03-Feb-2015
Comments Off on High Intensity Interval Training
High Intensity Interval Training
Category : Exercise
31-Dec-2014
Comments Off on Hangover Recovery
Hangover Recovery
Category : Active Living
Here are some tips to help with hangover recovery.
Let’s face it, most of the time you are careful to eat and drink in moderation, but there are lots of parties this time of year and lots of opportunities to over-do-it. If you wake wake up with a food and/or beverage hangover here are some great tips from Mark Verstegen & Pete Williams authors of Core Performance for Women:
What to do the day after…
- Do not feel guilty for your indulgences.
- Start your day off with water, green tea, a multi-vitamin, fish oil and a great breakfast.
- Get in a workout. Sweat!
- Jump right back into your schedule of eating 4-5 meals/day
- Go to bed early so that you can get at least 8 hours of sleep
30-Oct-2014
Comments Off on St. Brendan’s Irish Root Soup -Low Fat version
St. Brendan’s Irish Root Soup
- Jasmine
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Sauteed Leeks
30-Sep-2014
Comments Off on Halloween Candy vs Burpees
Halloween Candy vs Burpees
Category : Healthy Eating
It’s the first week of October,
stores are well-stocked with trick-or-treat candy,
but does that mean you need to stock your pantry?!
Be realistic, if you buy Halloween candy now will it actually be around on October 31st when the kids come knocking?Leave the candy in the store until just a few days before Halloween….
otherwise, stepping on the scale might get a little scary!
Burpee Calculator source: saratogamama.com
This might help put things in perspective you love burpees, right?
10-Mar-2014
Comments Off on Food Sensitivity Elimination diet: Nightshade Ratatouille
This is my mini-chronicle of following the Dr. Oz and Dr. Hyman Food Sensitivity Elimination diet. The beginning of this series and the links to the elimination diet can be found in this link: Click Here.
OK, my evil plan was a success and I was able to eat my brother-in-law’s incredible marinara and amazing ratatouille at my Mom’s birthday. Let me rephrase that; In pursuit of the scientific study of my diet, I risked fatigue and potentially worse by adding nightshades back into my diet. And I loved every minute of it and my only reaction was Yum!
So it turns out that Ratatouille is the perfect dish for testing out nightshade sensitivity. This is because the two main ingredients are eggplant and tomatoes, two of the primary members of the nightshades. Other nightshades include red peppers (both hot and sweet), the spices paprika and cayenne, and potatoes. I don’t eat these every day, so I wasn’t expecting trouble.
I’ve never had ratatouille before and I have to say it was absolutely delicious. Of course, my brother-in-law is an amazing chef, so that is a large part of why it was so good. He said that he grilled all the vegetables first to give it that bit of smokiness, but otherwise followed a basic ratatouille recipe.
I found a highly rated recipe from epicurious.com, the bon apetit recipe website, that I will be trying. Epicurious Ratatouille, Click Here. It’s a great way to get those vegetable servings that Karin has been promoting during March nutrition month.
08-Mar-2014
Comments Off on Food Sensitivity Elimination diet: Adding Wheat back!
This is my mini-chronicle of following the Dr. Oz and Dr. Hyman Food Sensitivity Elimination diet. The beginning of this series and the links to the elimination diet can be found in this link: Click Here.
I have a family gathering this weekend (Happy Birthday, Mom!) and it’s not going to be easy being on the elimination diet. Like it wasn’t bad enough that the only meat we eat is fish (yup, we’re pescetarians), but my brother-in-law is a seriously gourmet cook whose culinary skills I sorely do NOT want to miss out on. He’s making ratatouille as well as his homemade marinara and pasta. 
So I have a plan. The first two foods I’m adding back are Wheat (so I can have bread and pasta) and Nightshades (Ratatouille has both tomatoes and eggplant). Luckily, Wheat is Thurs/Friday and the Nightshades just happen on the day of the party. Whew! Disaster avoided!!!
Days 6 & 7: Adding the big “W” -WHEAT back into my diet. Unless you lack a heartbeat, you’ve probably heard all the hoopla about the benefits of eliminating wheat from your diet. Many of our clients feel better when they don’t eat wheat. There are also many people who have the very serious disease Celiac, which is actually an auto-immune disorder and not an allergy at all. Randi Mann, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner at Wise Women’s Wellness in De Pere, says that simply eliminating wheat would help people lose much of the weight they need to lose.
