Ice Cream Cravings

It’s that time again… the heat is on! We all start getting warmed up and craving ice cream. Unless you are like me and crave ice cream regardless of the weather.  Either way, there are times you crave ice cream and that can be very tough when you are trying to eat healthy.

I’m not saying don’t indulge in ice cream on occasion.  I never say to cut out indulgences 100%. I will say that there are times to have these heavy-duty, high calorie, sugar laden desserts… like birthdays, weddings, family reunions, etc.  The problem I see is when you have these delicious melt-in-your-mouth treats multiple times a week.  If you are like me, this is a true problem. I crave ice cream constantly in the summer heat.  Winter time I’m all about the hot chocolate, fall is for pumpkin lattes, spring and summer are times for ice cream.

Post-run frozen treat? Yes, please!

I’ve recently turned to fro-yo shops to help me curb my cravings.  It’s not the best option but I do like how I can control the portions.  It’s also theoretically better for you. Theoretically. I haven’t done a lot of research on that fact so I won’t defend it.  I do think it’s lighter on the stomach than ice cream and you can easily control your toppings.  For someone watching their food, it’s helpful.

My personal choice…

Here’s a new trick I’m trying out.  Last summer I tried making my own homemade fro-yo… with mixed results. It also took more effort than going to a fro-yo shop.  When you need to curb a craving with a better option, you have to make that option equally convenient.  If you don’t, let’s be honest, you will go with the convenient craving you are trying to curb.

So here it is… freeze yogurts.  Go pick up some delicious flavors of greek yogurt cups and stock up your freezer. I’ve just tried one and it curbed my craving.  It’s frosty, creamy, delicious and healthy!  You’ll have a serving size determined for you and it’ll even last longer than a soft serve fro-yo.  Better yet, it’ll add much needed protein to your diet!  You can always add some toppings if you’d like. Maybe some fruit or granola?

Enjoy your summer and don’t feel guilty about your pleasures!

Perfect!

How I lost 4 pounds with peanut butter

It’s a thing of beauty!

My mother was visiting last weekend.  Among all the fun things that go along with having ones mother visit, there are dietary issues to account for.  Usually it’s intolerance’s, diabetes, allergies, etc. My mother has decided to be on a bikini fitness model diet, one which she has received from my brother’s wife.  Now you see, my brother’s wife used to be a bikini fitness model/competitor so at least this time around my mother has an actual expert helping her make dietary choices. This is fantastic since my mom has been borderline anorexic for years now. So to see her eat anything is great.

For those who don’t know, this kind of diet requires a lot of spinach, egg whites, chicken and blueberries.  It’s nutritious, high in protein, low in fats and sugars and is repetitive. You eat the same thing day in and day out.  My mother has been doing a fantastic job in sticking to the plan and has lost 30 pounds in 6 months while eating 3x as much food!

This takes more work than a lot of people realize.

So my mother visited and like all visits, she judged everything.  This time she judged my food choices in a different way. Before I was eating too much, now I eat the wrong things.  I, too am eating high protein. This is not a diet, this is a lifestyle change. I eat what I eat to build muscles, not lose weight, so I eat fat as well. Because it’s delicious and replaces sugar… which is where I reached an issue when I started.

Cookies are my weakness. They are delicious, require no silverware/plates/prep and are the perfect grab’n’go guilty pleasure.  I have had to replace my cookie cravings with something better.  Earlier I shared my protein balls. This time, I will share my latest trick on my brain.

The banana-peanut butter snack.  Many, many people already know this amazing snack.  You take a pealed banana, smother it in peanut butter and snack away!  Peanut butter is actually one of the nut butters with the highest protein per serving. A serving of peanut butter packs around 7 grams of protein. It also has fat, thus my mother judged.  Keep it within serving sizes and I think you’re safe. Look for a brand that limits the ingredients. I prefer the organic brands and I always read the labels.  You can find delicious versions with nothing but peanuts and salt. Less is more on this one.

I have been working out (running, lifting, yoga & Muay Thai) 6 days a week for months now and held strong at 200 pounds the entire time.  I changed to a higher protein lifestyle, I eat 5-6 times a day and I’ve lost 4 pounds in the last month.  While eating peanut butter daily. My point? Do not deny yourself for weight loss, just make smarter plans to include your treats.  Eat the right foods, the right portions, workout and your body will follow.  Sure, some people are motivated individuals who can hold to restrictive diets with superhuman strength. I believe these people are the exception of the rule. The rule is the more you deny yourself, the more likely you are to fail.  Life is short, be happy and stay healthy.

