Drinks on Us: Easy, Low-Calorie Cocktail Recipes

Drinks on Us: Easy, Low-Calorie Cocktail Recipes

OKAY so I normally would not post about cocktails...but some do sound really tasty! Drink in moderation and just know the more the drink...the harder it is to lose weight! It can stop you weightloss for up to 5 days! It is crazy I know! But go ahead a try one of these yummy drinks...just not 10 of them! Have fun!

Desserts Under 250 Calories

Desserts Under 250 Calories

SPECIAL OCCASIONS AND MODERATION! Enjoy!

15 Steps to Healthy Eating

15 Steps to Healthy Eating

Happy St. Patricks Day Recipe

Happy St. Patricks day! I hope all of you are wearing your green! Anyway, as much as I love corned beef...beware of how fatty it is! 1 oz = 5 fat grams! If you are going to eat it, try and find Light corned beef...maybe ask the butcher. At least light will have 1 fat gram per 1 oz of meat! Skip the potatoes and just have the cabbage! OR have a healthy meal all together...Healthy Shepherd's Pie! This is one of my all time favorites! Try it and let me know what you think! Enjoy!


Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower
2 tbsp of light sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 3/4 lb Lean ground beef or Ground Turkey
fresh, frozen, or canned mixed veggies
1 onion
1 packet of beef stew seasoning packet
2 tsp of Worcestershire
optional 2 tbsp of fresh parsley
shredded 2% cheese (enough to cover casserole)
season all or cavender's to taste
DIRECTIONS


Boil or steam cauliflower until soft(should be able to stab with fork easily). Put soft cauliflower in large mixing bowl and add salt, pepper, and other seasonings you like. Add the sour cream and if you want you can add a touch of light butter for a buttery taste. Mash up with potato masher and set aside.
Brown meat with chopped onions and seasoning (cavender's or season all). When cooked drain fat if any. Put back in pan and add seasoning packet with a 1/2 cup water and let simmer. Add veggies to meat to heat up. Add Worcestershire and a dash of Tabasco it you like a little kick. I do!


Preheat broiler to high. Fill a square or rectangular casserole with meat and veggie mix--spread evenly. Spoon cauliflower mash over meat evenly sprinkle 2% cheese over cauliflower mash ( I like to cover the cauliflower with the cheese--do it how you like it!). Broil 6 to 8 inches from the heat until cheese and cauliflower are evenly browned. I really like when when my cheese is nice and brown! Top casserole with chopped parsley and serve.

ENJOY!!!

Angel Hair With Spicy Shrimp Recipe

If you need a little spice in your life...try this great dish! It is Super Yummy! Remember moderation and watch your portion size, maybe make it for you and friends and have a big tasty salad before hand! Enjoy!

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes


Ingredients:
1/2 of a box uncooked Dreamfields Angel Hair
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 can (28 ounces) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Chopped basil (optional)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and return to pan.
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp; cook 3 to 5 minutes, until cooked through. Add garlic and crushed red pepper flakes; cook until garlic is tender, about 1 minute, stirring constantly. (Do not let garlic burn.) Remove shrimp from skillet; set aside.

Stir tomatoes, wine, parsley and basil into skillet. Continue cooking until liquid is reduced by half, about 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add shrimp and pasta to skillet. Continue cooking just to heat through, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and additional chopped basil, if desired. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Nutrition information (1/4 of recipe): 461 calories; 33 g protein;
18 g digestible carbohydrates*; 13 g total fat; 2 g saturated fat; 225 mg cholesterol;
776 mg sodium; 6 g total dietary fiber.

*If traditional pasta is used in this recipe there is a total of 48 g carbohydrate. For more information go to www.DreamfieldsFoods.com.

The Double Edged Sword of "Healthy" Fast Food

This article was in my mailbox this morning and I thought I would share it with you fast food eaters...Really read what is all in that chicken wrap! WOW!!! It definitly makes you think twice about fast food...or it should!

Tom Venuto http://www.burnthefatblog.com/archives/2010/03/healthy_fast_food.php

What’s on the menu at fast food restaurants lately? Ironically enough, the answer increasingly is… “health food!” Even more incongruous, many fast food joints are advertising their food for weight loss. Healthy weight loss food at Taco Bell and McDonalds? Is this a positive move to be applauded, is it a big corporate money grab or is it a double edged sword? Here’s my two cents:
Almost everyone remembers the Jared weight loss campaign for Subway. He was the guy who lost 245 pounds during which time he ate at Subway regularly. He simply picked the lower calorie items on the menu. Jared later became a spokesperson for Subway in their nationwide advertising campaigns which became known as the Subway Diet.

