WTF is a calorie anyways?

I recently read a blog that my sweet friend Lela shared on facebook by Sophieology called 1200 calories.  It starts with her saying "I don't know why 1200 managed to be the magic number of calories women should consume if they want to lose weight."  I have always had a quick metabolism and frankly I have never thought about counting my calories up until I read this blog.  Yea, yea go ahead and punch your computer screen in hopes that it will reach my face, but burning fat is not my main motive here it's building muscle.  I've been doing some strength training and frankly I've noticed that I am losing weight in all the wrong places like my booty and my boobies.  Im trying to get a bigger booty here not a flatter one.  

After reading this blog I decided to count my calories for the day and see where I was at.  The first day I counted my calories I was only at 690.  While I was counting my calories up I was forced to see what I was eating during the day and to be honest I wasn't real impressed with myself.  Breakfast is the hardest meal for me to be stoked about eating but I am realizing that if I skip breakfast there is no way I can reach that 1200 calorie goal.  The next day I felt like all I did was eat which is perfect for me because I LOVE FOOD!  I made an effort to make sure that I was eating good things that would help to build the body I so desire.  I went from 690 calories to 1500 and I've got to tell you I felt so GOOD!  My body was loving me for all the wonderful foods that I was fueling it with, my work out was quite a bit easier and I had the energy to keep up with all of the many things a mother has got to be keeping up with.  After about a week of keeping track of my calories, eating healthy food, and not skipping any meals I've began to notice my mood has changed. I have way more energy and I've been able to lighten up about small things like people putting the empty milk jug back in the fridge or certain said children putting their clothes next to the laundry hamper.  

I thought it might be helpful to share what a 1200 calorie day looks like.  I certainly had no idea and any ideas are always welcome to me.  I got this great free app called livestrong.  It counts and keeps track of your caloric intake for you whether your goal is to eat less calories or more.  It asks you a few different questions and then helps you set goals.  I want to gain at least 1 pound a week with an active lifestyle of working out 3 to 4 times a week.  It suggests that I eat 2,096 calories a day. I was like HOLY SHIT!  That's a lot of eating.  If counting calories and eating a bunch of healthy foods can help me gain some weight I bet sure as shit it can help anyone else to lose some weight too.   Livestrong tracks your calories, your exercise and your water.  This app lets you keep a diary so you can look back and see if you are reaching your goals and there is a community so you can get ideas and inspiration from other people.    Building muscle feels so good.  It's amazing how different your perspective is when your body is getting the fuel it needs.  It's a whole new you.  Here is one of my days eating around 1200 calories maybe a bit more but never less.  

Breakfast 

One serving of Hemp Protein shake with whole milk 270 Calories

One serving oatmeal with butter 260 Calories

Lunch

One Serving Veggie Pad Thai 490 Calories

Dinner

one serving cheddar broccoli soup 240 calories, two servings mixed green salad with feta 110 Calories

The total calories for this days worth of meals is 1,370.  I was listening to a podcast called The Splendid Table with Lynne Rossetto Kasper and she had a nutritionist on the show who gave what I thought was the best advice.  She lives by this rule when it comes to meal planning. For breakfast you eat like a king, lunch you eat like a queen, and dinner you eat like a pauper.  It makes sense to me because food is your fuel for the day.  Your breakfast will give you the energy to get through the first part of the day then your lunch gives you the energy to finish out the day and dinner gives you the energy you need to dream and rest.  A big dinner doesn't really make sense because you're not burning a lot of calories at night.  The hardest thing about counting calories and even just eating healthy on a daily basis is time.  Some days there just isn't enough time to make all three meals plus a snack during the day and it is quicker and easier to just heat something up or go through the drive thru.  I am working on a future blog of make ahead meals that are based on calories and healthy eating for both veggies and meaties alike.  That is soon to come and hopefully will help us all with the time issue.  My friend Cristi Hall and her friends came up with such a great meal swap idea.  I will get the details of how it works and get back to you all with that information too.  Healthy eating isn't the easiest at first whether you are trying to lose weight or gain weight both have their challenges, but what I am now experiencing is that I just feel so good right now.  I am loving this new hobby!  Why not check out our podcast while you eat?  It's a good one!!

