Fab Fit Squad

No matter what the temperature is outside, I can always eat soup. The thing I love most about soup is that it’s freezable and you can add any cooked meat you like to it to make it a complete meal. Here are a few quick soups that I make regularly.

Beef and Vegetable Soup
Brown some lean hamburger meat, onion and garlic in a large pot. Once the meat is completely cooked drain any excess fat add any frozen/canned vegetables you like. I usually add chopped canned tomatoes, green beans, white beans, broccoli or stewed canned tomatoes chopped into bite size pieces.  Just throw the meal together and add a bit of some seasonings, I like mine on the spicy side so I’m always adding a little crushed red pepper. Play with varying spices to see which ones you really like the best. (more…)

I was recently at event where they were hyping a “cleanse”. “Cleanses” aren’t worth it regardless of how “all natural” they claim to be. Your body already has its natural cleansing system called your liver. All things pass through your liver and despite what the bottle says or what you heard from a friend your body has a great cleansing system.

So instead of doing a “cleanse” why not focus on cleaning up your diet. You know removing all the processed foods from your diet so that you won’t feel the need to “cleanse”. Here are some great spring fruit and veggies to give a try.

• Asparagus — great source of fiber, folic acid and B vitamins. I like to roast it in the oven or put them on the grill
• Beets — I know they seem like a fall veggies but they are still readily available. I love my roasted with a little Udo’s oil, feta cheese a walnuts. Yummy!
• Cherries — my favorite fruit I LOVE cherry season. I really need to practice portion control with these.
• Kiwi — I like my on the firm side. I add it to cottage cheese or greek yogurt with a touch of honey — YUMMY
• Strawberries — Yahoo — I love fresh strawberries on my oatmeal nothing tastes better. The mix of hot with the cool berries. Sorry I was having a dream weaver moment

What is your favorite spring fruit or veggie, I would to hear it.

On the calendar Easter is next Sunday, but by looking at any of the stores   Easter should have been shortly after Valentine’s Day. You can’t go through a store without those tempting treats popping out at you. Personally I’m a sucker for the Cadbury mini eggs, those things just call me! I’m sure you have an Easter treat that just screams your name.  Leave me a comment below and let me know what it is.  Oh my how could I forget that I’m also a SUCKER for peeps, you know the marshmallow ones. Yum, Yum give me some! Okay enough about the unhealthy, let’s talk about surviving Easter without packing on the pounds.

I hope of a few of these ideas help you out. If you have any additional tips, I would love to hear them just leave them in the comments below.

Chipotle Scrambled Egg Skillet

1 (14 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
1 small avocado, diced
5 Tbsp chipotle pepper sauce, divided
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
2 Tbsp chopped green onion
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
8 large eggs
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt

In a glass or plastic bowl, mix together the tomatoes, avocado, 3 tablespoons of the chipotle sauce, garlic, green onion, and cilantro in a small bowl and set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, remaining 2 tablespoons chipotle sauce, water, and salt. Spray large heavy skillet with non-stick spray and put over medium heat. Add egg mixture and cook, stirring only as egg sets up. When eggs are almost set, flip a few times.
When eggs are completely set, spoon tomato mixture over and immediately slide off onto plates to serve.

It’s time that you and Mr./Ms. Scale broke up. You’re not going to call him anymore, you’re not going to stalk him on Facebook.  Your just not into him/her any more.

Let’s get real here!

How many of you weigh yourself every day? Multiple times? When you weigh yourself do the results make or break your day? Or do you avoiding weighing yourself because you don’t want to know. (more…)

I have a number of mom clients, who say they eat junk food because I have to buy it for the kids.  Really your kids have that much control of what you buy and how you eat. Well times have certainly changed since I was a kid.  Our after school snacks weren’t sugar filled. My diabetic grandmother took care of us after school, so sugary treated weren’t an option.  I didn’t realize that yogurt was a health food until the 8^th grade, I thought everyone ate it. How naive was I that I also thought raisins, I mean actual non-coated raisins were candy. (more…)

Today is National Peanut Butter Lover’s day. Personally, I have a love hate relationship with peanut. You hear people talk about gateway drugs, well peanut butter is my gateway food. Once I have some I can’t stop I keep eating and eating and eating. When I’m competing I can’t have peanut butter in the house, it just won’t be pretty.  The good news I’m not alone.

Statistics show that Americans eat 3 pounds of peanuts/ year. Well I can beat that. Give me a bag of peanuts including the shells ,sorry those don’t slow me down, I can make my kitchen floor look like Fenway park.  I can keep eating and eating and eating.

Peanuts aren’t bad, for you they are a good fat, but they are CALORIE DENSE FAT BOMBS — Just one Tablespoon has 94 Calories and 8.9 grams of FAT so they should be eaten sparingly.  Many mistake nuts as a protein source, yes they contain protein, but the amount of fat in peanut butter counteracts and your body process it as a fat than as a protein.

Now I must go, just purchase a jar of Teddy’s and need to have a moment.

I hear this all the time. We are all guilty of uttering this phrase. I want lose weight, but is it okay if I still have pancakes and bake apple pies on Sundays? I mean they are homemade, not store or restaurant bought. If you are looking for me to validate this it AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN!  (more…)

Did you know that the average American will consume 3,000 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving Day? That can really derail your nutrition and workout plan. Here are the Top 5 Reasons to workout rather than doing typical Thanksgiving activities. (more…)

I know that I’m a FREAK about how long food stays in my fridge. My husband constantly makes fun of me because I FREEZE everything immediately. I hate to see food go to waste, because I couldn’t eat it before it went bad.

It’s National Clean Out Your Fridge Week and I wanted to share with you some quick tips around how long you should keep some popular food items.

• Eggs fresh in the shell – 3-5 weeks
• Poultry (cooked) – 3-4 days (raw) – 1-2 days
• Yogurt – 7-14 days

Here are just a few, are you looking for a specific food, check this database.

Well that great, I have a database that I can check my food, but what does best buy, best if used by and all that those terms mean.

1. Best Buy – the food manufacturer makes up this date. Basically it is still good, but it may have subtle changes. If anything smells or look funny DUMP in the trash immediately.
2. Sell Buy — this when the store should sell the product by. They say you can still use it, provided you use it by the Keep It Toss It Guidelines.
3. Expires on — the federal government mandates this and you will find this on mainly baby food products.

After you’ve tossed all your food be sure to wipe down the fridge and the condiments that you put back into the fridge.

If you are on a roll and want to clean out your pantry, check out this out.