During that campaign, Subway sales doubled to 8.2 billion. How much the increase came from the weight loss ads is unknown, but there’s little doubt that using weight loss as a marketing platform was a boon for Subway.

Subway has since moved on to $5 footlong subs, which worked wonders for their bottom line in the recent recession. But other fast food chains picked up the weight loss torch where subway left off.

The most recent talk of the blogosphere this year is the Taco Bell drive through diet. With its own dedicated website and advertising campaign, the drive through diet flaunts their own “Jared”: Christine!

The restaurant seems to be walking on FTC-strewn egg… er… taco shells, being very conservative with their claims. They say Christine’s results aren’t typical, she lost the weight (54 lbs) over 2 years by reducing her calories to 1250 a day, and part of her success was simply from choosing Taco Bell’s new lower calorie “Fresco” items.
These include “7 diet items with 150 to 240 calories and under 9 grams of fat.” For example, there’s a chicken soft taco with only 170 calories, 4 grams of fat, 22 grams of carbs and 12 grams of protein.

By swapping some of these items with their regular (and higher calorie) menu items, you’d take in fewer calories and less fat. If all else remained equal, this could help you lose weight. For people who refuse to give up eating at fast food restaurants, this is arguably a positive thing.
Take my brother for example, He’s not a total junk food junkie, thanks partly to my influence and the influence of our parents. I have vague memories of my health-nut mom feeding us wheat germ and cod liver oil (by the spoonful) when we were candy-munching kids in California. She once tried to feed us eggplant pizza as a sneaky way to get us to eat vegetables. That ploy didn’t work – we were young but we weren’t stupid – we knew it wasn’t Pizza Hut! (I hate eggplant to this day).

Many years ago, I even managed to get my brother going to the gym and whaddya know, he’s been going ever since. But despite the positive role models he has, left to his own devices, he WILL make a beeline to Taco Bell and McDonalds and so will the friends he hangs out with.
I went to McDonalds with him a few months ago (I was trapped in the car with no choice), and he was about to order a bacon cheeseburger. I glanced at the menu and said, “That’s 790 calories!” I glanced down at his belly, then continued, “Look, they have chicken wraps. Why don’t you have one of those?” Without questioning me he said, “Ok,” apparently happy just to get any McDonalds fix. I couldn’t talk him out of the soda, but I’m working on it okay? At least I got him to stop getting refills.

Right there at the counter they had the nutrition information sheets:
McDonald’s honey mustard grilled chicken wrap: 260 calories, 9 grams fat, 27 grams of carbs, 18 grams of protein.

That saved him 530 calories. Am I happy there is something with 260 calories on the menu and not just 700 calories across the board? Absolutely. And DO I applaud the fast food restaurants for offering lower calorie choices? You bet, although I’d like to see more one-ingredient choices like baked potatoes, baked sweet potatoes and whole fruit…plus some decent salads).
The big mistake almost everyone is making, even fitness and nutrition professionals who have been blogging about this lately, is that while they are agreeing that it’s nice to have low calorie items on the menu (especially with calories posted), they are calling these low calorie fast food items “healthy choices.”

Some journalists and bloggers have jumped into the fray and cleverly countered…
“These new fast food menu items are NOT healthy, they’re only ‘healthi-ER.’”

I think they are both mistaken.
This food is not healthy nor is it healthier. It’s only lower in calories.
The only way you could say these lower calorie fast food items are healthier choices is in the sense that they can help to reduce total daily caloric intake, if all else remains equal. That could help people lose weight and if they lose weight the weight loss could improve their health. Eating smaller portions of refined carbohydrates or sugars might also be healthier, from a glycemic point of view.

But what if your definition of healthy food is dependent on nutrition, nutrient density and absence of artificial ingredients?

Let’s take a look at that very low calorie chicken wrap. Do you really think it’s healthier just because it’s got 1/3 the calories of a bacon cheeseburger?

Here’s the ingredients straight from McDonald’s website:
McDonald’s Grilled Chicken Breast Filet (wrap): Chicken breast filets with rib meat, water, seasoning (salt, sugar, food starch-modified, maltodextrin, spices, dextrose, autolyzed yeast extract, hydrolyzed [corn gluten, soy, wheat gluten] proteins, garlic powder, paprika, chicken fat, chicken broth, natural flavors (plant and animal source), caramel color, polysorbate 80, xanthan gum, onion powder, extractives of paprika), modified potato starch, and sodium phosphates. CONTAINS: SOY AND WHEAT. Prepared with Liquid Margarine: Liquid soybean oil, water, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils, salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, soy lecithin, mono- and diglycerides, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (preservative), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, beta carotene (color). (and don’t forget the 800 mg of sodium).