Good Talk!

Baby On Board

Photo Credit: www.core77.com

So, just so everyone is clear on this law…..it is illegal to leave a baby unattended in your vehicle.  You would think that in the year 2014 people shouldn’t have to be reminded of this common sense stuff, but they do.  The other day, as I was walking back to my car from breakfast at Da Zoo(which is pretty much amazing…) I walked past a parked car, with the windows up and a little baby sleeping in the back seat.  I immediately channeled my M.J. and moon walked to get a closer look.  Was that a real sleeping baby in there, and was she really all alone?  The answer to that is yes.  I was in shock.  

My ten year old was with me and was as well confused.  With my jaw dropping stance, another passer byer(I realize this isn’t a real word, but it works) also caught a glimpse of this mind blowing situation and promptly took action.  Keep in mind that this car is parked on a main road in Paia, which has turned in to a tourist hot spot.  Tourist being some of the worst drivers in the world, and it’s been raining all day so the odds are further against them. After a couple failed attempts in the store to look for the baby abandoning parent and twenty minutes later, we decided to call the cops.  They ran the plates, got the name of the owner, called her over the intercom inside the store and she came running out.  I would say that baby was left in the car for at least a half hour.  I left soon after, so I’m not sure what the cop did or had to say to her about her actions, but I can tell you that he was pretty pissed when he first rolled up onto the scene.

I understand running into the gas station, the post office, a friend’s house etc.  I mean I am a mother of two and spent most of their baby days on the road, so it’s not like I haven’t left a sleeping baby in the car.  However, it’s only for those quick run in situations, never on a busy road, and with plenty of ventilation.  Not to mention a 7 pound Chihuahua to protect them.

                                                                        Mean eh?!

The grocery store though?!  Come on people, it’s not rocket science.  These days you can’t even leave a dog in the car with the windows up. This particular law in Hawaii states anything over five minutes is grounds for penalty(http://www.kidsandcars.org/userfiles/state-laws/hawaii-state-law.pdf).  It as well informs that a child is considered anyone under the age of nine.....just FYI.

Now, like I said before, I’ve left my kids in the car several times.  As my son pointed out to me yesterday, I still leave them in the car.  I think there are legitimate reasons to leave the kids “unattended” in the car, and some that are just asinine.  For example….

1. I’m at the gas station and my card won’t read, or like most people on this island I only have cash, so I run inside to pay for my fuel…LEGIT!

2. I’m at the bar, and minors aren’t allowed.  I had a terrible day and need a couple glasses of wine to unwind, so I decide to run on in and indulge….ASININE!

3. I’m leaving the house and I realize that I forgot my phone(heaven forbid anyone should leave their phone at home these days…) so I run inside to grab it, maybe a couple other things I forgot, I’m only human…..LEGIT!

4. I’ve got to run into the grocery store, I’m parked on a busy street in the rain and my baby is sleeping, it shouldn't take me long to grab a couple staples….WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU?????

I realize what a pain errands with kids can be.  I’m a single mom, and leaving them at home hasn’t always been an option, I get it.  Kids are jerks plain and simple, and when you take them on errands they can make you want to break some other laws like beating them in public.  But let's use some common sense here, and not put yourself into a situation where your kids can be taken away.  It's not worth the quiet trip into the store.

If you're one of these people.....slap yo-self!!  Then listen to the show below, because everyone could use a little lightening up!!  Good Talk!

