The Blue and Grey Cafe: How to Swipe Your $5.10 Wisely

So, you enter through the double doors of the Blue and Grey cafe and you immediately spot the awesome reminder that you only have a mere $5.10 per swipe for lunch and dinner.  

Well, let's look at the best "bang for your buck" - sensibly and cents-ibly! 

To your right:

• Sandwiches. Obviously, you could make poor sandwich choices, but you're well informed by now - so don't.  There are many options, and the prices are listed.
• Salads. We've discussed this...twice. Low fat dressing, no cheese, lots of veggies.  The protein salad is $5, so you can't get a drink - or you can get a LARGE cup of water for $0.20 and put $0.10 on your dining dollars.

To your left:

• Donuts. No...
• Soda. No...
• Chips. No...
• Cookies. No...
• Ice cream.  No...
• Pastries. No...
• Parfaits. No...
• Peanut butter and Jelly.  No...
• Pizza. Do
• Fries. You
• Burgers. Get
• Strombolis. The
• Pasta. Picture?

Which side of the Blue and Grey should we stay on, friends?

Yes, coincidentally, the right side.

If you really need to go to the left side, then just be sensible. 

Look for:

• Diet soda and water. It has no calories, and due to recent advances, diet soda tastes great! Also, you need to drink water! More more more more more. It's good for you. You'll pee a lot, but you'll look better.
• Yogurt. Make sure you look at the nutrition facts, first. Not all yogurt is good, but Greek yogurt is the best! 
• Fruit Cups. The fruit is usually fresh. Refrain from drinking the fruit juice at the end - it's unnecessary and has unnecessary calories.
• Coffee. It has virtually no calories, and tastes great with a little no calorie sweetener. 
• If you're the type that needs creamer, real sugar and some whipped cream - DON'T. 
• Or, use skim milk as a creamer and slowly ween yourself off of these products.
• Soup. Once again, a low calorie snack and if you couple it with half of a sandwich - it's one of the "specials" that the Blue and Grey runs!

You only have $5.10, so you can't do too much damage (especially with the ridiculous prices).

Don't double swipe if you don't have to! Try and stay in the $5.10 range, and you'll be in for a delicious low calorie meal!

How have you figured out how to spend your $5.10 wisely?

XOXO,

Ms. Wisely

This Moravian Girl's Motivation: Alternate, Transform and Research!

A lot of my readers have asked how I stay motivated and what inspires me to keep going...well, to be honest, there are a bunch of things. 

My three biggest personal motivators are:

• Alternating between cutting and bulking.
• Transformation photos.
• Research.

In the weight lifting world, many people are usually doing one of two things at any given time:

• Cutting. Which is eating at a deficit everyday to lose weight.
• Bulking. Which is eating in excess to build muscle.

So, when you're going insane and just can't stand dieting any longer- 

and you've lost a great amount of weight, but you're still not happy with what you see -

it's probably because you don't have enough muscle underneath and you're still "skinny fat".

This is when you can begin bulking! 

 I've done it twice so far since January, but I'm about to begin another cut.

The process is very difficult on your mind, because you will get "fatter" but in all actuality, there's muscle growing underneath, and after your next cut - you'll see it!

• During the bulk. You must still track of what you're eating - but you get to eat a LOT more!
• SAY HELLO TO THE MARKETPLACE FOR ME. Yes, that's right. During the bulk, getting an abundance of the healthier foods will help, and that's not easy on your budget, so utilize the buffet.
• Welcome to dieting sanity! I won't lie, this entire process helps me stay sane because I get to look forward to bulking!

Other than looking forward to my next bulk, I also view a lot of videos and search for transformation photos online to keep me motivated and inspired.

• It's a challenge! I see these people transform over a generally short period of time and I feel extremely motivated to do the same thing.
• No excuses! Many people blame their genetics for not being able to look better, but there are some incredible transformations from overweight to on stage in less than a year!
• After. No one ever wants to have a "before" picture, so striving to maintain an "after" photo really helps!

I frequently research startling facts.  

TIP*: Share your research with friends.  It'll scare the piss out of their obese selves and believe me, they'll want to act!

Some facts that I've found include:

• Obesity.  It is a disease that affects 34 percent of adults age 20 and over.  About 32.2 percent of American men and about 35.5 percent of American women are obese.
• Sugar. In 2003, each person consumed about 142 pounds of sugar per year.
• Health.  In 2003, Americans consumed, on average, a dismal 8.3 pounds of broccoli and just over 25 pounds of dark lettuces (the kinds that are really good for you).

How do you stay motivated?

XOXO, 

Ms. Wisely

The Moravian College ARC: Making the best of our ancient provisions

In 1952, Johnston Hall was built, and nearly four decades later, 

the Breidegam Field House was built as an attachment.

Moravian's website describes the nearly century old weight room as a room that "...contains a vast array of Olympic-style free weights, dumbbells, and weight training machines.  The room also contains treadmills, Stairmasters, stationary bikes and other aerobic conditioning equipment."

A vast array, huh? A "vast array" of weights and machines that haven't been updated since the nutritional facts in the Marketplace.

Oh wait, that's NEVER.

All I have to say is, THANK GOD they're building a new gym.

*iSwipe Wisely Insider: I'm scheduling a tour of the new building, and I'll be posting about it soon!

But, the gym will not be ready until next semester, so I'm going to provide a few ways of making the most out of our current facilities.

The best part about weight training and cardiovascular exercise is that there are SO many ways of accomplishing them both.My favorite cardiovascular routine is calisthenics.  

I utilize the hallway, the stairs leading down into the Breidegam Field House and the Breidegam Field House itself.  This routine takes me about a half-hour with no rest, but it can take up to an hour if I do rest.

