Low carb tolerance

Ok so there's a host of diets out there and if you're wanting to lose some weight/body fat you probably have tried several of them. Some of them worked for a while, but at some point you just gave up and went back to the 'normal'. Or maybe it worked for somebody else, but not for you. Well here's the thing, every single body is different, therefore there is not one cut diet that works. It takes a while to figure out what your body responds best to, but there are some pointers that'll help you figure it out faster. Today I want to focus on those people who probably have the hardest time losing weight. People with low carb tolerance.

Do you carry most of your extra fat around your midsection and lower back? Are you naturally broad and kind of thick? Is fat loss you main priority? If this is you you probably to respond well to carbohydrates. If you recognize yourself in this, you want to be careful with carbohydrates and have most of your carbs shortly after your workout.

Make sure you have plenty of protein from lean meats, fish, dairy, eggs, and legumes. Most of your carbs have to come from vegetables, which are fiber rich and some fruit. 9-11 servings and only 1-2 of those servings should be fruit. Healthy fats you can get from avocado, olive oil, variety of nuts, fish oil, flax oil. Don't be afraid of saturated fats either, coconut oil, eggs, grass fed beef, palm oil, and some cheeses are perfectly healthy. Just make sure your fats aren't processed.

Next time a recipe with low carbs, but lots of flavor!

No hassle mango smoothie

I love smoothies any time of the day, but with a bunch of fruit added and possibly juice it's easy to get lots of sugars in a smoothie that the body doesn't actually need. This doesn't mean that I shouldn't have any smoothies (yay!), I just have to be smart about the timing of it. So I have my smoothie right after my workout when sugars are absorbed faster and can actually help with recovery and muscle building. No I'm not looking to become bulky or anything, but ladies for the majority of us it's difficult to get bulky anyway (unless you're on something).

So here's my super easy no hassle mango smoothie with only 3 ingredients since after a workout I don't feel like making a complicated smoothie.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup of frozen mango 
- 1 cup of buttermilk
- 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder

Well do I need to write directions? Just blend it all together in a blender or little 1 serving blender. Add more buttermilk if you like it thinner. I like using buttermilk because it makes it tangy, creamy, and is low in calories. 

Vegetarian diet yes or no?

More and more people choose to eat less meat, become vegetarian, or even vegan. From an environmental standpoint I totally understand and respect this choice. From a health standpoint though I don't really understand this choice. Instead of going straight to being a vegetarian or vegan I would suggest to get free range and grass fed meat. It is so important to get lean protein at every meal and although there are plenty of protein-containing foods these are often higher in calories, carbs, and soy for example has to be consumed in moderation. So rather than avoiding meat you can achieve all the health benefits of a plant-based diet by just eating more veggies, legumes, nuts, seeds and fruits.

Going for a plant-based diet? You hopefully know that you need to get protein from other sources, but what you might not know if that you're also short on other nutrients. Here is the list and what you can do to balance your intake.

Vitamin B12. Mostly found in animal foods so make sure you get a supplement or get it from fortified foods like grains or non-dairy milks.

Calcium. Found in leafy greens, tofu (large intake can compromise thyroid function and raise estrogen levels though), fortified non-dairy milks, legumes, and nuts. 

Iodine. Kelp and other sea veggies, asparagus, leafy freens, iodized salt/sea based salt.

Omega-3 Fat. Flax, hemp, walnuts, seaweed and other marine-based supplements. Make sure it's high in both DHA and EPA.

Vitamin D. Get some sun! Around noon is the best source for Vitamin D. No sun? Get a supplement, about 1000 IU/day should do it unless a test tells you otherwise.

Zinc. Zinc absorption from plant food is lower than from animal foods. Have calcium in between to help zinc absorption. Good sources of zinc are quinoa, wheat germ, lentils, chickpeas, tahini, almonds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, goji berries, dried apricots, cocoa powder/nibs.

So if you do choose to give up animal foods make sure that you plan carefully. Your body could miss out on essential nutrients such as protein and other vitamins and minerals plus it's often not beneficial for fat loss, but that's another subject :)


Article on grass fed beef
http://www.lifetime-weightloss.com/blog/2010/3/14/5-reasons-to-choose-grass-fed-beef.html

Fat Free... It's a big Fat lie!

I used to be one of those people who would buy fat free milk, fat free yogurt, fat free butter (seriously what was I thinking? No good can be in that?!), fat free salad dressing, fat free sour cream and so on. It doesn't surprise me that so many people think it's the 'healthy' thing to do. In my job I talk to so many people who tell me they eat healthy and start telling me about the fat free and whole wheat (that's for another day) products that they eat. I don't want to be discouraging, because at least they try to be healthy, but I sigh on the inside. What has the food industry done to make us believe we should eat all this man made fat free junk?