A Bad Day, We all have them....Acupressure can help

I recently had a bad day.  You know, the kind where every single thing seems to be going wrong no matter how positive you stay or what you do the day just seems to be going the opposite way of where you wanted it to go.  Everyone has these days occasionally, some more than others and I had a day like this just yesterday.  I am generally a positive enough person I try to keep a good attitude no matter what lemons life throws at me. I'm a cut the lemons up and put them in my Blue Moon kind of person but this day, it didn't matter what kind of positive twist I tried to put on these series of unfortunate events it just kept getting worse and worse and so I did what any other logical person would do I decided to fuck off the rest of my responsibilities for the day and head to the beach.   While I was soaking in the sun and doing some self-reflection I started thinking of ways that I could take my power back and change the day no matter what was being thrown my way.  As a massage therapist I am very interested in all things that have to do with the body especially how to affect the body using different energy points and so I started to think about acupressure.  The definition of acupressure is the application of pressure (as with the thumbs or fingertips)  used for its therapeutic benefits such as relieving pain or tension.  Stimulating the different energy points in the body helps to relieve all sorts of different ailments from helping you to get a goodnights sleep to getting rid of a headache and possibly helping one help themselves chill out on a day that doesn't seem to want to go your way.  I found this really great website called eclecticenergies.com they have an index of acupressure points and they are really helpful.  I took a few points that would assist in a bad day, but you don't have to limit yourself to just that there are points for concentration, gaining energy, focus, self esteem, all sorts of great stuff.  This blog today is going to be about different points to help with calmness, relaxation, clarity of mind, and irritability.

Calmness:

Here are a few points to help bring the calm to your mind. 

LI-4 Name: Joining the valleys (large intestine 4)

Location:  Top side of the hand on the web between the thumb and index finger.

Use:  Press

WARNING:  DO NOT USE WHILE PREGNANT

Effects:  Calm

Sp-6 Name: Three Yin intersection (spleen 6)

Location: On the inside of the lower leg, four fingers above the top of the ankle bone, on the back of the shin bone

Use: Press

WARNING:  DO NOT USE WHILE PREGNANT

Effects: Calms and reduces irritability

ST-36 Name:  Leg three miles (Stomach 36)

Location:  On the front of the leg four fingers below the knee cap, on the outside, in the depression between the  shin bone and the leg muscle.

Use: Press using a fingernail or a thumbnail so you can get more closely to the bone on a broad range.

WARNING:  Do Not over use this point

Effects:  Increase stamina and energy.  Provides stability and grounding

Clarity of the mind:

SI-5 Name: Yang valley (small intestine 5)

Location:  Near the wrist, on the pinky side of the hand.  It is a fingers width under the crease of the hand in the depression just above the bone that is sticking out, straight under the pinky finger.

Use: Press

Effects:  Brings clarity to the mind

Relaxation: 

LIV-3 Name: Great surge (liver 3)

Location:  On the top of the foot, on the line between the big toe and the second toe. 

Use: Move your finger in a counterclockwise direction over this point

WARNING:  Don't use when weak or low on energy

Uses: Relaxes

Everyone is going to have a bad day from time to time.  Our reaction to the situation is what matters. Reactions say a lot about a person.  Occasionally it is each of our turns to look in the mirror and see if our reactions are conducive to a positive, happy life.  We are not victims to our situations but in fact creators of it.  As our reactions change to situations our whole lives can start to change.  Instead of taking out our painfully horrible days on the people we love the most, why not take some time to take our power back and love ourselves.  I hope this message helps with just that.  Laughing is also great medicine so if you need a good laugh check out the Lighten up with Lex and Mais talk show podcast.  Just scroll down and click play.

-Lex

Good Talk!

Get Stoopid with Lex and Mais: Trailer Park Boys, Bad Grandpa, Charades App

Get Stoopid

Netflix Pick of the week:

Trailer Park Boys

This week we've been getting stoopid to trailer park boys.  Oh bubbles, he has to be our favorite! So what we've got here is basically a super white trash scenario a trailer park community, and let me tell ya its just hilarious and absolutely stupid.  It's a mokumentary about these three guys Ricky, Bubbles, and Julien and they are always getting into some shit.  It's a Canadian comedy and I've gotta say Canadians are hilarious!  There's the two drunk park supervisors, mr. Layhee and randy who are constantly trying to get the two drunk ringleaders Julian and Ricky arrested. 

Several trips to the liquor store, tons of shenanigans and a lot of jail time sums up this sitcom. It's a lot of stupid humor, but for some reason it's addictive and hilarious. I think I'm drawn to it because I've lived in a few trailer parks when we traveled around the country in a fifth wheel, and I can relate with the characters. I've met similar people. 

