseous. By one pm I found myself staring at the computer scree not being able to focus on anything except when I could finally go home and nap. The day drug on longer than any day i could ever remember. Five minutes felt like hours. Was all is worth it? No gym again, I planned on doing some YouTube workouts post nap but couldn't Ben get yield up long enough to heat up frozen food for Steve. Haha this is pure madness!

Day III

Complete 180 from yesterday. I feel energized, slept amazing and wasn't even hungry when I woke up. Interestingly enough, I have had some of the best sleep ever on this cleanse I'm sleeping and I already have a great relationship. I don't find myself waking up at all and I feel refreshed in the morning. I had my shake in the morning and then didn't even feel the need to have the bar for snack but had half of it anyways. This went on like that all day really, by the time I went to training at 430 I hadn't even finished my second full snack for the day and didn't need to make my dinner shake before going. Training was rough, my body was definitely feeling the change in calories over the prior few days. I pushed through it despite the constant nagging feeling of light headedness (I'm crazy and don't recommend this). I didn't even find it necessary, hunger wise to have the full servings of fruit and veggies recommended. Phew - I can make it through! At weigh in I had lost nearly 2 lbs from the end of my previous session Saturday (4 lbs from the beginning of that session). This reset is clearly working. Be advised that I am getting around 1200 calories, 70g of protein and around 120g of carbs so the reset is definitely nutritionally sufficient. I can do this!

The Hunger Games - Starring...Me

I'll be honest - despite my posts full of cream and cheese and sinful goodness of all kinds - I'm a relatively good eater.  I stick mostly to lean proteins for breakfast, salads and/or lean proteins for lunch and mostly protein and veggies and an occasional splurge on starch for dinner.  I work out hard - I box 2-3 days a week, do agility training with a trainer twice a week and workout on my own to round off 5-6 days total in the gym.  But, I, like all people fall off the wagon from time to time.  Rewind about 10 months - where was I 10 months ago? Oh yeah, eating SUPER healthy, barely indulging in any beer or liquor and OH - planning my wedding. Is it the wedding stress that kept my weight so low? Perhaps the fear that I'll pick up my dress from alterations and be busting from the seams? Either way, I'm up 4 lbs post wedding. GASP - I know, tragic right? I know how silly it is to obsess over several measly lbs but I don't want to be that woman who someone looks at her photos from her 1st anniversary, and then looks at her wedding photos and says, "holy chita, that's the same girl?".

Ok fine, I'm chalking most of it up to muscle (I also didn't want to look like Schwarzenager on my wedding day, so I stuck to very minimum muscle bulking). However, a numbers a number and while I know better than to be fixated on it, I have a motivation station at work and on that motivation station I have a goal weight and you better believe I'm going to get there.  I decided to go ahead and do a cleanse to reset my glycemic index and felt that I should share a real life, up to date account of my experience.

Usana has become one of the world's leading manufacturers of health supplements and products. I'm a skeptic of anything that is an unnatural form of weight loss so I'm shocked at myself for a.) doing this and b.) sharing my experience.  The premise is that by following this regimented "reset" for five days, that one will lose weight and also curb their cravings for carbs and sweets.  Several of my co-workers tried it with success, I figured I'd give it a try since I work hard and have struggled to lose the last several lbs.

Day 1

The shakes are actually pretty tasty.  When the girls at work did them and boasted how much they tasted like a milk shake, I wasn't sure.  I had had my share of protein shakes and even good ones aren't that great. But they were right, the shakes are thick and have a great, non-grainy flavor to them.  They come in french vanilla, dutch chocolate and strawberry.  I had my strawberry shake, went down easy, but quickly as well.  I drink fast...it left me with that empty feeling, like I was missing out on my meals.  The kit also includes granola bars that are to be eaten as snacks twice a day.  Come 9am, i started on my first "snack".  Devoured in no time.  By 4pm I had had my two shakes and two snacks for the day and was famished.  I didn't know how I would make it through the day.  I found myself lacking energy - I couldn't even make it through without a nap - and then had no energy to go to the gym (which is rare, I will go to the gym sick even).  I made my dinner shake with a banana (as you are allowed on serving each of fruits and veggies). The shake was delicious, but still not satisfying enough.  Interestingly, I added the necessary serving of fruits and veggies and found that spaghetti squash satisfied my need to chew. I was hungry but not famished, it was more the actual act of eating I think I missed.

Olive Garden Soup and Quiche - The Perfect Pairing

The hubby loves soup and I love quiche, and like the two of us, those two are a perfect match.  Steve can get his fill from a warm, creamy soup, full of veggies and protein. I can get mine from a warm, cheesy, veggie filled, egg engulfed. One word ---Sluuurp! Its Lenten season, and I'm always looking for something that is satisfying for both of us to eat (which can be a challenge since Steve doesn't dare set his eyes on fish other than Nemo and Salmon) and that isn't just full of unhealthy starches and carbs.  I had two Pinterest recipes picked for last Friday and had to share them.  They were BOTH a huge hit and the best part...LEFTOVERS! 

Who loves Olive Garden? Who doesn't is the better question.  This recipe is almost an exact copycat of Olive Garden's Chicken Gnocchi soup - the veggies cook up perfectly so they still have a very slight crunch to them, the gnocchi stays firm and chewy, like a homemade gnocchi   The cream base...ohhhhh the cream base, has just the right amount of flavor to it.  I will say, the recipe is a lightened version and I lightened it even more by using half of the half and half and the other half skim milk - the flavor and texture were not sacrificed at all.