Why should you not eat artificially made fat free dairy products? 
- It often has more sodium in it 
- It often has more sugar in it
- It has a bunch of added ingredients in it to give it the right consistency (fat free yogurt would look like watered down cottage cheese without it)
- It doesn't keep you full like a full fat product does and you'll reach for other snack shortly after to fill you up again
- Full fat tastes better
- Your body needs fat to run properly
- And many, many other reasons...

Fat is not bad! This doesn't mean you should eat ice cream, cookies, or cake to get healthier. You still want to steer away from sugar (and fake sugars) and also the higher your fat intake the lower your carb intake needs to be. Make sure you get a good amount of fats from nuts, avocado, olives, olive oil, fatty fish etc. 

Chocolate dusted almonds

I've been slacking off! Maybe the wait makes you more excited to read the blog again :)?

Well I've been experimenting in the kitchen. I saw the chocolate dusted almonds they have in the store and wanted to get them until I saw the price. They're 12 dollars per pound, while I buy my raw almonds at 12 dollar per 3 pounds. So it only made sense to make it myself plus that way I can control what's in it.

Don't get me wrong though, raw almonds are better for you than chocolate dusted almonds. This is just my version of eating a healthy yummy snack. There's only a few people I know who don't like chocolate and in my humble opinion they're crazy (if you are one of those people, it's nothing personal :)). Almonds are a great source of healthy fats and dark chocolate is a source of anti-oxidants. The maple syrup in this recipe... well that's just good for the taste buds.


You need:
2 cups almonds
2 tbsp of organic maple syrup (or you can use honey or agave syrup)
4 tbsp of unsweetened dark cocoa powder
coconut oil for pan

The Result

Preheat oven at 275. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and cover it with light coat of coconut oil. Put almonds in bowl and pour maple syrup over top. Stir and make sure each almond is covered. Add cocoa powder and stir until all almonds are completely covered. Spread out on baking sheet and stir after 10 minutes and after 20 minutes. Bake for a total of 25 minutes.

PB chocolate ice cream

Peanut Butter Chocolate ice cream... what?!?! Yes that's right I just got done with dinner and had some delicious ice cream for dessert. I absolutely love chocolate and I know I'm not the only one. When you want to live a healthy lifestyle you don't have to miss out on good tastes! So I figured you all (sorry I just can't do the "ya'll", doesn't sound right coming from me) would like a healthy chocolaty dessert.

Here's what you need:
- 3 frozen bananas
- 3 tsp of dark chocolate powder (unsweetened!)
- 3 tbsp unprocessed peanut butter (you know the kind you have to stir before use)
- whole milk (preferably organic) Lactose intolerant? Use unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk
- food processor

Mix all the ingredient in the food processor and add milk only enough to make it spin. It'll become a gooey texture. Freeze it for about 3-4 hours and enjoy! Couldn't be easier right? As you can see you can also make a smaller batch by using 1 of each :)

After workout option: instead of using chocolate powder use chocolate protein powder.

Carbs or no carbs?

I changed my mind, no recipe today, because I found this info more important.

A lot of people think carbs are evil, and they can be, but they don't have to be. It's very important what kind of carbs you eat and when you eat it. When it comes to carbs it's all about TIMING. There is a difference between people who want to lose fat and people who want to gain muscle however (I'm assuming not many people have the goal of gaining fat or losing muscle so I'm leaving those two out :)). So I decided to give you two scenarios; carb timing for fat loss and carb timing for muscle gain.

Fat Loss:
You have to earn your carbs. Do you want to have some bread or pasta? You can, but mostly within 1-2 hours after exercise in combination with a good source of lean protein (watch out for fat intake after your workout it'll slow down your metabolism during that time). Another time to have carbs would be with breakfast, but make sure you eat it in combination with protein. Always try to go for the least processed, organic food. So you don't have to eliminate your carbs, you just have to control it. 

Muscle gain:
When you're looking to gain more muscle you want to have an exercise drink (good guideline is 20-30g carbs + 15-25 g protein + 600 ml water) during and after your workout. Have a meal with unprocessed carbs within 3 hours after your workout and depending on how well your body tolerates carbs you can have some (generally 30% of your meal) with every meal too. Just like with fat loss try to go for the least processed, organic food. 

Next time you will for sure get a recipe though! Have you bought coconut oil and quinoa yet?

Detox 'Diet'

Watch out! I'm on my soapbox today!