We also love J Roc. He's a white rapper that doesn't realize he's not black. In the fourth season, he's hiding out and having his posse spread the rumor that he's in jail so that when his new album drops it goes viral...cause you know, if you're a felon, you sell records.  We've gotta say Ricky is so funny he can't say even one sentence without cussing and I can totally relate to that. One of the funniest reoccurring scenes is Every time Mr Lahey and Randy show up bitching at the guys for some dumb shit they are doing in the trailer park Ricky just goes and pushes them back in their car and it is hilarious. 

Movie Pick of the Week:

Bad Grandpa

We both used my amazon prime account and watched Bad Grandpa.  Yea this week we were watching ridiculously stupid yet funny comedies. They pretty much give away most of the movie in the trailers, but it's still funny.This one is starring Johnny Knoxville so you know it's ridiculous.  

He plays a  grandpa trying to get his white trash daughters son back to his white trash father while in the meantime transporting his dead wife's body to give her a proper send off.

We actually really hated most of the jackass shit, but Johnny Knoxville actually put together a really hilarious bunch of pranks and even added a story line to the while shebang. We don't recall the jackass movies ever having a story, just a bunch of jackasses doing things to their nut sacks. I love the grandson, he did such a great job, he's a future prankster right there!

This show was pretty funny, we got a few chuckles out of it for sure.  The part where grandpa tries to fuck the soda machine and gets his dick stuck was hilarious.  He was all screaming for help and people were taking their phones out and taking pics of him and laughing.  Good stuff  man.

Website pick of the Week:

Mylifesuckers.com

So for our website this week, we went with mylifesuckers.com. It's a blog written by Deva Dalporto.  She has two life suckers as well as myself, and she's pretty fucking funny. She actually was a writer for nickelodeon for six years, until she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder called hashimotos. She's now healthy and curbs her appetite for writing by sharing with the World Wide Web about her life with two life sucking children and a life sucking husband. 

This is a relatively new blog, and is outlined really well. She's got a couple of funny videos, a section on battling hashimotos and most importantly a very real and funny blog about the ups and downs of raising kids. I like this blog because I can relate to it a lot!  She wrote an article called "stop telling me it all goes by so fast"  It was like I wrote the article because it's exactly how I feel.  Having toddlers sucks mostly all the time, you can't reason with a two year old that only has a 50 word vocabulary.  Frankly the toddler stage couldn't go by fast enough for crying out loud.  Im glad I'm not the only one who feels that way.  So if you're a middle aged woman with grown up kids don't walk up to a sleep deprived mother dealing with a snot nosed screamer and tell her to enjoy it because "it all goes by so fast" or you might get told to slap yo self.

App of the Week:

This app is super fun.  It's just like regular charades only it's on your phone.  You can pick from a variety of categories and you're friends or kids or whoever you are playing with try to act out the word.  It's great fun!!

So here's a term that's fucking funny white trash princess. We looked it up on urban dictionary and the def is a female if Caucasian decent. Normally found in trailer parks, very small towns or working at Walmart. Must either be attractive in a white trash way or at one time was attractive, but due to a diet of beer and fried chicken, no longer is. She usually has the best trailer in the park. 

 The example they have is:

"Hey bubba, that billy Jean is one fine white trash princess. If we were closer related I'd hit that!"

Thanks for checking out the blog.  Check out the podcast if you have the time.  Just click on play.

Good Talk!

What's For Dinner? Mushroom-Cheddar Frittata

Photo credit: Marthastewart.com

I love making breakfast for dinner.  Frittatas are so easy to make and they are yummy!!  Serve it with some fruit or some toast.  Yummo!!  Thanks Marthastewart.com for always being so damn awesome!

• 
  

Ingredients

• 
  
• 1 package (10 ounces) white mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
• 1/2 pound red new potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 8 large eggs
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon hot-pepper sauce
• 1 cup shredded white cheddar
• 1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and patted dry

DIRECTIONS

1. STEP 1

   Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate, tossmushrooms, potatoes, and oil; season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, tossing once.

