Clean Eating Item of the Week

Olive and coconut oils offer lots of healthy benefits. Instead of opting for canned cooking spays, try this pump sprayer. You fill it with the healthy oils you enjoy cooking with and spray it on your cooking pan without the worries of the harmful chemicals and additives used in some of the other cooking sprays and fake butters on the market today.

This was one of the coolest gifts we received this year from our dear Friends and we love it!

I believe our friends got ours from World Market, but you can also order them from Amazon.com! It is called a Misto Olive Oil Sprayer.

I welcome and look forward to comments, questions, thoughts and ideas! Please feel free to leave them here!

Work Week Lunch Box: Awesome Chicken Salad

Awesome Chicken Salad

This came from the Clean Eating Magazine Facebook Page!

EASY

GREAT TO PACK FOR WORK FOR THE WEEK

HEALTHY

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless organic chicken breasts

Olive oil

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp chile powder

1/8 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup nonfat, plain Greek yogurt

5 Tbsp. low fat buttermilk

1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp hot sauce

1 head romaine lettuce, chopped

1 head red leaf lettuce, chopped

1 yellow pepper, thinly sliced

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

1 cup peeled and shredded carrots

2 oz blue cheese, crumbled

Instructions:

Preheat broiler to high. Brush 1 tsp. olive oil on a baking sheet. Place chicken on baking sheet and sprinkle on both sides with paprika, chile powder, and salt. Broil 6 to 8 inches from heat until center of chicken is no longer pink, about 6 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and let rest for 3 to 5 minutes before cutting into bite size pieces.

In a food processor puree onion, yogurt, buttermilk and 1 Tbsp hot sauce. Taste and add remaining hot sauce if you'd like it spicier. Divide romaine and red leaf lettuces among 4 plates and top with bell pepper, tomatoes, carrots and chicken, dividing each evenly. Serve yogurt mixture on the side or drizzle evenly over each plate. Sprinkle with blue cheese and serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

Nutritional Information (per serving): Calories: 258, Fat: 6 g., Carbs: 13 g., Sugars: 6 g., Protein: 35 g.

This is how I pack it up for my work week. Keeping the ingredients separate will keep it fresh for the week. You can toss a salad together each morning on the go, or (as I do) take it to work to toss together each day at lunch.

Sugar and Spice and everything.......

Want to know my deepest, darkest, secret?
When I was little, I use to hide cake mixes under my bed. True story! I'd mix them up and eat the batter. Nothing in my house was safe, if it had sugar. My mom couldn't keep a tub of whipped cream in the fridge without it slowly disappearing. In 2nd-5th grade, I remember a cool trend that fed right into my addiction...Kool-Aid + Sugar in a baggy! I'm pretty sure this was where Fun Dips originated from! Clearly I wasn't alone.



I've read (in the book,Potatoes not Prozac) that this is part of my dna. It is said that if alcoholism runs in your family, you will likely have issues with either alcohol or sugar. My dad was an alcoholic and it ran in his family's blood line. And my mom has adored sugar for as long as I can remember.

I, like most Americans grew up on processed foods. Wonder Bread, Kraft Mac n Cheese, Hamburger Helper, and all the other wonderful convenience foods gave promise to the new generation of working moms who wanted to provide healthy dinners in a pinch. Little did our parents know that these foods were packed full of chemicals and sugars that would give rise to an epidemic of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and a whole gamut of health issues ours and their generation endures today.

I feel a bit hypocritical getting preachy about sugar, given my personal love for it. After all, you will occasionally find me eating ice cream or a candy bar, and you will definitely catch me enjoying a Mojito or a glass of red... or 3 on the weekend .

So what's changed? I have!! In a big way. As with everything I do, I move at the pace of a turtle. I truly believe slow and steady wins the race. Over the years, I have slowly replaced my sugary cereals for low sugar ones, and finally, oatmeal and eggs with no sugar at all. I have replaced flavored yogurts for plain, and jelly on my toast for almond butter.I have greatly reduced the amount of processed foods I consume. I eat brown, not white. I scrutinize the ingredients of everything I buy. Today I hit another BIG milestone! I replaced my beloved flavored coffee creamers with half and half and Stevia. That is huge for me because I was consuming a whopping 32 grams of sugar with my 2-3 cups of coffee a day. WOW!!

After reading and learning the havoc sugar plays on our metabolism and our systems as a whole, I am more motivated than ever to rid my everyday life of this poison and save it for the deliberate treats I choose to eat or drink.

Will I ever be 100% sugar free? Probably not. But I am aware, educated, and steadily improving my health. If sugar is saved for occasional treats and not a large part of my every meal, to say that will greatly improve my health is an understatement. So I continue my journey and try to rely less on sugar and more on spice to flavor my foods.

Read~Learn~Improve~Always

Please note: #1. Most artificial sweeteners are no better than sugars. As a matter a fact, some are worse. I am still learning about Stevia, but it is recommended in the Eat Clean book if you must have a sweetener, as the safest option to date, derived from a plant. And #2. The natural sugar in fruit is not only loaded with nutrients, but also fiber which prevents it from spiking your insulin and therefore does not reek the havoc that refined sugars do. While this holds true for an orange, it may not for orange juice (unless you squeezed it yourself).

My Breakfast Experiment!

Q: Does what I eat for breakfast really make a difference on how long I stay satisfied?

A: Yes!!

After a large cup of coffee at 5:00am, I eat breakfast every weekday morning at 6:45am.

My normal breakfast: a rushed bowl of Kashi Go Lean Original cereal, which has a good amount (9g)of protein in it, along with 3/4 cup of 2% milk, and a handful of blueberries.

