I've had quite a few people lately tell me that they are trudging to lose weight. The first questions I ask is, "Well, how often are you eating"? Five women this week have all replied, "Well that's just the thing, I'm only eating once a day"! So I figured I'd share some thoughts on this. Your body has no idea that this is 2014- your body is functioning the same way as it would have if you were born 2,000 years ago. We are very primal beings and our body has some pretty basic functions and concepts that regulate it.
First, you have to eat within two hours of waking up.
If you are one of many people who are not hungry in the morning, you figure you'll save the calories by skipping breakfast altogether. Actually what you are doing is telling your metabolism that you are still sleeping. You are basically saying to you body is "stay asleep, don't increase my metabolism, don't burn any calories". So that is what your body does and throughout your day you burn minimal calories. By eating first thing in the morning you say, "HEY WAKE UP and burn some calories! That initial meal jump starts everything for your whole day.
Breakfast doesn't have to be big or well thought out. During the week I am a huge fan of hard boiled adds, oatmeal, and Greek yogurt. It can be something small- but make it something high protein.
Second, you have to eat often.
Skipping meals sound like a great way to save calories and be more of the productive super woman you are. However, by skipping meals your body goes back to those caveman instincts and thinks you might be starving. Your body has no idea when you will eat again and therefore it cannot afford to burn frivolous calories. SO- you body slows it's metabolism and the next time you DO eat- your body will hoard every calorie and ounce of fat! This is a basic fear concept- "I have no idea when our next meal is coming so I am going to conserve EVERYTHING so we don't die. By eating every 4-5 hours your body is assured that you are not starving, that it can freely burn calories and fat. Eat!
Now please don't take this as me saying eat a high meals every 4-5 hours- no. Ideally your meals will be around 400 calories and 1-2 snacks of 150 calories. Again, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, high protein.
Lastly, find out what works for you.
Experiment with foods. See how long you can stay full by eating eggs for breakfast, then the next day see how long you are satisfied with oatmeal, etc, etc. You will find that your body works better and more efficiently with certain foods over others.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
And….. I'm Back
Well it's been quite the hiatus. I'd love to say it was all fun vacation leisure time but truth be told there have been a lot of family related events/tasks/commitments- some happier than others. When you get bogged down with life events, stress, and well..craziness- where do you find your outlet? Is it work? Exercise? Spending time with friends/loved ones? I think that can be very different for each of us.
No matter what your outlet is -I urge you to find it and be aware of what works best for you. A few things I have learned over the last few months is how to find balance, how to let go of what is unimportant, and find time for myself in each day. That's what ultimately keeps me happy and sane. I tend to stress over things like laundry, making a healthy dinner, making sure the house is clean, making sure I am on top of everything with work, making sure I am keeping up with this blog, working out more often than not, etc, etc. I'm sure you are all the same- however there just isn't time in each day to check each of those things off the list and that's where I can sometimes get frazzled. I sometimes think of my day or myself as a failure if I don't accomplish all of the above mentioned things in a seamless manner, all while looking cool, calm, and collected. That was until a few months ago when I found my balance. Through some ups and downs in my family life and through much endless support from Adam I was able to learn that I am not a superwoman- nor do I need to be. My house won't always have all the laundry done, it won't always be spotless (far from it), and there will be nights when I say - "let's order pizza- I'm tired" AND THAT'S OK. I think in this era of Pinterest and craft wizards and supermom's who blog about making homemade butter and bread- we normal people can be left to feel a little ..well..subpar. I urge to to let that feeling go- if you are anything like me and want to be everything, do everything- you know how it can be..I have realized that age 30 I am who I am- I'm not a Betty Crocker stay at home mom who doesn't sleep, finds joy in scrubbing floors, and always has makeup/hair done for my husband-it's just not. I'm a hard working career woman who enjoys spending time with my better half and my dog, trying new recipes, drinking wine, laughing and being happy- and when there's time left over to do the mundane chores I will.
Here's what I found works for me…
1- I set goals for each day- and there are no more than 3 of them.
2- I take an hour to do whatever I want everyday- some days that is working out and some days it's planting my ass on the couch and looking on FB
3- I say "who cares' about something everyday- maybe the laundry needs doing and I don't have time today or maybe I over indulged on Chinese food last night- regardless I let it go..I'm human
I write this today as a transition back into blogging- it's been a few months and while I've been silent on the front- I have been gathering a ton of ideas I can't wait to write about. I think today's blog was more of a therapeutic release for me and hopefully some of you can relate and learn to let go of the silly things in life and learn to enjoy the here and now. My goal for this entire blog is to reach people on a personal level and give people the motivation to be strong and move closer to their goals- we all have set backs, but what's important is that we learn from them and become better.