It's popular nowadays to do a detox, especially at the beginning of the year. Some people do it to lose weight, others to get rid of toxins in their body, and others just because it's the thing to do at the time. Dr Oz told you that it's good for you and somehow a lot of people think that whatever he says is true without doing any more research. I'm not saying doing a detox is bad, I actually think the opposite! I think it's a great way to get rid of toxins in your body or to kick start your weight loss again. The thing that I don't understand is that people think that it's a good idea to do a Lemonade Diet for a few weeks to lose weight. What are you going to do after that? You can't drink a mix of maple syrup, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper forever. Or even when you eat just veggies and fruit for 2 weeks you put yourself in trouble. Although veggies and fruit are both good for you, and have a lot of nutrients, they don't provide all the necessary protein. Know that when you starve your body like that it'll try to get nutrients from the most nutritious part of your body, which is muscle. You're not actually losing that much fat, it's mostly water weight that you lose. Now that your metabolism has slowed down, you're more likely to gain fat once you start eating your regular diet again. Here are some ideas for a good detox plan:

1. Prepare in advance. Don't go cold turkey, but slowly wean yourself off of coffee, soda, carbs, chocolate, or whatever you're addicted too. Start doing that 1 week before you're actually starting your detox

2. You're not using any animal products during your detox, but make sure you use a substitute protein. Rice and pea protein are a great option (no soy, too much of it raises your estrogen levels). You can get that at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's or I can get it for you too. Use it in a smoothie with some berries, unsweetened almond milk, and if you're into it put spinach or some other type of vegetable in it. A great breakfast of snack!

3. Don't starve yourself, simply have lots of vegetables, fruits, legumes (beans are a great source of protein when eaten in combination with other foods), and nuts (healthy fats).

4. Don't stop working out (if you work out that is), simply do less intensity. See it as a time of recovery.

5. Drink plenty of water. A rule of thumb is half your body weight in oz. You can have decaf tea (unsweetened!) as well.

6. No carbs (such as bread, rice, pasta, cereal etc), no added sugars (not splenda, aspartame etc eiter), no alcohol, no caffeine (no I'm not trying to ruin your life!).

7. Do it only for 2 weeks and start going back to a more sustainable diet.

Check in next time for another recipe!

5 eating habits

There is so much information about food out there that it's hard to see the three through the forest. Some sources say we should eat a low fat, low calorie diet. Others say we should eat plenty of fats, because it'll keep you full longer. Some say it's good to have a lot of protein, while other sources say to not have too much protein and more whole grains. Oprah said once that you shouldn't eat anything after 7 PM so that must the be truth right..? Some say nuts are a great source of protein, other sources will tell you that it's actually not significantly high in protein compared to the calories. Some say all saturated fats are bad, others say it's good for you depending on what you eat with it. Today I'm not talking about whether I agree or disagree with these statements (don't worry I'll get on my soap box another day), but I want to make it simple for you. Teach yourself these 5 eating habits and it will get you a long way:

1. Eat slowly and stop at 80% full. It takes a while for your body to notice that you're full so learn to listen to your appetite signals.

2. Where is the protein? Eat protein dense food with each meal (for women 20-30 gr, for men 40-60 gr). It helps to achieve the best health, body composition, and performance.

3. Where are the vegetables? This is an important source of vitamins and minerals that helps your body to function correctly. It also provides an 'alkaline load' to the blood, since protein and grains give acid loads to the blood.

4. Where are the carbs? If you're looking for weight loss you have to earn them. After exercise is the best time to have carbs and look for unprocessed carbs. (more on this when I write about body types)

5. Where are you fats coming from? Get it from whole food sources such as fish, nuts, olives, avocado, seeds. If your carb intake is high your fat intake should be low and vice versa.

Pack a Snack

I'm sorry about my absence the last few days. We moved to a different place so I've been busy packing, unpacking and all that good stuff. We're all settled now and I'm back online!

Today I'm giving you a recipe that I got from my brother. He is a great cook and makes the best healthy snacks. A few years ago he and his wife started eating more organic food and they've noticed the importance and benefits of it. Now they eat pretty much all organic! 

This snack is perfect for when you're on the run in the morning, doing endurance workout for longer than 1 hour, or when you just have no other option besides fast food. Remember though, don't let this be a replacement of your daily 8-12 servings of fruits and vegetables (2 pieces of medium sized fruit). Always try to make time to have fresh and real food! "Let food by thy medicine and medicine be thy food" - Hippocrates.