You have a lifetime to be healthy and happy.  Losing 10 pounds in 10 days means nothing, this isn’t a race. Keep on your path and have faith in the right methods.

Peanut Butter Protein Cookies

It’s Valentine’s Day, which means we are once again bombarded by sweets.  Every holiday seems to be a day to indulge in sweets.  I’m not one to say we shouldn’t, either.  Sweets every once in awhile, among the many days of healthy eating you stick to, can actually be good for the longevity of your new healthy eating lifestyle.  For one, it’s a lifestyle not a diet and there is almost no humanly way to avoid sweets the rest of your life.

So you want to have sweets without feeling guilty or like you fell off the wagon so hard you might as well light it on fire.  Here is my solution.  Make these peanut butter protein cookies.  For one, they have protein so at least you are getting something out of it and not just junk.  Also, (depending on the protein powder and peanut butter you use) they qualify as clean eating.  What is clean eating?  Well to put it simply, it’s where you eat the food around the store and not in the processed middle aisles.  It’s food you can identify and know where it comes from.  No hidden chemical shit-storm, just real food.

Here’s the best part… these are ridiculously easy to make.

1. Mix together: 1 cup peanut butter, 1 egg, 1 cup sugar and 1 scoop protein powder.
2. Take dough and roll balls about an inch thick in your hands.  Place on cookie sheet and press them flat with a fork.
3. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 7 minutes.  Take out, let cool and enjoy!

To be honest, these come out to about 223 each small cookie.  They have about 8 grams of protein in each of them and 13 grams of carbs.  So these are not carb free or low calorie… in my opinion, though, if I was about to eat a chocolate cake at least these have protein and are portion controlled.

Life is what you make it and the holidays are too.  If you want the sweets, eat the damn sweets! You deserve it if you live most days of the year eating clean/healthy as possible.  If a small peanut butter cookie can keep you from inhaling a box of Dove chocolates and you’ll feel better about it in the end of the day, they I suggest you do it.

The Scrambler

It’s been a long time since I’ve talked about food. Which is a shame. Because I love food.

Actual photo of my desk… my coworkers are cruel

To be honest, I love carbs.  Not the healthy whole grains and vegetables but the donuts and pasta.  Low quality carbs are my Achilles heel.  So I’ve recently (New Years Resolution in coming) decided to actively attempt to cut back on carbs. I’m not cutting them out completely. Carbs are good, they fuel your body and a runner depends on them.  I’m cutting out the junk carbs and ramping up my vegetables mostly.  And with that plan came a problem with my meal planning. You see a lot of my meals revolve around sandwiches.  Sandwiches are not bad, but I could do better than fill myself with supermarket bread.  So I invented my scrambler.

It happened quite by accident.  I had a rotisserie chicken in the fridge, had a cold and was craving eggs.  Quite a strange mix of circumstances, I know.  Anyways, I decided to scramble up some eggs with the chicken and that gave me an idea.  What if I take my normal salmon-avocado sandwich… and put it in a scrambled egg.  If you don’t like salmon or the smell of fish this is not for you.  My poor roommate has to live with a house that smells like salmon.  I think it’s lovely myself.

Here’s the recipe, the serving size is for one person:

Ingredients:

2 eggs, whipped up with almond milk
Frozen pepper/onion blend vegetables
Mrs. Dash Chipotle seasoning (no salt!)
Pink Salmon (canned, bagged or cooked and flaked if you have it!)
Avocado (half of a large avocado)
Optional:  Sharp cheddar

Steps:

1. Whip up the eggs with the almond milk and pour mixture into skillet over medium heat.
2. Season eggs in skillet.  Toss in some peppers/onions, as much as desired.  Stir occasionally while it cooks.
3. Put salmon is skillet with eggs, preferably while it’s still uncooked so you get an egg coating.  I use about 4 oz. salmon.
4. Cut up or smash (whichever way you prefer) your avocado and place on a plate.
5. When eggs are finished cooking, toss in some cheese if you’d like and melt in.
6. Place scrambled eggs on avocado and enjoy!

I wish I had a picture to share! This is a very tasty, very filling meal I have for most lunches.  It will keep you full for hours, thanks to all the protein.  It can make a fabulous breakfast if you have time before running out the door.  I prefer a parfait myself to start fresh!

I should try adding tomatoes… that sounds amazing too!