I'll admit, the Gnocchi was the only thing that filled my everlasting shopping void that day.  I woke up early, started cooking, realized I didn't have gnocchi and found that to be the best excuse ever to go to World Market - for gnocchi of course.  I left there, only with gnocchi and an empty hole I hoped to later fill with furniture (problem? ehhh). The gnocchi was totally worth it though and I recommend if you can get to a World Market for your gnocchi  get it from there.  The texture was perfectly authentic and reminded me of the homemade gnocchi from Sarnellos - a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant in our neighborhood who makes homemade pasta daily.  

The quiche - perfect.  I was a little hesitant at first because instead of mixing everything together like I'm used to, the recipe called for layering the broccoli, cheese,spinach and repeat and then pouring the egg mixture over it.  I will say, this was better the second day than the first and would recommend making it ahead of time and then just warming it to serve for day two.  

Olive Garden's Chicken Gnocchi Soup 

Recipe adapted from Dinner Dishes and Desserts

1 cup chicken breasts, boiled and shredded

2 Tbls butter

2 Tbls olive oil

2 Cups Half and Half

2 Cups Skim Milk

2 cups chicken stock

½ cup celery, chopped

¼ cup flour

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup carrots, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped

½ tsp dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

1 (16oz) package gnocchi

Place thawed chicken in water and set to boil.  Once boiling, place lid on pot and allow to cook for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked all the way through. Remove from heat and shred.

In a large pot heat butter and oil over medium high heat. Saute onion, celery and garlic until the onion is soft and translucent. Add carrots. 

Add flour, and stir until well mixed. Cook for 1 minute.

Whisk in half and half and milk until well blended.  

Meanwhile, in another pan cook gnocchi according to the package directions.

Add chicken stock and stir frequently until thickened. 

Add chicken, cooked gnocchi, spinach, thyme, salt and pepper. Cover, and heat for 5 minutes, until heated through.

See the quiche recipe HERE. I made a few minor changes by using half swiss and half cheddar cheese instead of the grueyre simply because I had those on hand.  I would imagine the grueyre would be amazing though and I'll definitely try it that way! I also used a refrigerated dough - they're quicker and easier to work with! 

Bougie Breakfast Pizza - Chorizo and Potato

Urbandictionary.com defines "bougie" as follows, "Anything that is perceived as "upscale" from a blue-collar point of view. 'Bougie' (pronounced boo'-she) is a hacked truncation of the word Bourgeoisie, which refers to the middle-class in Europe, but refers to a more affluent class level in the United States,". So here you have it ladies and gentlemen - my bougie version of an old classic, breakfast pizza!

Steve often teases me that we don't repeat meals too often in the Zuniga household. I often times make something new and inquire if its good enough that I could make it again. The response is usually "yes" but the recipe doesn't reappear often if at all. Part of its because I'm constantly in search of the next best thing, the other part is because I forget things I've made and perhaps the BIGGEST part is that I don't ever want to make something so often that all the sudden the thought of it makes us gag. It's all about moderation, right?

Let me preface by saying that despite all the posts for it, Steve and I very rarely eat breakfast. During the week I do hard oiled eggs or grapefruit and he does....pop? On weekends breakfast is usually slept through so we go straight to lunch. Either way, I was in the mood for breakfast today and wanted to do a little something different. So the thought came to me, I'll jazz up Steve's favorite breakfast pizza- deliciousness was born. Instead of breakfast sausage like the standard breakfast pizza, this one uses bacon and chorizo. The crust is a tradition pizza crust instead of crescent rolls and everything is ore cooked before being added as oppose to my original breakfast pizza post where almost everything cooks together.

The result - a savory, slightly spicy and perfectly crispy breakfast pizza that can be enjoyed anytime of the day!

Chorizo, Potato and Bacon Breakfast Pizza

1 tube Pillsbury Pizza dough

12 oz mild chorizo

7 strips of bacon, diced

1 1/2 c Obrien diced potatoes

8 extra large eggs

1 Tbsp heavy whipping cream

1 1/4 c pizza style cheese (blend of cheddar and mozzarella)

An appetite

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Unroll dough onto greased pan. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until slightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool. 
Meanwhile, in medium sauté pan, cook chopped bacon until crisp. Drain any grease and add chorizo. Allow chorizo to cook until browned. Drain and remove from pan. Using leftover grease in pan, cook potatoes until browned. Sprinkle sausage and bacon over pizza dough leaving some edges open for the crust. Add potatoes.

 In medium bowl, beat eggs and whipping cream. Cook eggs leaving them slightly "wet" as they will continue to cook in the oven. Add eggs on top of sausage, bacon and potatoes. Top with cheese. Add to oven and bake 10 minutes or until crust is browned and cheese is melted. Remove from oven, cut into squares and enjoy!

Remembering Valentines

Ok so I'm a bit late on this. It's been a busy few weeks - travel, flu, life. Sigh - travel again next week. This means few opportunities to cook the way I like. Needless to say I do have a few recipes that I'm late to post but getting this post in was really important to me.

My family is amazing and I'm so blessed everyday that I was raised to them and that they have passed so many great memories and traditions on to me. It's interesting because as a teen I couldn't wait to get as far away as I could (and believe you me, I was very vocal about that haha). As one gets older and gets married or moves out, I think, at least for me it became so obvious how lucky I was to have such great mentorship and so much guidance and love, independence.

I was preparing for Valentines day, the first Steve and I were to have as husband and wife and was overwhelmed with such fond memories of how special my mom would always make all of us kids feel on Valentines Day, even into our teens. As kids she'd always make us a special dinner complete with cookies or cupcakes that she'd often display in a glass cake display topped with a sign "for my valentines". As a teen, my mom would always have a little party for my girlfriends and me complete with virgin daqaris and all the best snacks.

I can only hope that one day my kids will be reminiscing about me on a silly Hallmark holiday, but until then, thanks mom for always making us so lucky!