Cakelicious Treats

Baking sweets is one of my favorite types of “cooking” and with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I was itching to concoct something delectable. I know it’s not exactly conducive to my healthy lifestyle, but those who know me know my baking usually involves substitutes like Diet 7-Up, Egg Beaters or Steevia. And if I don’t use any alternatives, I create a miniature version of the full sized treat to cut back on the calories.

My friends and family are very familiar with my mini cupcakes and the various flavors that I’ve brought to events and holiday gatherings -- always being conscious of the waistline.

This year cupid must have struck a baking cord because two days ago I went on a Google frenzy, searching for the next sweet treat to add to my baking repertoire. I was feeling like a one-trick pony with my mini cupcakes. So after some extensive searching, I found a brilliant site… Bakerella.com! Here I learned the art of Cake Balls or Cake Bites, as I have newly named them.

All the ingredients you need for these Cake Bites are:

Boxed Cake Mix: I used dark chocolate by Pillsbury
Jar of Frosting: I made frosting from scratch
Chocolate or Vanilla Bark: I used both for fun

My tip for making these delights is to start with only half of your ingredients and do a test run for practice. The most difficult part is dipping the spongy cake and frosting mixture into a pot of molten chocolate. All while making them pretty. The cake can melt even after you have refrigerated them for several hours. I ended up leaving the entire batch in the fridge and only taking 2 bites out at a time to keep them nice and cool. But like I said, do a test run to perfect your process.

The Cake Bites are a bit time consuming, require plenty of patients and ingredients to get them perfect. Check out Bakerella.com for the full scoop on how to make these delicious treats.

Here is a picture of my final product. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Super Bowl 2010 Foods

Today I plan to partake in the American tradition, Super Bowl Sunday 2010. As CBS drones on about Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. I found a story on San Antonio's Ken 5 even more profound than football statics and game day predictions. Ken 5 aired a story called Super Bowl By the Numbers, and the station wasn't referring to game, but the amount of food consumed while watching the game at home -- check this out!

8 million: Total pounds of popcorn

28 million: Pounds of potato chips

53.5 million: Pounds of avocados

1 billion: Number of chicken wings

325.5 million: Gallons of beer

CRUNCH ON THIS:
30.4 million: Pounds of snack food Americans consume on Super Bowl Sunday, twice the average daily amount.
— Snack Food Association (past figures)

Just reading those numbers makes me feel bloated. My recommendation for your game preparations, have a well-balanced breakfast and make a trip to the gym. The Super Bowl festivities don't really start until 4 p.m. EST. You can avoid over eating with a balanced meal and some unneeded calories by doing 30 minutes of cardio exercise before you sit down in from of the TV. These are just some easy tactics to maintaining a healthy lifestyle on a well-known glutenous day.

Enjoy the 44th Annual Super Bowl Sunday!

iPod Video: My Fitness Vice

Several recent studies have shown that children average 7.5 hours per day partaking in technology entertainment, ranging from TV to computer games. Not only are children being consumed by these distractions, adults have also started to resort to less physical activities. This issue sends up a huge red flag in my mind and it reminded me of how I keep up on television shows, and keep myself in the gym.

While 20-40 minutes of cardio time CAN cut into valuable TV episodes, consider this a solution for your TV withdrawals. Last year I started downloading TV shows straight to my ipod touch. It may not be a large HD screen, but I have found it to be a practical option for sustaining my figure and not missing my favorite programs.

iTunes offers most all of the TV shows/seasons available today (I'm still anxiously waiting True Blood season two). You should try downloading a few episodes to your ipod and taking them with you to the gym. I guarantee you’ll find yourself presently distracted from your cardio routine and quenched of your TV needs.

This is a little secret that I try to remember to pass on, but sometimes I forget to share. Thanks to CNN’s technology entertainment statistics, I was quickly reminded.

So...If you struggle with gym time cutting into your favorite shows try this technique and let me know what you think. You will have to pony up the dough for the download, but think of it as a small premium for getting your self into your favorite jeans.

Remember we can use technology to our advantage -- take the ipod to the gym and don’t just use it for music, tap into the video function and let it benefit you in a positive way.

ipods will answer your prayers!

DVD Launch

It's finally here! That's right, after months of practice and production you can pre-order my DVD online at www.amazon.com -- type in Dance off the Inches: Cardio Striptease. It will also be available in stores after Feb. 2, 2010. Make sure you pick up a copy and spice up your workout!

Kickster

"Jab, jab, cross, hook, upper-cut," yells out the instructor of my favorite cardio kickboxing class. It's not the latest fad or trendy workout program, but it kicks my butt, right into the size of jeans I desire.

When a girlfriend of mine invited me to come to kickboxing I was reluctant to attend. I didn't feel that it would be as exciting as the circuit training or cardio dance classes that I was use to doing. Much to my surprise, when I was in the middle of my first class I noticed my stamina lacking, exhausted from all of the kicks, punches and rigorous bag work we did.

Once I got the hang of all of the moves and thought of them as dance choreography. I was instantly transformed into Jean-Claude Van Damme, floating through the program while working up an amazing sweat.

Point and case: If you're uncomfortable and it's hard, it's probably good for you; or just turn the moves into a dance...it works for me!

I like to move it, move it.

Life as I know it has always been related to dance; even when I was trying to play sports in junior high and high school. My basketball skills looked completely choreographed. A common occurrence on the court was my infamous pivot turn, pirouette into a jump shot -- my team mates laughed at my dance-like playing ability.

As I got older I nixed all sport outlets and just focused on choreographed activities like dance, cheerleading, etc. This seemed to be the best fit for me. Now, I accept my innate love of moving and try to move as much as I can, encouraging others to do the same.

"Dancer's Style" is how I approach life. It's a perspective; an attitude, and most importantly my way of moving.