Recipe Wednesday - Berry Mojito Smoothies

I'm pretty lazy when it comes to making breakfast and lunch. Dinner, I don't mind spending time to cook, but I'm usually too tired first thing in the morning and, well, I don't really have an excuse for not wanting to prepare a decent lunch, but I don't like doing it. That's why I'm a huge fan of smoothies. It takes what, like a minute to throw a bunch of stuff in a blender? My favorite smoothie recipe uses designer whey powder for protein (you can get it at any health-food store, online or in the organic section of most big grocery stores.) It adds 9 grams of protein per smoothie serving and makes it a more balanced meal. It also uses Crystal Lite in place of plain water, which adds a ton of extra flavor, cuts the weird after taste of the whey protein and only adds 5 calories (depending on the type of Crystal Lite you use). In this smoothie, I used their new mojito flavor. Kraft sent me a free sample and it has a great mint limeade flavor that goes really well with summer berries.

Berry Mojito Smoothie

Ingredients:

2 cups of ice

2 cups frozen mixed berries

1 scoop vanilla designer whey protein

12 oz Mojito Crystal Lite

Blend all ingredients in a blender for 3-5 minutes, until it's frothy and has doubled in volume. Pour into glasses. Makes 24oz or 2 servings. Each serving is about 120 calories.



Portion Control Tips

While I was in Puerto Rico this past March, I had a conversation with my husband's aunt about food here in "The States". One thing I had noticed while we were there was that even though their food is soooo unhealthy (pretty much everything is fried), there weren't nearly as many overweight people as here. She believes the difference is in the portion sizes. They may eat a lot of rich fried foods, but they do it in relatively small proportions, whereas here, we eat food that seems healthier, but we eat way too much of it. She actually said she was "disgusted" with portion sizes here. (I've heard that sentiment from lots of people not from the US) She believes that if restaurants would just start serving correct portion sizes, then obesity would disappear. I think that if restaurants one day just started serving correct portions, people would be outraged, wanting to know where the rest of their food is.

Training yourself to eat less is probably the hardest part about developing a good diet. Even though your stomache eventually shrinks, hunger pains suck for the first couple of weeks. Plus, if you're like me, I eat really fast. I don't know why, but somewhere in my brain, I think there's a belief that someone's going to take my food away if I don't scarf it down. Luckily, I've developed a few tips that have helped.

1) Learn correct portion sizes. Read the box on the foods you eat. Did you know that a portion of meat is 3oz, which is roughly the size of  a deck of playing cards? A 6oz steak is twice the size of a normal portion. A serving of pasta is a 1/2 cup. The average serving of pasta at a restaurant is 2 1/2 cups.

2) Eat on small dishes. I learned this trick from my grandmother. Eat off of salad plates instead of dinner plates. Look for small ice cream bowls at the store and use those for things like cereal. When you fill a whole plate, even a small one, you won't feel like you got ripped off.

3) If you eat out at a restaurant, have the server pack up 1/2 of your meal in a to-go box BEFORE he/she even brings your meal to the table. Then you won't be tempted to overeat.

4) A 3oz piece of steak and a roll isn't going to fill anyone up. Load up on veggies and eat those first. They're almost always low in fat and calories and high in nutrition. You'll feel full by the end of the meal and will have stayed in a healthy calorie range.

5) This one is a little weird, but it works. If you eat really fast, train yourself to eat slower by eating with chopsticks. It's almost impossible to eat fast with two little sticks, unless you're holding them together to act as a shovel while you stuff your face. Use them correctly and eat one piece of food at a time. I also use baby spoons for things like yogurt and ice cream. Smaller bites = longer time to eat. It takes 20 minutes for your body to register that it's full, so forcing yourself to slow down is a good thing.

6) Eat foods that are high in fiber. Fiber fills you up and takes a long time to digest, so you stay fuller longer. Plus, your body typically doesn't absorb the calories from fiber!

History of the Marathon

I was going to do a 5K training progress report today, but there hasn't been much progress, so instead, I thought I would give the history of the marathon. I know I'm not running a marathon, but the history of the 5k probably isn't nearly as interesting.

The marathon originated to commemorate the run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, who ran from the town of Marathon to Athens to deliver the message "Niki!" ("Victory") over the Persian forces in 490 BC. According to legend, Pheidippides ran 24.85 miles, delivered his message then collapsed and died.