My Favorite Plyometric Routine:

• In the hallway, with no rest in between:
• • 15 Jumping Jacks with Punch
  • 15 Walkover Pushups with Rotation
  • 15 Mountain Climbers
  • 15 Burpees
  • 15 Bicycle crunches
  • 15 High Knees (per leg)
  • 15 Running Butt-kicks
  • 15 Jump Squats
  • 15 Jumping Jacks
• Then, I move to the stairs:
• • Run down the stairs
  • Hop up on one foot
  • Run back down the stairs
  • Hop up with both feet, on toes
  • Run back down the stairs
• In the Breidegam Field House:
• • Run a lap (or 2) around the Field House
  • Hop up the stairs with a ski-motion (ski jumps)

Then, do it all over again!

(You can do this routine up to three times per week!)

Also, this routine can easily be altered for different skill levels:

• Cut repetition amount down to 10 or 12 instead of 15.
• Take a 30-45 second break in between each exercise.
• Cut the list down to 5-8 exercises.
• Do normal jumping jacks and pushups.
• Save the Breidegam Field House portion for next time!

*If the weight room and cardio equipment were full before you started, chances are they have cleared out a bit and you can now move onto a weight routine.

What are your favorite calisthenic/plyometric routines?

XOXO,

Ms. Wisely

Sabotage the Saboteur: Your friends can make you fat!

Saboteur: A person who engages in sabotage. 

We all have them in our lives, you know - that person who insists that 

"You've been dieting for a few weeks now, you DESERVE an entire cheesecake!"

Well, friend - you must resist the saboteur.  

You don't deserve any cheesecake until your mirror says so - and you'll never deserve the whole thing.

Here at Moravian College, most saboteurs are sneaky or, even worse - they're completely clueless of their saboteuriness. 

That's not a word - but you understand.

These saboteurs can be found doing the following:

• The Druncher. Yeah, you've got it. The drunk muncher. Those friends who make you go out, and then insist that you find a sober ride to Wawa at 3 a.m. Resist the temptation - just go to bed, your body will thank you in more ways than one the next morning.
• The Dunkin' Diva. We all have that friend, who at 2 a.m., ABSOLUTELY NEEDS DUNKIN' COFFEE. Well, that coffee ends up being half a dozen donuts, a bagel and a you just cannot pass up the iced chocolate mocha latte. YES, yes you can pass it up, and you should. Those donuts, bagel and iced coffee will go from the inside of your stomach, to that cute little pouch you have on the outside. Think about it.
• The Skinny Bit... The friend who can eat all of the above and still look better than you did sophomore year of high school will probably not care in the slightest about what she's eating.  Do not follow her lead. 
• The B&G Haters. The friend who refuses to go into the Blue and Grey because they're "sick of it", therefore they need to go into the Marketplace - only. In the words of the ever wise LMFAO: "STOP! Hatin' is bad."  Unless, of course, you have great self control, just don't go into the Marketplace, it's a disaster.

It's not easy explaining to these friends why meal time is not your favorite time to share with them - especially if you have one of every kind.  But, if they care about you, they'll understand.

Tip: To avoid looking like a total loner, just act like you're studying, invest in a pair of headphones...or get new friends.

Do you have these friends? If so, how do you deal with them?

XOXO,

Ms. Wisely

Beware: Not all salads are healthy...especially at Moravian.

Y'know that weight that just seemed to creep up on you "over night"?

Are sweatpants suddenly a pretty solid replacement for the jeans that weren't fitting and have you found yourself budgeting to buy some Spanx?

Well, we can contribute this to a LOT of things - but generally it's the lack of knowledge about how many calories are REALLY in certain foods.

So, let me blow your mind.  

Most people who decide to embark on a more health conscious life style automatically assume that salads are the go to diet food.

Not that you can't order a salad, which I've mentioned on my blog plenty of times before.  

But, the best tasting salads are STILL just as bad for you as the french fries from the grill.

• The Chicken Caesar Salad. It's been on special all month - perfect, right? WRONG. This salad is one of the most calorie dense salads...ever. Let's take a look:
• • Grilled Chicken. 4 oz = 150-200 calories.
  • Croutons. 1/2 cup = 70-100 calories.
  • Parmesan Cheese. 1 oz = 150-200 calories.
  • Dressing. 2 tbsp =120 calories. (We receive around 4 tbsp - sometimes more.)
• Add it up! 610 - 740 calories for ONE salad!

Do you understand the beautiful things you can do with 740 calories? 

• 37 cups of green beans. Season them with some garlic salt and pepper - YUM!
• 7 bananas. They're going to be extinct, soon. Eat 'em while you can.
• 2 McChickens. Yeah, you can eat some delicious, greasy, fat I mean fast food!
• 7 grilled chicken breasts. Yeah. 7 of those suckers, what's up?

Another big mistake is assuming that "grilled" = fat free.  

(Unless you ask - that chef is probably pouring your body weight in oil and butter onto that chicken.)

• ALWAYS ASK. No matter what - I ask for no butter or oil, along with a question about whether or not the meat/vegetables are soaked in butter and oil or water.
• BE SMART. Now you know that creamy, full fat dressings can really do a number on your calorie count - so aim for the lower fat, lower calorie dressings.

Remember, it's the smallest changes that count.  

*Members of my family have merely cut out drinks that contain calories (soda, tea and juices) and have dropped up to 15 pounds in ONE month.

What are YOU going to do this week to take another step towards your healthy lifestyle overhaul?

P.S. You're beautiful!

XOXO,

Ms. Wisely