HOLY CRAP! Shouldn’t chicken breast be just one ingredient… chicken breast?! Isn’t that generally what healthy, whole food is – one ingredient?

This is not food. It’s more like what Michael Pollan would call an “edible food-like substance.”
What about the honey mustard sauce? First ingredient after water is… SUGAR!
The flour tortilla ingredients? Enriched bleached wheat flour, also made with vegetable shortening (may contain one or more of the following: hydrogenated soybean oil, soybean oil, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, hydrogenated cottonseed oil with mono- and diglycerides added), contains 2% or less of the following: sugar, leavening (sodium aluminum sulfate, calcium sulfate, sodium phosphate, baking soda, corn starch, monocalcium phosphate), salt, wheat gluten, dough conditioners, sodium metabisulfite, distilled monoglycerides.
Trans fats? Sugar? Aluminum? Stuff you can’t pronounce and have to look up to find out it’s preservatives and disinfectants?

Don’t confuse the issues: weight loss and health…. Calories and nutrition. There IS a difference!
This my friends, makes “healthy” fast food a double edged sword.
There are people I care about, not just my clients, but my own family, and I want the best for them all. But my brother, and many other people, aren’t going to completely give up fast food. If I can get him to make better bad choices that could help him keep his weight under control. If that works, then I’m pleased that the fast food restaurants have such choices to offer.
But if you wanted to make a good choice - a healthy choice - you’d forget about “driving through” anywhere on a daily basis, and you’d save the junk for your planned cheat meals (although, frankly, I can think of far better ways to spend my “free” calories).
The Subway diet, the Drive Through diet, The Cookie Diet, Kentucky grilled chicken or the Weight Watchers approved McDonalds menu (yes its true, what a pair that is!) Don’t kid yourself - it’s not only not healthy, it’s not healthier – it’s lower calorie junk food.

No matter what the serving size, crap is still crap.”

Chicken Piccata with Capers and Mushrooms Recipe

We made this for dinner last night and it was DELICIOUS...I thought about it last night and could not wait to have it for my first meal of the day! I got the original recipe from eating well. but changed a few things to make it a little healthier! You must try this tonight...you will love it!

Ingredients:

6 ounces whole-dream fields pasta
5 teaspoons all-purpose flour,
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 chicken cutlets (3/4-1 pound total), trimmed
3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 10-ounce package mushrooms, sliced (I used baby portobella)
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine
2 tablespoons lemon juice (I just used the juice from 1 whole lemon)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (I did not use and was still GREAT)
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
1 teaspoons butter

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until just tender, 4 to 6 minutes or according to package directions. Drain and rinse.

Meanwhile, whisk 5 teaspoons flour and broth in a small bowl until smooth. Season chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned and no longer pink in the middle, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate; keep warm.

Heat the remaining 1 teaspoon oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, until they release their juices and begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add garlic and wine to the pan and cook until reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the reserved broth-flour mixture, lemon juice and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.

Stir in parsley, capers, butter and the reserved mushrooms. Measure out 1/2 cup of the mushroom sauce. Toss the pasta in the pan with the remaining sauce. Serve the pasta topped with the chicken and the reserved sauce.

6 Simple Steps to lose weight!

Losing weight does not happen over night and can be very frustrating! But if you are dedicated and REALLY READY then weight loss is simple, burn more calories then you consume. If you can fully understand that then you are on your way to losing weight.

I have talked to some of you about your diet and you have said my diet is too hard for you…well if mine does not work you HAVE to find something that does because to lose weight food and exercise goes hand in hand!

Try this:


1) Count how many calories you eat in a normal day. That's right, wake up, and eat like you would normally eat and count the calories in everything you eat and everything you drink and keep track of it on a piece of paper or on the computer somewhere. You might be thinking to yourself, "yeah right, I'm not going to sit around counting calories all day." Well, if you're thinking that, then you're obviously not dedicated enough to losing weight. If this is the case, then feel free to go waste your money on the newest useless weight loss pill. But, if you are dedicated enough to take 10 minutes out of your day and count the calories, then keep on reading.


2) At the end of that day, add up the number of calories you ate/drank. Be as exact as possible. Once you add it all up, you now have the total number of calories you consume daily. Also, weigh yourself.