The run from Marathon to Athens is now known as the Athens Marathon and was used as the marathon course during the 2004 Olympic Games. The marathon was changed from 24.85 miles to it's current 26.2 miles at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, in order to cover the distance from Windsor Castle to White City Stadium, adding the extra 2.2 miles so that the race could finish in front of the Royal Family's viewing box.

The first modern marathon was won by Spiridon Louis, a Greek postal worker who finished with a time of 2 hrs, 58 minutes and 50 seconds, an average of 7:11 minutes per mile.

If you've ever watched the New York Marathon, (or just some pre-marathon footage, because seriously, who wants to sit and watch people run for hours? That's as torturous as watching golf.) then you know that they always like to ask the runners which celebrity times they're trying to beat. Most people say Oprah, but some other celebs have posted some pretty impressive times. Honestly, just the fact that they can run 26.2 miles is impressive enough, but their finishing times are even moreso.

#1 Lance Armstrong (not surprising. He's basically the bionic man) New York City Marathon 2006 - 2:59:36 (2 hours, 59 minutes, 36 seconds) and 2007 - 2:46:43

#2  Natalie Morales New York City Marathon 2006 - 3:31:02

#3 George W. Bush Houston Marathon 1993 - 3:44:52

#4 Edward Norton New York City Marathon 2009 - 3:48:01

#5 Anthony Edwards Chicago Marathon 2003 - 3:55:40 New York City Marathon 2009 - 4:08:20

#6 Will Ferrell Boston Marathon 2003 - 3:56:12

#7 Sarah Palin Humpy's Marathon 2005 - 3:59:36

#8 Sean Diddy Combs New York City Marathon 2003 - 4:14:54

#9 Alanis Morissette New York City Marathon 2009 - 4:28:45

#10 Oprah Winfrey Marine Corps Marathon 1994 - 4:29:15

For a Little Inspiration

To combat a possible case of the Mondays, I thought I'd pass on a little inspiration, in the form of one of my favorite quotes. It's by an author named Marianne Williamson, from her book A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles." I first heard it in the movie Akeelah and the Bee and since then, I've actually painted it on a canvas for my daughter's room.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."  - Marianne Williamson

Carbs Make You Happy

I've always believed that carbohydrates were the wrongly villainized evil-doers of the nutrient world. People are so quick to blame them for their problems, and toss them out without a thought. Poor carbs... Personally, I can't imagine life without them. I've tried to give them up, but I only made it about 24 hours. It's an addiction. What can I say?

So, what is a carbohydrate? Basically, a carb is anything made up of, or containing sugar or starch molecules. When most people think of carbs, they think of bread and pasta, but the carb family consists of much more. The carb family ranges everywhere from candy and sodas to fruits and veggies. Even dairy products contain carbs.

Carbs are broken down into two types, simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. Simple carbs are those that contain only one or two types of sugar molecules (monosaccharides and disaccharides, saccharide being the scientific name for sugar), while complex carbohydrates are those that contain three or more types of sugar molecules (polysaccharides). In the 70's, the definition was different. Then, complex carbs were any carbs that took longer to digest and were high in fiber, vitamins or minerals, whereas simple carbohydrates were any that were lacking in nutritional value and were quickly digested in the body. This definition catagorized fruits, veggies, whole grains and milk products as complex, but by today's definition, fruits, veggies and milk products are considered simple carbohydrates. Any starchy carb, like bread or potatoes is considered a complex carbohydrate. To really get the benefits of carbs, you should have a diet that includes both simple and complex carbs.

Now you know what a carb is, so what do carbs do? The short answer - carbs give you energy. That's why marathon runners and other athletes "carb load" prior to an event. Here's the how and why, the long answer. Stick with me, it's kind of complicated. The unit measure of energy for food is the calorie. A gram of carbohydrates contains 3.75 calories. It doesn't matter what kind of carb it is, the measure is always the same, 3.75 calories. A gram of protein contains 4 calories and a gram of fat has 9 calories. Like carbs, the type doesn't matter. 1g protein = 4 calories, 1g fat = 9 calories. So why do we turn to carbs for energy when fat and protein have more energy to give? Because the body burns what's easiest first. A lot of the calories in protein can't be broken down, and fat has to be converted to a burnable form first. The easiest energy source for the body to consume is glucose, a sugar and thus a carb. In the absence of glucose, the body will convert fatty deposits into glycogen and burn that (this is the basis behind no-carb diets), but the process takes awhile, so there is no immediate energy to use. If you want energy right away, go with carbs.

