Fab Fit Squad

It’s tax day. I know just sent check to Uncle Sam. So let’s move onto something more cheery. Many of my clients struggle with the idea of “snacking” most people think “snacking” is a bad thing. Trust me its not. If you are working out you will need the extra fuel! To help you out here are 15 healthy snack ideas. The idea is to take any of these 2 ideas and combine them and wallah  you have a healthy snack.  Depending upon the length of your work day. You should be aiming to have anywhere between 2-3 snacks/day. If you don’t you are derailing your weight loss goals. (more…)

You heard this term from your bodybuilding friends or you heard about the book from Tosca Reno. Clean Eating means,  eating food as close to its natural state as possible. Basically, if you can grow, fish for it, pluck it, that’s clean eating. When you eat clean your goals are to avoid eating additives as much as possible. So what are additives?  I tell all my clients read the back of your food to really understand what is inside the box. The front of the box is where food manufactures try to sell you on what’s inside, the back of the box is where the FDA requires them to come clean with what’s inside. So the less ingredients you see the closer to the source the food is.

Here are just a few of the more popular additives.

• Aspartame: better known as Equal/Nutrasweet and is 180 times sweeter than sugar, plus in my humble opinion has an after taste. Be careful with how much you eat, as too much may cause headache and vision issues. For more information on Aspartame dangers.
• High Fructose Corn Syrup: is a highly processed sweetener made from corn that more than 40% of all food products in the US contain. When processed by your body, it’s sent directly to your liver, because it can’t be absorbed by your cells. Once processed by your liver, it’s stored as FAT!
• Mannitol: the sugar alcohol that is in many of those “sugar-free” products.  While it doesn’t have calories, it does a dosey on your stomach, causing some to spend some quality time in the bathroom, if you know what I mean.
• Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (trans fat): This is the “trans fats” that you have been hearing so much about.  They are in baked goods and margarine. It’s a low cost way of increasing the shelf life of foods.  Why are they so bad for you? They aren’t good fats, and increase your changes of heart disease, raise the bad cholesterol levels while reducing the good cholesterol levels. Bottom line — STAY AWAY!
• Sucralose: Also known as Splenda, it’ 600 times sweeter than sugar and honesty the jury is still out. So similar to aspartame, take in small doses.

For more grocery shopping tips.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/4 lb leftover Turkey chopped



• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large red pepper, chopped
• 1/4 tsp crush red pepper
• 3 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground 4-pepper blend
• (2) 28-oz cans diced tomatoes, with liquid, no salt added
• (1) 15-oz can Bush’s Best pinto bens, liquid drained
• 2 tsp hot pepper sauce
• 1 pkg 6-oz each, sliced, fresh mushrooms
• 3/4 cup all natural, no sugar apple juice
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed

1. Spray pot with cooking spray, put in your chopped leftover Turkey
2. Add the garlic, onion and red pepper. Cook for 3 minutes and add crushed red pepper, 2 tsp Italian seasoning and fresh ground 4-pepper blend. Cook for 8 minutes, then transfer to a large pot.
3. Add the tomatoes with the liquid, the pinto beans with the liquid, the cooked turkey bacon and the hot sauce. Stir in the zucchini and mushrooms.
4. Bring to a simmer and add 1 tsp Italian seasoning, then reduce to low heat. Cook for 1 hour, stirrnig occasionally. Serve over brown rice.

NUTRIENTS PER SERVING:
Calories: 100
Fat: 2g
Carbs: 10g
Protein: 10g
Cholesterol: 13 mg
Fiber: 3g