Much Love,
Brittany
No matter what your outlet is -I urge you to find it and be aware of what works best for you. A few things I have learned over the last few months is how to find balance, how to let go of what is unimportant, and find time for myself in each day. That's what ultimately keeps me happy and sane. I tend to stress over things like laundry, making a healthy dinner, making sure the house is clean, making sure I am on top of everything with work, making sure I am keeping up with this blog, working out more often than not, etc, etc. I'm sure you are all the same- however there just isn't time in each day to check each of those things off the list and that's where I can sometimes get frazzled. I sometimes think of my day or myself as a failure if I don't accomplish all of the above mentioned things in a seamless manner, all while looking cool, calm, and collected. That was until a few months ago when I found my balance. Through some ups and downs in my family life and through much endless support from Adam I was able to learn that I am not a superwoman- nor do I need to be. My house won't always have all the laundry done, it won't always be spotless (far from it), and there will be nights when I say - "let's order pizza- I'm tired" AND THAT'S OK. I think in this era of Pinterest and craft wizards and supermom's who blog about making homemade butter and bread- we normal people can be left to feel a little ..well..subpar. I urge to to let that feeling go- if you are anything like me and want to be everything, do everything- you know how it can be..I have realized that age 30 I am who I am- I'm not a Betty Crocker stay at home mom who doesn't sleep, finds joy in scrubbing floors, and always has makeup/hair done for my husband-it's just not. I'm a hard working career woman who enjoys spending time with my better half and my dog, trying new recipes, drinking wine, laughing and being happy- and when there's time left over to do the mundane chores I will.
Here's what I found works for me…
1- I set goals for each day- and there are no more than 3 of them.
2- I take an hour to do whatever I want everyday- some days that is working out and some days it's planting my ass on the couch and looking on FB
3- I say "who cares' about something everyday- maybe the laundry needs doing and I don't have time today or maybe I over indulged on Chinese food last night- regardless I let it go..I'm human
I write this today as a transition back into blogging- it's been a few months and while I've been silent on the front- I have been gathering a ton of ideas I can't wait to write about. I think today's blog was more of a therapeutic release for me and hopefully some of you can relate and learn to let go of the silly things in life and learn to enjoy the here and now. My goal for this entire blog is to reach people on a personal level and give people the motivation to be strong and move closer to their goals- we all have set backs, but what's important is that we learn from them and become better.
Much Love,
Brittany
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Are Your "Healthy" Drinks Making You Fat?
The 'health & wellness" industry is booming. People worldwide are spending billions of dollars on energy drinks, supplements, health programs, and "all natural" products that claim to make us slimmer, healthier, happier, and well..just better... And who doesn't want to be better? So we buy it..
For that reason many companies are on the bandwagon to sell us "healthy drinks" that are great choices for everyday living- TREAD LIGHTLY HERE... Not all of these brands are healthful. Just because a label says "all natural" or "made from real fruit" does not mean it is low calories or fat. These drinks can quickly pack on the pounds faster than a starving model at a Pillsbury Bake Off competition.
Take a look at some offenders..Are you drinking any of these??
Keep in mind that your drinks should not have calories or sugar-
Remember that the American Heart Association recommends only 24 grams of sugar A DAY.
Daily Greens has 180 calories and 19 g sugar
Berry Boost Smoothie has 260 calories and 28g sugar
Naked Drinks
Acai Machine has 320 calories and 48 g of sugar
Better Option: Vitamin water does have a line called vitamin water zero-
with zero cals/sugar. Please watch your labels!
Medium Frozen Coffee Coolata with milk has 420 cal, 77g sugar
Medium Frozen Caramel Coolata with cream has 800 calories and 98g of sugar
That's the sugar equivalent of three cups of chocolate ice cream!
Better Option: Dunkin Donuts does have a DDSmart label on healthier options such as an iced coffee with cream (70 calories and 0 g of sugar)
Medium Frozen Caramel Coolata with cream has 800 calories and 98g of sugar
That's the sugar equivalent of three cups of chocolate ice cream!
Better Option: Dunkin Donuts does have a DDSmart label on healthier options such as an iced coffee with cream (70 calories and 0 g of sugar)
Friday, March 14, 2014
Happy St Patricks Day- Irish Potatoes Makeover!