Maybe the instant energy boost is why I believe that carbs make you happy. There's no other scientfic basis to my theory, but if you've ever tried to give them up, you probably know what I'm talking about. I tried carb cycling once (varying the time and amount that you eat carbs) for a week and I would never recommend it. It was probably the most miserable week of my life. By the end, I was a very angry little person. And I didn't lose any more weight that I would have on my normal diet with a little more exercise. I'd be willing to bet that if you did a diet poll of serial killers, that at least half are on a low-carb, no-carb diet. Not that I think it's an excuse, but I can see how that would drive someone to murder.

Recipe Wednesday - Salmon Burgers

Since Father's Day is this Sunday, I thought today's recipe should be a good one for dads. This recipe for salmon burgers, from The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook, is a great, healthy alternative to the standard beef burger. Salmon is high in Omega-3, an essential fatty acid, believed to aid in everything from cardiovascular health to the immune system. One important thing to know when purchasing salmon in that wild salmon is much healthier than farm-raised salmon. Not only are farm-raised salmon higher in fat content than wild, but the food given to farm-raised salmon is full of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), a compound made up of up to 209 different chemicals. Studies have shown that farm-raised salmon contain anywhere from 10-16x the amount of PCBs as wild salmon.

SALMON BURGERS

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless salmon filets

1/4 cup minced sweet onion

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

4 tsp prepared horseradish

1/2 tsp Old Bay 30% Less Sodium seasoning

4 tbsp low-fat mayonnaise

4 whole grain or whole wheat hamburger buns

4 small green leaf lettuce leaves

4 large slices of tomato

Cut salmon into cubes and place in a food processor fitted with a chopping blade. Pulse until the salmon is about the consistency of ground beef. Transfer into a mixing bowl and stir in the onion, parsley, 2 tsp of horseradish and the Old Bay.

Divide the mixture into 4 equal portions and shape into patties, about 4" in diameter.

Place a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, spray with a non-stick spray, add patties and cook 2-3 minutes on each side, until lightly brown and patties are cooked through. They should be pale pink all the way through.

Meanwhile, mix the mayonnaise with remaining 2 tsp horseradish until well combined. Place each bun bottom on a plate and layer with patty, a lettuce leaf and a slice of tomato. Spread 1 tbsp of the mayo mixture on the bun top and serve. Makes 4 servings.

Scary Obesity Statistics

In 2004, the US Center for Disease Control, or CDC, listed obesity as the #1 health threat in the United States. It surpassed cancer as the leading cause of death. Currently, obesity is the contributing factor in roughly 400,000 deaths in the United States a year.

In 2008, the medical costs from obesity and obesity-related illnesses was a jaw-dropping $147 billion!

In 2009, the CDC's surveys found that 34 states had populations in which more than 25% of the citizens were obese. In 2000, ZERO states had populations over 25%. This number continues to rise every year.

Studies show that 17%, or 12.5 million children and adolescents are obese, triple what it was in 1980.

1 in 7 preschool aged children from low-income areas are obese.

Obesity can lead to serious diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, metabolic syndrome and polycystic ovary syndrome, as well causing infertility in both men and women.

The severly overweight spend more money on healthcare in their lives than smokers.

 

5K Training - Progress report #1

I've never been able to run. I mean ever. Even as a kid, I could never run the whole mile in P.E. It was always a source of embarassment for me, one of the few things I've ever completely failed at. I walk 3-5 miles a day, every day, but the second you add that little jump in the step that separates the walk from the jog, my body immediately thinks, "Oh my god! I'm going to die!" The worst feeling in the world is when you run and run and run until your knees buckle, your heart's beating out of your chest and you lungs are going to explode... then you turn around and you can still see your house.

As part of Operation "Get Awesome", I swore that I would conquer this inability to run. That's how I came up with one of the worst ideas I've ever had in my life (or at least it seems that way at the moment.) I made it a goal to run a 5k this year. So, on September 10th, I will be in Illinois, running the Underground Railroad 5k with my sister. I would say sisters, but I'm pretty sure the other one is boycotting this whole business.

The great thing about having my sister as a running buddy for my first run is that she can't run either, so I'm not so alone in my misery. The other day, the beautiful and athletic Ms. Lauren Rhodes, suggested I check out the 5k training plans on runnersworld.com. The following is a message correspondence between my sister and I regarding the training plans. I thought it was funny, so I figured I'd share.