This week's breakfast: 1 cup slow cooked steel cut oats w/ raisins and chopped apples and a splash of 2% milk + an egg scramble (3 whites, 1 whole) with chopped vegies.


Results =

Normal Breakfast: 282 calories (including am coffee) Very hungry by 8:30am (only 1hour, 45mins. after breakfast)

This Week's Breakfast: 410 calories (including am coffee) = Very hungry by 11:00am. (4 hrs. 15 mins. after breakfast)

With only a 128 calorie difference (which is pretty small), I am concluding that the quality of the food, protein to carb ratio, and higher amount of fiber is to credit for the longer span (and quality) of energy!

Therefore, not only is breakfast the most important meal of the day, but the quality of your breakfast may determine the quality of your morning!

~~GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR DAY!~~

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!

I welcome and look forward to comments, questions, thoughts and ideas! Please feel free to leave them!

Tips from an Instructor on taking a new fitness class

Taking a new class can be intimidating. Things go through your head like, I won't be able to keep up, I'm not coordinated enough for that, these people are too advanced for me, people will laugh at how bad I am. Unless marked "Advanced" a good instructor will break choreography down and give plenty of practice before stringing combos together. You won't always get the moves but most instructors keep the same choreography for a while to allow you to get comfortable with it and really work the moves (So keep going back and you'll get better and sweat more each time you go). On non-choreographed classes such as, boot camp, circuits, heavy bag boxing, and weight lifting, a good instructor will offer several different levels per exercise as well as modifications or other options if you cannot perform a move due to an injury.

Here are some tips to survive (even have a blast!) on your first adventures in a new class.

• Come in a little early and let us know your new to this format. If you have limitations, let us know so we can give tips and modifications before and during class.

• DON'T HIDE in the back!! Place yourself toward the center of the room where you have a good view of the instructor. Make sure that there is someone to the right of you, left of you, and behind you. Most choreographed classes are very directional and, at some point face the sides or back of the room. If you are in back, or off to one side, not only will you have no one to follow, but we may all be looking at you for direction. {{{Awkward}}}

• You came to be challenged, yes? Stay for the whole class. You probably won't get all the choreography or moves on your first class (we've all been there) but if you stick with it, you will feel the rewards of concurring and not giving up!!

• Don't be afraid to step outside of the box. If the class is doing a triceps dip off the bench and that hurts your shoulder injury, do a modified triceps push up or pick up your dumbbells do an over head extension instead. (Don't forget to let your instructor know of any issues you are coming in with so they can help you with that)

• Have fun! It's not about looking perfect. It's about having lots of sweaty fun! Everyone goofs (even the instructors) Laugh ! I laugh at myself all the time....It's part of the fun!
  

• Nothing beats the comradery of group fitness!! Take the time to get to know the people you are in class with! They may be some of your biggest allies!!

~ PLAY HARD~WORK HARD~SUCCEED!!~

Little Changes make a HUGE difference in the long run!

I have written several blogs and Facebook posts about how I have reached my goals. One of the BIGGEST factors has been making little changes at a time, rather than setting LARGE, "I'm going to cut out all junk food and eat nothing but raw, whole foods!" goals. When I began my clean eating journey, I tackled one meal at a time, and waited for it to become second nature before moving to the next. I also made small goals like decreasing my Starbucks latte habit from one a day to two a week. Once I concurred that, I decided to start ordering drip coffee with cream and sugar to decrease the empty calories and chemicals I was consuming. Another little change was replacing my Dannon Light yogurt, with Choboni Greek yogurt, replacing peanut butter with natural (no added sugars and preservatives) peanut butter, and finally replacing peanut butter with all natural almond butter.

I have a very addictive personality (as many do). If I would have approached these goals by going from, Nutella and honey peanut butter to all natural almond butter, or Dannon sweetened yogurts to plain Greek yogurts, I would have failed. Yuck!! No way!! I needed this time to transition and learn to like "real" foods and not processed "addictive" foods. And, I do!! I love "real" foods!! I never thought I'd be here! NO REALLY!! NEVER thought I'd be here. Those who know me well, know I am the kid who ate cake batter straight out of the bowl and could easily chase it down with frosting!! .... Holla!!

I still continue this strategy since it has proven to be so very successful! I have weened myself off of sugary cereals, weekend ice cream affairs, regular weekend heavy creamy coffee martinis, quick deli counter lunches, Lean Cuisines, frozen/boxed processed foods like mac-n-cheese, top roman, fish sticks, chicken patties, and even fast food!! This method is slow and life changing (I believe anything worth doing should be done right, not quick)

This month my "little changes" challenge consists of:

• Reducing my AM Kashi cereal consumption to emergencys, by making egg white scrambles and oatmeal for breakfast. ** I will find evening time on Sunday or mid week to make a large oatmeal batch to grab and go in the mornings. I will also carve extra time in the AM to cook eggs (even if that means less coffee/Facebook time in the morning )**



• Replace fruit preserves on my English muffin or wheat toast with all natural, unsweetened almond butter



• No more ketchup on my morning eggs. (this one will be difficult....I'm a saucy kind of gal!)



• Replace flavored/sweetened Greek yogurts with plain Greek yogurts and flavor with real fruit, and berries.



• Research more ways to decrease my sugar consumption.

I know it seems like a long list, but they are small changes that are very doable and not at all over whelming for me to tackle.

So as you make your New Year goals, remember that Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will that healthy, lean body you desire. Break up you goals into manageable, attainable, and realistic goals and I promise you the best chance will you ever have at being successful long term!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

May 2012 be your year for health and happiness!