When trying to lose or control weight, keep these three important recommendations in mind:

1. Listen to your stomach

A 10-year study of more than 7000 people and other small studies have shown that there is no relationship between nighttime food intake and weight gain. If you don’t come home from work until later in the evening, don’t be scared to eat a balanced meal. However, if you find yourself snacking on chips and candies mindlessly while watching your favorite prime-time show, you will add the extra layer to your waistline.

2. Jump on the Guinea Pig wagon, and eat a healthy breakfast

A healthy breakfast including whole grains and fresh fruits can give you energy and prevent you from snacking on junk food throughout the day. If you are finally adding breakfast to your diet, adjust other meals’ portions and exercise regularly to maintain a balanced energy intake and expenditure.

3. Know Your Number

I agree that counting calories is burdensome and can cause eating disorders, such as anorexia. However, having a general idea of how much calories is needed everyday will help you plan your meals and learn about the calories of the food eaten. Some popular foods with their calories listed are below:

Breakfast:

• 1 whole egg: 70
• 1 cup of low-fat milk: 100
• 1 slice of whole grain toast: 120
• 1 medium size of banana: 70

Morning Snack:

• 1 apple: 80
• 1 handful of almonds: 160 (in moderation)

Lunch:

• 2 slices of whole grain bread (for a sandwich): 240
• 3 0z. or a quarter pound of turkey meat: 200
• 1 orange: 80

Afternoon Snack:

• 1 serving of plain fat-free yogurt: 120
• 1 handful of blueberries: 30
• 1 handful of walnuts: 180 (in moderation)

Dinner:

• 1 serving of pasta noodles: 200
• 3 oz. of ground beef: 250
• Vegetables: 50 (depending on how much vegetable is added)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil (in the pasta): 150

A person generally needs about 2000 to 2500 calories a day. Calories intake depends on how active he or she is as well. An active person who exercises 40 to 60 minutes a day can bump up his or her calories consumption up to 3000.

*All the calories listed above are estimated and serve as the guideline to Guinea Pig’s meal plan.

Beets’ deep purple pigment comes from a cancer-fighting agent called betacyanin; it has been demonstrated to prevent colon cancer especially. Beets also helps liver produce enzymes to break down toxic substances and eliminate them. Other benefits from eating beets include lowering cholesterol, protecting against heart disease and birth defects.  Last but not least, beets are always low in calories!

Roasted beets with barley and asparagus.

With the biggest race, NYC Triathlon, of my triathlon career coming up within a week, I have begun tapering and trained in race speed.

Warm-up:

• 400 meters freestyle
• 300 meters flutter kicks
• 300 meters pull buoy

Main-sets:

• 5 x 50 meters sprints (time interval: 1 minute, including rest)
• 5 x 100 meters sprints (time interval:  within 2:10, rest for 25 seconds)

Warm-down:

• 250 meters pull and reach

Total distance: 2000 meters

Granola (bars) is a great choice for snack. However, many packaged granola you find in stores usually contain too much calories, fats, sugar, or sodium.

I went to the Jersey shore over the weekend. Knowing that I’d be very active playing sports on the beach with my friends, I made some granola for us to re-energize ourselves. I followed the recipe from Alton Brown’s Good Eats.

Fresh out of the oven.

After cooling the granola off completely, I cut it into bars. I also crumbled and added it to yogurt with fresh fruits.

Nutrition Facts*:

Serving size: a bar-size similar to any popular packaged granola bars.

• 193 calories
• 6.8 grams of fats
• 30.52 grams of carbohydrates (3.66 grams fibers)
• 4.5 grams of proteins
• 61.28 milligrams of sodium

*Nutrition facts are supported by Alton Brown’s video.

Vegetables:

• Yellow squash & zucchini: $2.35
• Jersey beets: $1.95
• *Kerby cucumbers: $0.00
• *Tomatoes: $0.00

Fruits:

• Jersey melon: $2.95
• Blueberries: $2.95 x 2
• Jersey white peach: $1.75

Total: $14.90

Carrying grocery with a box is another great way to reduce the use of plastic bags!

*The owners of Schieferstein Farm Market were generous and gave me the cucumbers and tomatoes for free.

Doing brick session, biking to running, in the morning maximizes my training efficiency because of the cooler temperature. I have done several brick sessions during mid-day and been dehydrated from the blazing heat. I finished a brick training (sprint distance) this morning and felt energetic afterward instead of lethargic from heat exhaustion.

Biking Route:

Distance: 13 miles
Time: 53 minutes

Running Route:

Distance: 4.5 miles
Time: 36:36

Total Time: 1:29:36

Guinea Pig is excited but feeling very anxious.

Jersey plum tomatoes are out! I used my blender to make a quick tomato sauce (recipe is below) for my pasta dish.

Guinea Pig’s creamy tomato sauce and vegetable pasta.

Recipe: Guinea Pig’s Creamy Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• plum tomatoes (as many as you’d like)
• extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup for every two plum tomatoes
• 1/8 cup of toasted pine nuts
• a few cloves of roasted garlic
• 1/4 cup of whole milk

Putting It Together:

1. Core and make a cross incision at the bottom of the plum tomatoes, then boil the tomatoes for 10 seconds in boiling water.
2. Take the tomatoes out and let them rest for 1 minute before skinning them from the cross incision.
3. After skinning the tomatoes, cut them in half and spoon out the seeds. I like to save the seeds because they taste just as great as the meat part.
4. Throw the tomatoes into the blender with toasted pine nuts, which could be substituted with other nuts, and roasted garlic. Drizzle the olive oil into the blender before blending all the ingredients together. You may add more olive oil for creamier texture or richer flavor.
5. Pour the blended sauce into a sauce pan, then turn on the stove to small fire and add the milk.
6. Keep stirring the sauce slowly until the sauce starts to bubble. Season the sauce at the end with a pinch of salt and several grinds of pepper.

Do you have any easy pasta sauce recipe?

One of Dara Torres’ secrets for staying in shape and still competing vigorously at the age of 41 is to keep herself loose and injured-free. Dara not only hires two stretchers who help her stretch after every training session, but she also does resistance-stretch (video can be seen on the left side of the article) on her own.

Resistance-stretch helps Dara shorten her muscles more completely; more shortened muscles create greater power and speed to help Dara dominate 50-meter freestyle, her main event, in the world once again.

With a lot of room for improvement in any sport, guess what the Guinea Pig will be doing tonight before going to bed?

Warm-up:

• 60 jumping jacks
• 1/4 mile jog

Weight training:

Set 1: 3 x 15 s/s

• incline bench
• pull-ups
• body weight squat

Set 2: 3 x 15 s/s

• hang clean
• alt. dumbbell chest press (on a stability ball)
• leg lifts (3 x 30)

Set 3: 3 x 15

• overhead press
• bend-over rows
• 1-leg bench hops

Set 4: 3 x 60

• stretch cord 3-variation swimmers
• any core exercise (3 x 30)

Set 5: 3 x 20

• stretch cord freestyle pulls
• bench press (bar weight, 3 x 20)

Tim Russert’s death had Michael Bick, an ABC documentary producer, feel the sense of urgency to go to a doctor after having discomfort during his bike ride on a Saturday with his cycling team.  Heart attack can happen to anyone at any time; be aware of the symptoms such as discomfort in chest or other areas of upper body, cold sweat, nausea, shortness of breath, etc. Don’t let your ego get in the way; get some help when your body is calling for it.