ME:
"This friend recommended I go to runnersworld.com because they have good training plans for 5k's. So I did and selected '5k for beginners.'

"week 1: day 1: run 2 miles at an easy pace."

Someone doesn't know what 'beginner' means..."

TRICIA:
"Hahahaha... Yeah, I didn't know that "run" came in the form of "easy pace"... I must be doing it wrong! Lol. Do they have 5k for toddlers? That might be more appropriate for me!"

See what I mean? It helps to have a workout buddy to make you feel better! Thanks Trish. :P

Recipe Wednesday - Cauliflower "Mash" Potatoes

I've always loved cauliflower, but I've found throughout the years that other lovers of this humble vegetable are few and far between. I guess it's because, on it's own, cauliflower doesn't have a whole lot of flavor. It's a shame, because cauliflower is loaded with vitamin C and very low in calories. A 1 cup serving of raw cauliflower rings in at only 25 calories and 91% of your daily value of vitamin C.

In the past year, cauliflower has finally been getting some respect in the restaurant world, and one of it's most popular uses is as a low-cal substitute for potatoes, like in this cauliflower mashed potato recipe. I found this recipe a few years ago in a cookbook called "Cook Yourself Thin", and I love it. It substitutes 1/2 of the potatoes with cauliflower, but by using yukon gold potatoes, you still get a ton of flavor. Yukon golds have a light buttery flavor that pairs great with the garlicy taste from the scallions. I cooked this dish for a weightloss pot luck and it was a hit! Best of all, the haters won't even know there's cauliflower in it!

Cauliflower "Mash" Potatoes

Ingredients:

1/2 large head of cauliflower, broken into florets (about 8 cups)

1/2 cup nonfat buttermilk

1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/2" slices

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup lowfat milk

1/4 pepper

1 tbsp butter

2 scallions, chopped

Place cauliflower in a steamer basket and set over boiling water. Cover and steam for 15 minutes. Transfer to a food processor, add the buttermilk and 1/4 cup of milk and puree until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Meanwhile, place potatoes in a saucpan, add cold salted water to cover by about 2 inches, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, return to saucepan and heat over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes to dry. Mash with a potato masher. Add cauliflower puree, 1/4 cup milk, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir to blend, heat over med-low heat, adding more milk as needed to get the desired consistency. Stir in butter and scallions, and serve.

Strength Training - the Necessary Evil

I think all women are taught somewhere in their formative years that if you lift weights, you'll grow up to look like a dude. And if we aren't taught that, somehow, the idea gets put in our brains. Maybe it's just one of the irrefutable truths that women just know, like all men are jerks and shopping cures depression.

My husband used to be a really small guy, 5'8" and 135 lbs. He got into weightlifting to gain weight, but he found that he enjoyed it so much that he wanted me to do it with him. I refused, of course, because I was trying to lose weight, not look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. No matter how many times he tried to convince me that I wouldn't bulk up from lifting, I held firm to my convictions. It wasn't until I went to one of his powerlifting meets and saw some of the girls competing that I finally admitted to myself that I might be wrong. Those girls looked better equipped for bucket tosses and front flips on a cheerleading mat than for deadlifts and bench presses in the gym.

The truth is, weightlifting is an essential part of any fitness regimen, and growing muscle to the point of bulk is a lot harder than it sounds. It doesn't just happen. You have to eat an insane amount of calories to build that much muscle. (To get from 150-180, my husband had to consume upwards of 4,000 calories a day!) Strength training, in combination with a healthy relatively low-cal diet, will build lean muscle and that sculpted toned look that we all wish for.

When I talk about strength training, I'm not referring to little 3-10 lb hand weights. Those are better suited to holding during a cardio routine. I'm talking about real weight. The kind where you break a sweat after one set, and your muscles feel like jelly by the end of your workout. FYI - if you're not sore for a few days after a strength workout, you need to step it up. That feeling of soreness comes from your muscles repairing themselves, so if you don't feel it, then your workout wasn't strenuous enough and you didn't reap the benefits.