3) Starting the day after you counted calories, eat 500 calories LESS then you normally do. So, lets pretend that the day you counted calories you counted 2000. For the rest of the week, you would eat 1500 calories a day. Understand? All you have to do is subtract 500 from the total number of calories you consume in a normal day, and eat this new number of calories every day for the next 7 days.


4) Instead of eating 3 big meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner), or eating all day all the time, spread those calories out over 5 smaller meals. Eat one meal every 2 and a half to 3 hours. Doing this will speed up your metabolism.


5) Cardio and strength training. Both are an important part of weight loss. If you're serious about losing weight, but don't want to do the workouts, then you are requiring your diet to do all of the work…sorry not going to happen!!! Jog, walk, swim, jump rope, ride a bike, SHOW UP TO MY CLASS, whatever... exercise + proper diet = better than just doing one of the two. All it takes is 30 minutes a day, 3 - 5 days a week. I say 3-5 days a week because I don't know if you have 5 pounds to lose, or if you have 50 pounds to lose. So, depending on how much your looking to lose, figure it out. 3 times a week is good starting point though.

6) At the end of that week, weigh yourself. You'll notice a difference just after one week! Now, don't expect to see a 20 pound difference. Losing anymore then 2 pounds a week is unhealthy. So look for a 2 pound weight loss at the end of the week.

Hope this works for you! Remember to lose weight and keep it off you have to find something that works FOR YOU!!! Good luck!

Flat Abs Diet: 7 Low-Fat Dinner Recipes

For those of you looking for some great recipes check these out! If you are watching your carb intake:

Sub
Veggies for brown rice
Dreamfields Pasta for whole wheat pasta
Low Carb Torillas for whole wheat tortillas

Flat Abs Diet: 7 Low-Fat Dinner Recipes

ENJOY!!!

Fat Burning Foods that Speed Up Metabolism

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/fat-burning-foods-that-speed-up-metabolism.html

Fastest Way to Burn FAT!

They have some great tips similar to mine plus some! Good day and lets burn some FAT!!!
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/fastest-way-to-burn-fat.html

Fat vs Muscle

As you can see, the 5 lbs of fat is much bulkier that 5 lbs of muscle, but five pounds is still five pounds. Muscle does not weigh more than fat.

Fat is bulky, lumpy, and is not to pretty to look at! If you carry an extra 5+ pounds of fat, you'll be lumpier than if you had an extra 5+ pounds of muscle. A five pound pile of fat will take up more space (volume) than a five pound pile of muscle. Five pounds is five pounds...and if we have more fat than muscle we want rid of it! Muscle is heavier by volume than fat and if you have more fat than muscle then you will be running into some health problem sooner or later!

Example...A woman weighing 150 pounds with 19% fat will look much smaller and and be much healthier than a woman at 150 pounds with 35% fat. They weigh the same, yet the composition is different. Because muscle is more dense than fat the person with less fat and more muscle will look smaller.

I want that scale to move DOWN...but don't get obsessed with the body weight. Take it day by day and start paying attention to your body composition, the way it looks and feels in your favorite clothes! Remember if you want that scale to move...you not only have to workout but you MUST focus on what your eating! IF my meal plan does not work for you...find one that does!!!

Many people want to lose weight and everyone has different goals, maybe you want the scale to move, tone up, look better in close, feel better in close, get healthy, get off medications, live longer, play with your own children and I am sure many more. Make sure your goals are realistic and focus on how good it will feel to make your goal! In the end you want to lose the fat and gain more muscle. The more muscle you have the more calories you will burn...you have heard me say...you will be a burning furnace!

I hope this helps a little! Have a great day!

Some Information from weightloss.com

10 Diet Foods That Make You Fat

10 Diet Foods That Make You Fat

The FITNESS Guide to Healthy Snacking

The FITNESS Guide to Healthy Snacking

10 Ways to Add More Veggies to Your Diet

10 Ways to Add More Veggies to Your Diet

OUTSIDE

Snow Snow Go Away!!! I am praying that is does NOT snow again! I am excited and ready to go outside! It has been a long cold winter! Lose that winter weight and tone up...spring is around the summer!

So come on Brandon and Sioux Falls give me some feed back...

When we go outside what times would work best? Have a great night!

The 48-Hour Weight-Loss Jump Start

Some of you have been wanting new ideas so read this...maybe you can get motivated again! HAve a great day!

The 48-Hour Weight-Loss Jump Start