2. STEP 2

   Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, mustard, hot-pepper sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Stir in cheddar and broccoli.

3. STEP 3

   Pour egg mixture over mushrooms and potatoes, and stir to distribute them. Bake until puffed and set in the middle, and a paring knife inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.

Get Stoopid: Dexter, The last man standing, We're the Millers, a Brewery app, and more!

Photo Credit:  Tvweek.com

Get Stoopid:

Netflix Pick of the Week:

Dexter

This week Dexter has been what Lex has been cracking out on. She streams it on Netflix, there's 8 seasons and it is GOOD!  In such a naughty way.  It's about a serial killer but he's not like the super awful serial killers, you know the ones that store your head in a jar and shit.  He's sort of like a vigilante.  Dexter played by Michael C. Hall is a blood spatter pattern analyst for the Miami Metro police department, he leads a secret life as a serial killer where he hunts down criminals who have slipped through the cracks of the justice system.  His sister is a great character her name is Deb played by Jennifer Carpentar she also works at Miami metro police department.  She has a filthy mouth and is fun to watch.  She has no idea that her brother is a serial killer.  The show is great there are a lot of cliff hangers and surprises its bloody and gory and the plot is always juicy.  It starts falling off around the 6th season but it was still good enough for me to watch.  The last episode of Dexter actually got Showtime the largest overall audience of Showtime's history.  It's good shit!  It actually came from a book called Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay.  So if you haven't watched Dexter yet I think it would be a great idea to read the book first.  The books are always so much better.  You can get it for 5.99 on your kindle app.

Photo credit: womansday.com

 Mais has a hard time with serial killing right before bed, which is when I do a lot of my T.V. watching, so this week I've been watching a family friendly sitcom called last man standing.  This series airs on ABC and stars Tim Allen.  Who doesn't love Tim the tool man Taylor?  This is his second series on ABC, and is pretty similar to the first, Home improvement.  He plays Mike the outdoor man Baxter, raising three teenage girls with his wife Vanessa played by Nancy Travis.  They are a total modern family complete with teen pregnancy and daily drinking.  Mike Baxter runs an outdoor recreation store with owner Ed Alzate played by Hector Elizondo, and does a weekly video blog on the company website.  I like this show because it makes me laugh and I can watch it with my kids for some good ole fashioned family boob tube.

Movie of the Week:

We both took a trip down to the ole Redbox and rented We're the Millers.  I laughed my ass off at this movie!  It's about this guy who is a low level marijuana supplier named David Clark (played by Jason Sudeikis) Who gets robbed of all his cash and weed so he goes to his boss Brad (played by Ed Helms) and tells him he's been robbed, Brad forces David to smuggle a bunch of weed from Mexico.  In David's apartment building there is a woman who is a stripper named Rose (played by Jennifer Aniston) a young 18 year old kid named Kenny (played by Will Poulter) and his lady friend who is a runaway named Casey (played by Emma Roberts) David talks all of them into being his accomplices on this weed mission and so the clean up and become The Miller Family.  There were a lot of jokes in this movie for sure.  The Miller families bus with all the weed in it broke down and so this nice little family named the Fitzgeralds  were passing by and so they stopped to give them a tow but then they found out that the auto repair shop was closed until the next day so they all camp together.  The Fitzgeralds invite the Millers into their tent for a little adult time if you know what I mean ahhh it was so funny!  

Website of the Week:

We found this website called spoonful.com this week.  It's a great site for all you moms out there. You've got your choice of DIY kids crafts, recipes, valentines day ideas, a whole disney section, family fun game night ideas.  We really like finding new recipes to expand our meal plans.  I love epicurious for that, but this site has more of a fun spin on their ideas and I'm excited to check them out.  One that I found especially fun was a soup recipe.  Its a roasted tomato soup and they have grilled cheese sandwiches that they cut into little squares and put on top to serve it.  What a fun idea.  I love soup in the winter monte when its cold as shit

App of the Week:

Well you all know we love beer so it shouldn't surprise you that our app of the week is a beer finder. Its called brewery passport, and basically it helps you locate local breweries near you wherever you may be.  There's over 2500 breweries in the US alone so you def have your work cut out for you.   That is one hell of a road trip!  This app is only 0.99, we got it when it was featured on apps gone free but for a buck its definitely worth it.  It gives you passport stamps for the breweries you visit you can rate them so you can remember your favorite brew, for those of us with a bad memory, and even post pictures from your visit.  Before you decide to go on an awesome road trip make sure you have your brewery passport app to locate some beer!