Try it out and customize it to make it your own! I’d love to hear your variations, variety is good!

THE Protein Shake

If you’ve gotten into fitness, training, weight-lose, etc and done any research on what to be eating, inevitably you have heard about the wonders of protein shakes.  Protein shakes have their positives and negatives, supporters and nay-sayers.  I personally do not train at such a level to need or require a daily/after workout shake.  I would say at my rather casually athletic level, an occasional shake as either a meal replacement or supplement on particularly hardy days is a good choice.

As I’ve mentioned, there are pro’s and con’s to high protein diets.  A protein shake fits nicely into a high protein diet and is more ideal for the rigorously training athletic elites at the gym.  The general athletic level individual can get some benefits from indulging in these shakes on occassion.  In fact, I would say a well planned protein shake can be as satisfying for you as a dessert but with much better nutritional value for your indulgence. My word of advice here is moderation.  Having a protein shake as a regular part of your diet without either substituting a meal or hitting the gym till you can barely function will add inches to your waistline and you will lose benefits rather than gain any.

If you have already developed your own protein shake recipe this may be a nice one to switch things up. If you’re particularly new and wondering where to start I will hopefully be able to offer you some inspiration.  My shake recipe is more of a guideline of ingredients that I usually mix by preference.  Some people like certain ingredient more than others, and the beauty is in the personalization.  For starters I would suggest following serving size suggestions and eye-balling it to make sure you have a good consistency.

I am going to list ingredients in order of how I plop them in my blender.  Over trial and error I have discovered a ‘better’ layering technique that doesn’t jam my old, cheap blender. If you have a Ninja… lucky you!

• Greek Yogurt:  I use plain 0% fat greek yogurt, usually a few dollops of my favorite Faye I constantly keep on hand.
• Protein Powder:  Luckily these come with handy serving size scoops. Any protein powder works, this is what they are made for. I currently am trying to use up my Body Fortress Chocolate & Peanut Butter. I feel obligated to finish and not waste, even if I am lactose-intolerant and regret my decision to get this type.  Body Fortress is a Whey-Protein powder, which is a type that dominates the current market. They are good form of digestible protein, made from a bi-product of cheese production, and from my experience they have the best consistency and flavor. They are also a dairy product so if you are like me use at your own risk. There are vegan varieties available as well.
• Peanut Butter:  I like creamy peanut butter… you can use crunchy if you want a special kick.  Peanut butter brings added iron to the table along with the protein.  It’s also delicious, helps make a smooth shake and is always on hand in my house.
• Blueberries: Helpful tip, use frozen berries.  This is a perfect way to firm up and cool the shake without adding ice that will water it down. And don’t hold back! The blueberries add great flavor and are considered a superfood!  These little delicious morsels have vitamins, magnesium and even protein… and plenty of healthy sugar. Who doesn’t want a sugary superfood?!
• Chia Seeds:  Chia seeds are actually seeds from a grass plant. They are itty-bitty things that you can pour in, blend and sip without even noticing they are in the shake. Chai Seeds are considered another superfood, mostly due to their high Omega-3 content without being an animal product. The health benefits are all over the internet, just google them and read all the wonderful news. Honestly it may seem strange at first… I remember being a little unsure… but they really are an good addition that passes unnoticed more often than not.
• Banana:  OOooh I shouldn’t have to tell you why you need banana’s.  These are an important fruit for both nutrition and flavor. What shake is complete without the delicious banana?
• Milk:  Now when all is said and done, check out your blending shake.  If your portions of ingredients are on the dry side you will know when nothing actually blends. For times like that I add almond milk to help make the shake a real shake.

This is more of our family secret shake to be honest. When I was first setting out of my weight-lose/get healthy journey I had asked my older brother for advice/guidance.  Now you see, this brother is the most fit person I know. He is the individual who can drink a protein shake, run a mountain, come back down and drink another.  He suggested when I first started to revamp my food choices that I substitute the occasional meal with a protein shake. Since I had no idea how to go about that, he showed me his secret list of ingredients.  I found the combination rather repulsing to start, something about berries and peanut butter just made the whole thing questionable to my mind.  However I tried it, for the record he likes more berries than I do, and I have since been turned to the protein shake fan club.

Hope you have fun trying your own shake! Keep your options open, don’t take this list to be the end-all-be-all for shake manufacture.  There are always new findings in nutrition health, and any time you come across a tasty superfood that you think may work just throw it in and try it! Happy shaking this summer!