So what's a girl to do? Remake it.
Here is my version of Irish Potatoes without the guilt.
P.S. this was my cooking helper on this snowy day..
Irish Potatoes
Ingredients:
3 scoops Vanilla Protein Powder ( I use muscle milk but use whatever you have)
1/4 c philadelphia whipped cream cheese
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp splenda
1/4 - 1/2 c shredded coconut depending on how much you want
1/4 - 1/2 c almond milk ( or skim milk)
A couple tablespoons of cinnamon ( just coat the bottom of a small plate/bowl)
Mix first 5 ingredients in a small bowl. Add your milk in gradually to form a soft dough consistency. This varied for me from 1/4-1/2 c depending on the batch. You don't want it dry but also not wet- make sense :)??
Looks like this
Form dough into small balls, drop into the cinnamon and coat. Makes about 14 pieces.
Nutritional info
(Per 2 pieces)
Theirs: Mine:
Calories- 100 110
Sugar- 22 grams 3 grams
Carbs 22 grams 4.8 grams
Protein- 0 9 grams
More room for green beer!! Cheers!
Monday, March 10, 2014
Protein Pancakes
Traditional pancakes suck. There it is. They are calorie/carb bombs that do nothing to get you closer to your fitness goals. Not to mention- they're usually boring. That being said- "healthy" pancake mixes can vary greatly from tasting like chalk to more like dirt. In my experience, making pancakes out of whole wheat flour is always a bad idea so stay away from it.
I've made many health pancake recipes and reached high and low for a delicious tasting but healthy option and I've finally found it. The original recipe was posted by Mama Laughlin who I adore. I altered it to make a few different flavors to prevent boredom.
Basic Recipe
Ingredients:
-1 cup oats
-1/2 Tsp vanilla
-1 ripe banana
-1/2 Tsp vanilla
-1 ripe banana
-2 whole eggs (or 4 egg whites)
-dash of Cinnamon
-1 scoop Chocolate Protein Powder (you can use any kind of protein powder you have, I use muscle milk, mama laughlin uses Dymatize)
-a splash of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
-dash of Cinnamon
-1 scoop Chocolate Protein Powder (you can use any kind of protein powder you have, I use muscle milk, mama laughlin uses Dymatize)
-a splash of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Take 1 cup of oats, scoop of protein powder, and cinnamon and put them in the food processor until it forms a fine powder.
In a separate bowl mash the banana and add in eggs and vanilla.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix. Add in almond milk until it is makes a pancake batter mixture that you prefer. Looks like so..
Cook it up as usual..this part is mind-blowing I know..
So that's the basic recipe- and YUM YUM it is…
Here are the variations I did.
Vanilla Parfait Pancakes
Sub chocolate protein powder for vanilla, add a dash of nutmeg to the cinnamon. Mix in blueberries, strawberries, and/or raspberries.
Choc PB Pancakes
Add in a Tbsp of natural PB
Pumpkin Pie Pancakes
Sub vanilla powder for chocolate. Use only half of the banana called for in the original recipe. Add in a 1/4 c pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice ( if you don't have it on hand add cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove)
Time Saver- Make multiple batches of the dry ingredients and ziplock bag them individually -BAM you have pre-made pancake mix. AND DONE..Enjoy!
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Sunday Funday Breakfast & A New Favorite Find
So everyone pretty much knows that Sunday Funday is a tradition in our household. Regardless of whether it is bulking season (Adam-not me) or slim down time (me- not Adam)- Sunday requires a traditional breakfast of eggs, some sort of meat, and a carb. Our fav is eggs, scrapple, and pancakes but we do many variations of this. HOWEVER, just because we are indulging we still keep it on the straight and narrow as best we can.
This is not your grandma's breakfast that was cooked with bacon fat that sat in the crock next to the stove..am I the only one who's grandma did that?? How we didn't have heart attacks at age 9 I'm just not sure.
For example, here is a list of "you will never find this in our fridge" breakfast items…
- full fat cream cheese
- prepackaged pancake /waffle mix
- pork bacon
- salted butter
- white bread
- whole milk
- cooking fat
- and the latest is pork scrapple..more about this in a minute
So you're probably reading that list and saying.."well I'm sure your breakfast tastes like ass"..Well in fact nope. It's yum-licious if I say so myself. So what are the best choices?
Well there are just better choices when it comes to having a traditional breakfast and you have to be ok with that. There is no fat free traditional breakfast but there is a slimmed down version.
Here is goes..