Urban Dictionary word:  Brewery

We stayed with the theme and looked up brewery in the Urban dictionary.  The definition wasn't surprising.  

Brewery- An adjective to describe ones house he is throwing and alcohol fueled party/ shindig 

Here is the Sentence to help you better understand the definition..

"Dude 1: Will there be much beer?

"Dude 2: Are you kidding! His house is like a fucking brewery

Thanks so much for checking out our blog.  We really appreciate it!  If you've got some time check out our podcast.  

Good Talk!!

Food For Health: Tangelos

Photo Credit: Dreamstime.com

Food For Health:

Tangelo

Tangelos are totes in season so put them in your cart on your next trip to the grocery store cause they are tasty and good for you.  A tangelo is a cross between a grapefruit or a pomelo and a tangerine. You can tell they are a tangelo because they have a little knob on the top.  Tangelos contain vitamin A, B6, and are an excellent source of vitamin C.

A medium sized tangelo contains 4% of the recommended daily allowance of potassium, calcium, and magnesium and its high in fiber.  

Adding citrus to greens like spinach helps the body to absorb the nutrients out of the greens so adding some tangelos into your spinach salad with a nice vinaigrette would be yummy and super healthy.  Lex found a really yummy recipe using tangelos from Remcooks.com. 

Photo Credit: Remcooks.com

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup fresh minneola tangelo juice
• 2 tsp minneola tangelo zest
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 tsp Crushed red pepper
• 2 Tbsp fresh basil, chiffonade
• 1/4 cup heavy/whipping cream
• 5 tablespoons butter, unsalted cut into small pieces
• 12 jumbo sea scallops
• 1 lb Capelli d’angelo (angel hair pasta)
• 1 lb asparagus, cut into bite size pieces

Instruction

Simmer the tangelo juice and wine in a heavy small saucepan over moderate heat for about 25 minutes or until it is reduced to 1/2 cup.  

Add the cream to the tangelo juice reduction and return the mixture to a gentle simmer. Remove from the heat. Add the butter to the tangelo juice reduction a few pieces at a time, whilst constantly whisking to blend.

Once all the butter is incorporated, season the sauce with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add zest and set the sauce in a warm spot until ready to serve.

While the tangelo juice is reducing, heat a heavy bottom sauté pan and add 2 Tbsp olive oil. When the oil is heated, not smoking, add the asparagus and cook until just cooked, roughly 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

While the asparagus is cooking and the juice is reducing, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Just when you are ready to cook the scallops, add the Capelli d’angelo to the boiling water. Capelli d’angelo only takes about 5 – 6 minutes to cook so it will be ready at the same time as the scallops. Things are going to start rocking and rolling now.

Place a heavy skillet over a high heat for 2 – 3 minutes. Season the scallops with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoon of oil into the hot pan and add the scallops.

Sear the scallops about 3 minutes on each side or until they are just opaque in the center and golden brown on both sides. When done, transfer the scallops to a platter.

Remove the Capelli d’angelo from the water and place in a large bowl. Add the asparagus and toss. The hot pasta will reheat the asparagus. Place some Capelli d’angelo and asparagus in a serving bowl. Top with 4 scallops per bowl. Pour sauce over the top of the scallops.

Finish with fresh basil and crushed red pepper flakes over the top.

Mais found a yummy tangelo cocktail to add to your dinner menu.  

Photo Credit: flickr.com

Two tangelo slices 

Fresh mint leaves muddled with a little sugar

Add some Kettle Citronsoda water

We Hope you enjoy your Tangelos while they are in season.  Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Check out our podcast for even more information.

Good Talk!!