Ingredients:
- 4 ripe bananas
- 4 eggs
- 350 grams old fashioned oats (not quick oats!) + 150 grams almond meal
- dash of ginger powder
- zest from 1 organic lemon
- juice from 1 lemon and 1 orange
- 15 drops of stevia
- 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
- Optional 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 100 grams of dark chocolate (at least 72%), or use dark chocolate chips

Directions:
Mash bananas to a smooth paste. Whisk eggs, add bananas and add the rest of the ingredients. Taste to see if there is a good balance between sweet and sour. Add chocolate and mix it up. Spray the pan with either olive oil or use coconut oil, put mixture in pan, and make it into a big chunk of half an inch high. Use a wet spoon to press the mixture down so it's a solid square. Bake for 45 min at 300 F (150 C). Let it cool and cut into bars. You can even freeze the bars for later too!

Salmon muffins

Those who know me will tell you that I love to cook! I'm thankful that my mom taught me to cook with what we had in the fridge. Makes life so much easier. So this is one of those recipes that was created from lack of better options. Now I make it pretty often because I love it, it's cheap, it's healthy, and it's easy to make. Have it for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack!

Sorry this is the only picture I have of it :)

Ingredients:
- 1 can wild caught salmon
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 6 oz baby bella, mushrooms
- green onions, diced 
- Some shredded mozzarella cheese
- 4 eggs
- 1-2 tsp dill
- 1 tbsp brown mustard
- 1-2 tsp garlic salt (or crazy salt) to taste
- dash of black pepper
- olive oil spray
- muffin pan


Preparation:
Preheat oven on 350 F. Chop veggies to small cubes. Beat eggs in medium size bowl, add dill, mustard, garlic salt, pepper and green onions. Take the bones out of the salmon and add to the wet mixture. Add bell pepper and mushrooms. Spray muffin pan with olive oil, pour mixture in pan and top it off with some cheese. Bake for 25-30 min. Have some veggies on the side or eat it just by itself! Great source of protein and healthy fats.

Note: Play with the spices. Maybe you like more or less dill, more or less salt, or if you like it a little spicy put some crushed red pepper in it. Don't like mushroom? Put some broccoli in it!
 

Quinoa (keen-wah)

Quinoa. So many people pronounce it differently so here it is: "keen-wah". These little seeds are becoming more popular all the time and it's for a good reason. It's a complete protein so a great option for vegetarians or when you're doing a 'meatless day' (I know here in Kansas that's too much to ask for, my husband included...). It's gluten-free and full of nutrients. So basically it's the perfect ingredient! There are a lot of different ways to use this high protein and gluten-free seed. Try using it instead of oatmeal with some walnuts, unsweetened dried cranberries, cinnamon and a little bit of sweetener (stevia, agave), sprinkle it on top of a salad, use it instead of rice or couscous, or be creative and use it in your burgers (meat or vegetarian) as a filler. Feel free to share your experience with others on the blog too!

Check in tomorrow for a new recipe!

Lick a fish

"Lick a fish"... that's what my husband says when he takes his omega-3 fish oil. Glad we don't have to do that in order to get our daily needs of omega-3 fats in! You'd be glad I'm typing and not talking to you. You probably heard about how important it is to eat enough fatty fish (maybe you've heard twice a week?) or else to supplement with omega-3 fish oil. Or if you're a vegetarian some other source of omega-3 like flax and walnuts. But do you know why? There are so many reasons why you should take it and what the benefits are, but I'll try to explain the basics of it here.

Our ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 should be around 1:1. In today's diet this often is more like 16:1 or even 20:1. This is due to the over consumption of omega-6 fatty acids (which is very important to overall health too) from corn oil, safflower oil, meat from feedlot animals (fed by a lot of corn). So to get back to the ratio of 1:1 we need to up our omega-3 intake and keep omega-6 down as much as we can. 

Omega-3 fats help to keep our cells more fluid, which increases insulin sensitivity. It helps with cardiovascular function, nervous system function, and immune health. It promotes blood vessel dilation, has anti-inflammatory effects, and helps to decrease pain. It also helps against Alzheimer's disease. What else do I need to say for you to realize the benefits of taking omega-3 fats?

Note:  Make sure you find a omega-3 fish oil that's high in DHA and EPA and is of high quality (so not the cheapest one at walmart). If you ever stop by Lifetime Fitness you can use promo code 123526 for 10% discount.



 

Coconut oil

Olive oil is so good for you! It has the healthy fats you need in your diet and I know many of you cook with it a lot. I'm going to disappoint you though, it's not always great to use. Olive oil actually changes into trans fat when you use it for high heat cooking. So for high heat cooking coconut oil would be the perfect choice! I love the flavor it adds to the dish too. You'll notice throughout my blogs that I absolutely love Trader Joe's so that where I buy my coconut oil. You can find it at other health stores like whole foods too though.

