Fab Fit Squad

It was hard break up, but it had to happen. About 2 months before my last fitness competition I was reduced to 4 yellow packets,  REALLY ARE YOU KIDDING!!! Prior to that those yellow packets and I were BFFs make the VBFFs. Like the Frank’s hot sauce commercial, I put those packets on EVERYTHING. Breaking up was hard to do, but it had to be done, I need to drop some weight and those yellow packets weren’t doing anything to help me.

Now that I am done with my competition and my diet is more open as they say, I thought I’d go back to  my old ways, but surprisingly I have not.

Sorry to say BFF we’re through, if you haven’t broken up with your yellow packet BFF read more about why you should.  This posting appeared in the Huffington Report. http://huff.to/9lgm1m

Yes cabbage, I remember as kid my grandmother, affectionately referred to as Granny use to make red cabbage slaw and braised red cabbage all the time. It took me a while to reconnect with this veggie, but now that I have I love it. Here is a twist on a her recipe.

Braised Cabbage

• 1/2 head green cabbage
• 1/2 head red cabbage
• 2 T mustard (Dijon or Grey Poupon)
• 1/2 c chicken broth
• 1/4 c balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 t nutmeg

Simmer in a pot for 40 minutes. Stirring occasionally.

I know what you are thinking you should only eat cabbage on St. Patrick’s day or only if you are Irish, but cabbage has a lot of health benefits.

1. helps fight ulcers
2. promotes women’s health by helping to metabolize estrogen
3. protection against Alzheimer’s

If you’ve done something interesting with cabbage, let me know below!

Oatmeal Parfait

• 1/3 c cooked oatmeal
• 1/2 c greek yogurt or cottage cheese
• 1/2 t honey or agave nectar
• 1/8 t pumpkin pie spice

in a separate bowl, mix 1/2 c berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries or a mixture)

Layer into a glass and serve. YUM YUM. This could also be a snack.

For my egg lovers give this a try

Scrambled Eggs

• 4 egg whites and 1 whole egg
• 1/4 c salsa (your choice)
• 1/4 c black beans

Scramble in a pan coated with Pam, no one likes to clean up the egg mess.

Do you have any other great breakfast ideas, share them below.

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…)

I hear that so many times? You are so healthy and fit what exactly do you eat? Well I eat a VARIETY of foods, lean protein, fruits, veggies and good fats (other than nuts).
I decided that each Sunday I’d sit down and give you a few ideas.

I start each week where I head my local grocery store and shop for the week. From there I head home and start cooking. Right now I’m trying a new veggie each week, I have grown BORED with your traditional veggies, so I have been OBSESSED with Brussel Sprouts. Yes, brussel sprouts.

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Artichokes are the oldest fruit known to man and similar to the lobster you must work to get to the good stuff. Artichokes are a significant source of  425 grams of potassium, 61/2 grams of fiber vitamin C, folic acid and 72 grams of  magnesium. Virtually fat-free, the artichoke weighs in at 60 calories (per medium artichoke) and is low in sodium.

They are in season from May to March and the biggest growers of Artichokes is the California.

When buying an artichoke you will want to:

• choose an artichoke that has tight leaves
• one that is heavy for its size
• a deep green color
• a squeaking noise when the leaves are rubbed together
• avoid any artichokes that have cracked leaves or are showing any brown discoloration.

More artichoke facts are available here.

LONDON (Reuters) – Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over conventionally produced food, according to a major study published on Wednesday. Click here to read the rest of the story.

Instead of going organic try eating foods grown by local farmers market. These foods haven’t traveled days in a truck to get to you and are currently in-season so they have a ton of nutrients and are sometimes better priced.  On the plus side its often sold by the farmer so you can ask about the growing conditions. You can’t do that at your local grocery store. You may also want to try getting involved in a  CSA, community support agriculture — a local farm or group of farms deliver locally grow fruits and vegetables on a weekly basis.  To get a list of these farms, click here.

Organic Foods overview

Here in Boston we are holding out the we are going to have at least 1 day of NO RAIN!!! We have been stuck in a crazy weather pattern and right now the entire city is holing its breath in anticipation of a rain free day.  Do your plans include a picnic? My do, so here are come suggestions to enjoy the day.

Condiments:

• Mustard in my opinion is the underrated condiment. I love and use it everyday!
  

  How Stuff Works

• Ketchup and BBQ  is OK provided you don’t drown your food in them or they don’t contain high fructose corn syrup.
• Salad Dressing– stay away from the CREAMY stuff! Go with the vinaigrette versions
• Mayo –  again creamy stay away; does the thought of coleslaw-less picnic leave you blue — mix 1/2 the amount of mayo in with some vinegar and mustard
• Pickles and relish — YUM! YUM! Give me some!!! They are awesome, enjoy!!!
• Butter — really do we have to talk about it!! I know you are saying what about but corn on the cob! Trust me on this one. Try lime juice and old bay seasoning.  Really tasty, you could also try mixing olive oil, balsamic vinegar and kosher salt.

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.

Not sure where you are but here in Boston we had the first taste of winter this week. Were you ready to come out from under ALL those winter clothes? I got tell I wasn’t I tried on a pair of pants and OOOps, not what I was expecting, So, if you are like me you’re feeling that Memorial Day is less than a month away.  Every day for the next 30 days, I will be giving you a small simple healthy tip you can easily incorporate into life. If you have any tips you would like to share, please let me know

Add 1 Fruit and 1 Vegetable to your every meal. Please keep the fruit fresh or canned without heavy syrup of added sugars.  Dried fruit may be tasty, but doesn’t count

Here are the list of Fruits and Vegetables that are currently in season:

May
Vegetables

• okra
• zucchini
• rhubarb
• artichokes
• asparagus
• spring peas
• broccoli
• lettuce

Fruit

• cherries
• pineapples
• apricots

image source: Quincy Herald-Whig