Vigorous weightlifting burns 8-10 calories per minute, so a 30 minute session burns roughly 240-300 calories. That's slightly less than intense cardio like running, but weightlifting has a much larger afterburn (the calories burned after the workout is over), since your muscles have to repair themselves and the body uses calories to do that. Muscle also requires more calories to maintain than fat does, because muscle is constantly being broken down and rebuilt, even when you aren't working out. Fat just kind of sits there, being fat. So, the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism. It's actually because of the fact that muscle mass increases your metabolism that body builders and powerlifters have to consume so many calories. They've pretty much burned the food off before it hits their lips. There are guys on my husbands team that are 230 lbs of solid muscle, but have to eat loaded large pizzas drowned in ranch dressing and olive oil in order to keep their weight up.

Those girls at the powerlifting meet who looked like cheerleaders, probably were. Anyone who can toss another human being into the air and then catch them, has to have seen their fair share of barbells. If you ever look into the workout regimens of Victoria's Secret models, you'll find that they involve a LOT of weightlifting. They actually spend their lunch breaks doing lunges down the hall with a squat bar! (Little known fact - supermodels are crazy-strong, like gorillas.)

You can lose weight and be thin without strength training, but you'll never achieve that elusive "toned" look that you're after without some heavy lifting. You'll just walk around being skinny and jiggly, what my husband I refer to as a skinny-fat person. And you'll always have to count calories because your metabolism will be slow as molasses.

MyPlate

On Thursday, the USDA, in partnership with First Lady Michelle Obama, officially said goodbye to the food pyramid, and ushered in the new MyPlate icon.

I, for one, could not be more excited. It's pretty much the coolest thing to happen to food guidelines since... well, ever. I hated the food pyramid. No one past the 5th grade actually used that thing. It was hard to read and even harder to remember. I don't believe I've ever met a single person who told me, "I try and follow the food pyramid guidelines." If you don't remember it, here's a refresher.

Go ahead and say your goodbyes. I'll give you a moment...

Now, say hello to his replacement, MyPlate! *round of applause*

How much better is that?! About 100x, right? A plain and simple visualization of the dietary guidelines. More focus on fruits and veggies than the pyramid, which is a good thing, since they're almost always full of vitamins and minerals and low in fat and calories. I especially love the little circle for dairy. They should combine two initiatives in one and write "Got Milk?" in there.

I think it will make it easier, not only for adults, but especially for kids to eat better. You can make it a game, like a puzzle. Laminate a picture of the MyPlate for your kid to use as a placemat and see if they can make their meal match the picture.

I had to laugh when I first heard about this, because literally less than a week ago, I had a conversation with my roommate about serving sizes. He said that he has a hard time figuring out how much a serving size is of certain foods. I told him that he should focus on making every plate 1/2 fruits and veggies, 1/4 meat and 1/4 grain or starch. I love it when I'm right. I'm going to pretend like I willed this into existence. I'm kidding. This "plate concept" has been around forever, but I'd like to personally thank the lovely Michelle Obama for recognizing it on such a grand scale.

Kudos First Lady!

Why Sugar Rots Your Teeth

How many times did your parents tell you that too much sugar rots your teeth? I know I heard it all the time. Of course, I never understood why I couldn't have as much sugar as I wanted, as long as I brushed twice a day. A couple swipes with my trusty old toothbrush and problem solved, right?

The truth is that it isn't the contact with sugar on your teeth that rots them at all. Any food left on the teeth can become a breeding ground for bacteria that eat away at the enamel and cause cavities (which are literally holes in your teeth that can hurt like Hades, for anyone lucky enough to have never had one.)

Sugar rots them in a different way. Let me start by saying that not all sugar is created Equal (haha Equal... get it? Sorry, moving on.) Your body requires specific minerals to digest sugar, specifically magnesium, calcium and potassium. Natural sugars in plants, like raw cane sugar, stevia, agave nectar and the sugars from fruits and vegetables, already contain all of the minerals needed for the body to digest them. However, when the sugars are processed, to make white sugar, brown sugar (which is just white sugar with molasses added) or syrups, they're stripped of their minerals. In order to digest these processed sugars, the body is forced to pull the potassium, magnesium and calcium from other places, like your bones and teeth, weakening them.

Even though artifical sweeteners aren't actually sugar, they have the same effect on your teeth as sugar, because they are digested the same way and require the same minerals. Unlike sugar, which contains nutrients in it's raw form, artificial sweeteners never contained any minerals, so you can't switch to a different kind to defend yourself. It's best just to kick the artificial habit and switch to an all-natural sweetener. Your teeth and bones will thank you for it!