Some other benefits of coconut oil:
- Anti-inflammatory
- Anti-viral
- Anti-fungal
- Improves nutrient absorption
- Shown to help metabolism and digestion

And you know what? You can also use it as a moisturizer, lip balm, deep treatment conditioner and many other things. So really there's no good reason to not have it in your home!

 

Don't let the packaging fool you

Before you go to the grocery store today here's a little wisdom for you :)

The Health industry is so smart with their food labeling. Label "Organic" on a package of cookies and a lot of people will think it's healthy. Even though it's organic it still has a lot of simple carbs combined with saturated fats. Saturated fat on itself doesn't have to be bad (more on that later), but the combination of the two is bad news. Just the fact that Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, or Natural Grocers sells it doesn't mean that it's good for you. Watch out for deceitful labels like:

- "added vitamins and minerals"
- "no added sugar"
- "fat free" (weight watchers dieters... I'll have to write a blog about that soon)
- "low carb"
- "all natural" (seriously?)
- "wholesome" (tell me what that means...)
- "contains real fruit" 

When claims like the above are on the packaging it's most likely not going to be all that healthy... 

Here's an interesting youtube video about the food industry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BdFkK-HufU&feature=em-share_video_in_list_user&list=UUVNyZUMykNKrK70JC_Q1qug

 

 

Breakfast Made Easy

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day... You've probably heard it over and over again. You probably think I'm crazy, but I'm going to say it's not true! Every meal is equally important. If you usually have a decent breakfast, but skip lunch then lunch is your most important meal. If you struggle getting a quality dinner in then dinner is the most important meal for you. If you never have breakfast or have a bad breakfast then you need to focus on a better breakfast.Today we'll focus on breakfast, but don't worry, tips on lunch, dinner, and snacks will come soon!

Here's a quick and easy recipe that will fuel you for the day.

Easy recipe for steelcut oats:

I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk and green tea on the side

- 1 C of steel cut oats (I get them bulk at wholefoods)

- 3 C of water

- Coconut oil (olive oil turns into trans fat when you use high heat)

- pinch of salt

- 2 organic apples (whichever ones you like)

- cinnamon powder

- High quality vanilla protein powder (whey isolate or if you're lactose intolerant use pea or rice protein)

Heat up about a tsp of coconut oil medium heat, put steel cut oats in while stirring. Add water and a pinch of sea salt. Reduce heat and let it boil for about 20 min stir frequently. Turn heat off, cover pan with lid, and let it sit over night.

Next morning add cut up apples & cinnamon powder. Put it in a big tupperware and heat it up per serving adding unsweetened almond milk or organic whole milk and some vanilla protein powder. Get creative so you don't eat the same thing every day! You can also add some walnuts, unsweetened coconut flakes (available at whole foods or clark's) and some other fruit. I would love for you to post your own version of steelcut oats! Enjoy :)

Notes: 

- If your body doesn't digest carbs very well this might not be the best option for you.

- If you don't have or like protein powder have a couple of eggs on the side for protein. It'll keep you full longer and keep your blood sugar leveled

New Year's Resolution: Win or Lose?

It's a new year and many of you have some sort of New Year's Resolution that has something to do with your health. Whether it's eating healthier (what's healthy anymore these days?), workout more (what's more?), lose weight (how much?), getting more fit (what is fit anyway?). All pretty vague goals if you ask me. No wonder most people fail within the first month of the new year. We're only 10 days in, are you still on track? Oh wait, how are you supposed to know if you're on track if there is no route to follow? No destination to go to? No exact reason why?

1. Figure out what your DESTINATION (goal)is
2. Figure out what ROUTE (plan) to take 
3. Decide WHEN you want to get there
4. Find out WHY you want to get there

Let's say your goal is to lose X amount of lbs, or better yet to fit into a certain size. You are getting there by working out at least three times a week, prepare your lunch/snacks at home so you don't make bad calls, drink at least two liters of water/day, tell 10 people so that they can keep you accountable. Why? Because you have no energy right now, you want to keep up with your kids, and live to see them and possible grand kids grow up.

Sure you'll slip here and there, but that's part of the journey. That doesn't mean you failed your New Year's Resolution. Every day you can start with a clean slate and try again. Don't wait until next year to start over, you want to win right? So start today, tomorrow, and every day after that. You WILL reach your destination.

Check in next week for tip # 1 on Healthy Breakfast Made Easy.