So I was a bit apprehensive when I added wheat back into my diet because, well, I really like bread! It’s no small task to eliminate wheat given that it is in so many food products as a thickener or filler. Kiss any typical convenience foods or salty snacks good-bye!
My worries were for naught: Adding Wheat back to my diet was so easy and dare I say “fun”? Instead of the cream of rice I chose the Hodgson whole grain hot cereal instead with walnuts and strawberries. Not only did it taste good, I felt just fine thank you!
The funny thing is that now that I’ve added bread back to my diet, I can’t really do anything with it. Everything I make seems to be missing something, like butter or cheese. We made pizza tonight and I had more of a very thin focaccia than anything else. Oh well. Tomorrow I add tomatoes back and then I can have an avocado and tomato sandwich, one of my favorites! Of course, in a few more days it will be better with a slice of cheese…
23-Jan-2014
Comments Off on Law of Success #4
Law of Success #4
Category : Active Living, Exercise
The Law of Self-Efficacy
You have to believe in order to achieve!
Self-efficacy is the belief that you can do it!
Psychologist Albert Bandura has defined self-efficacy as
one’s belief in one’s ability to succeed in specific situations.
How confident are you?
The Physical Exercise Self-Efficacy Quiz
How certain are you that you could overcome the following barriers?
Rate yourself on the following scale:
1= Very uncertain; 2= Rather uncertain; 3= Rather certain; 4= Very certain
I can manage to carry out my exercise plans even if…
I have worries and problems
I feel depressed
I feel tense
I am tired
I am busy
The Nutrition Self-Efficacy Quiz
How certain are you that you could overcome the following barriers?
I can manage to stick to healthful foods even if…
I need a long time to develop the necessary routines.
I have to try several times until it works.
I have to rethink my entire way of nutrition.
I do not receive a great deal of support from others when making my first attempts.
I have to make a detailed plan.
If you scored high (mostly 3’s & 4’s)
odds are you WILL succeed!
If you scored low (mostly 1’s & 2’s)
Identifying the barriers that are most likely going to trip you up
will help you get past them. Take baby steps and you WILL succeed!
Think of self confidence as a bank…
Each time you keep a promise to yourself,
your store of self confidence gets bigger,
making it easier to keep the next promise to yourself!
09-Dec-2013
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Law of Success #3
Category : Active Living, Exercise
The Law of CONSISTENCY
Be relentless in your pursuit of success.
Consistency is the key to achieving any goal.
It’s so easy to get distracted…
You must stay focused
in order to reach your goal.
“If you chase two rabbits,
you will not catch either one.”
~unknown
Write down your #1 goal
and follow the advice of Spencer Johnson, M.D.,
author of One Minute Manager:
Take a minute
Look at your goal
Look at your behavior
See if your behavior matches your goal
18-Nov-2013
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Law of Success #2
Category : Active Living, Exercise
The Law of EFFORT
The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary!
~Vidal Sassoon
Losing weight is never easy…
You must
plan ahead,
find the time,
exercise & eat healthfully.
Success is the sum of small efforts,
repeated day in and day out.
~Robert Collier
Daily recommendations:
30 minutes of exercise
Eat breakfast
Eat 4 to 5 times each day
Eat your vegetables
Notice the emphasis on eating right…focus your effort on this!
08-Nov-2013
Comments Off on Butternut Squash Soup
Butternut Squash Soup
Category : Healthy Eating
We declared Barb B. the princess of our pumpkin party for recommending this delicious and satisfying soup that turns out to be a celebrity weight loss secret. Because this simple recipe makes a large quantity of soup, you can freeze servings to curb cravings anytime you need some comfort food without blowing your diet. Our version differs from the original by using low fat coconut milk to maintain that guilty richness.
Butternut Squash SoupIn a large pot, saute until translucent:1 medium onion, chopped2 cloves garlic2T olive oil Then add, bring to a boil and simmer 25-30 minutes until easy to pierce with a fork :4 cups vegetable broth (canned or made from bullion)1 large (2lb+) butternut squash, peeled and cubed in 1″ pieces1 medium potato: any kind, cubed2 large carrots, diced or sliced into 1/4 rounds Remove from heat and add:1 can low fat coconut milk Next, puree in batches using a regular or handheld immersion blender. Then adjust the seasoning to your taste with salt & pepper, maybe even a dash of any one of the following: curry powder, garam masala, cinnamon or nutmeg. 110 calories per 1 cup servings (a bowl is likely a 2 cup serving)4g fat, 16g carbohydrates,2g protein, 1g fiber, 340mg sodium