Eggs-
Usually I just scramble mine, nothing fancy here. You can sub egg whites for a better option but it's my eggs and I like the yolk. If you make a omelet you can add some skim or almond milk but leave out the heavy milk/cream/full fat cheese.
Meats-
Turkey bacon - you have to play around with the brands to find which ones get crispier vs not and which ones are backstabbers and have more sodium than the pork version- read your labels.
Turkey scrapple- YUP I SAID IT- turkey scrapple! Oh Be Still My Heart…and let me tell you- uncurl your nose because you seriously can't tell the difference between it and it's original counterpart. FA-REAL- no lies. Same flavor, gets just as crispy, just as delicious..I even tried it out on my in laws over Christmas and they had NO IDEA. And these people are serious about their breakfast meats.
So far, I only know that Rapa makes the turkey version- other brands may make it I just haven't seen it. I bought mine at Safeway but I'm sure it is in most stores.
Original - 120calories/ 8 grams of fat
Turkey- 80 calories/ 4 grams of fat
Get yourself some!
Pork Roll- don't judge me. It's apparently a Pennsylvania thing ( or a NJ thing? ) not sure- Adam introduced it to me and I'll say- it is NOT a healthy option but it is quite tasty so it's a rare treat sometimes. They do not currently make a turkey roll so we stick with it :)
Carbs-
Whole wheat toast- sub whipped cream cheese for the full fat version and save 50 cal and 4.5g of fat. Better yet top it with natural pb for added protein.
Potato shreds with onions, peppers, and seasonings
Pancakes- never out of a box- I will be posting about my favorite pancakes soon…
Vanilla Protein Banana Bread - posting about this soon as well ( dang I've got some work to do)
That's just how we do it in our house- there are obviously a million variations, recipes, etc…like a turkey scrapple sammich :)
This is not your grandma's breakfast that was cooked with bacon fat that sat in the crock next to the stove..am I the only one who's grandma did that?? How we didn't have heart attacks at age 9 I'm just not sure.
For example, here is a list of "you will never find this in our fridge" breakfast items…
- full fat cream cheese
- prepackaged pancake /waffle mix
- pork bacon
- salted butter
- white bread
- whole milk
- cooking fat
- and the latest is pork scrapple..more about this in a minute
So you're probably reading that list and saying.."well I'm sure your breakfast tastes like ass"..Well in fact nope. It's yum-licious if I say so myself. So what are the best choices?
Well there are just better choices when it comes to having a traditional breakfast and you have to be ok with that. There is no fat free traditional breakfast but there is a slimmed down version.
Here is goes..
Eggs-
Usually I just scramble mine, nothing fancy here. You can sub egg whites for a better option but it's my eggs and I like the yolk. If you make a omelet you can add some skim or almond milk but leave out the heavy milk/cream/full fat cheese.
Meats-
Turkey bacon - you have to play around with the brands to find which ones get crispier vs not and which ones are backstabbers and have more sodium than the pork version- read your labels.
Turkey scrapple- YUP I SAID IT- turkey scrapple! Oh Be Still My Heart…and let me tell you- uncurl your nose because you seriously can't tell the difference between it and it's original counterpart. FA-REAL- no lies. Same flavor, gets just as crispy, just as delicious..I even tried it out on my in laws over Christmas and they had NO IDEA. And these people are serious about their breakfast meats.
So far, I only know that Rapa makes the turkey version- other brands may make it I just haven't seen it. I bought mine at Safeway but I'm sure it is in most stores.
Original - 120calories/ 8 grams of fat
Turkey- 80 calories/ 4 grams of fat
Get yourself some!
Pork Roll- don't judge me. It's apparently a Pennsylvania thing ( or a NJ thing? ) not sure- Adam introduced it to me and I'll say- it is NOT a healthy option but it is quite tasty so it's a rare treat sometimes. They do not currently make a turkey roll so we stick with it :)
Carbs-
Whole wheat toast- sub whipped cream cheese for the full fat version and save 50 cal and 4.5g of fat. Better yet top it with natural pb for added protein.
Potato shreds with onions, peppers, and seasonings
Pancakes- never out of a box- I will be posting about my favorite pancakes soon…
Vanilla Protein Banana Bread - posting about this soon as well ( dang I've got some work to do)
That's just how we do it in our house- there are obviously a million variations, recipes, etc…like a turkey scrapple sammich :)
Monday, March 3, 2014
Help A Lady Out!
So as I navigate through this new adventure of blogging I am learning a ton of new things and going outside of my comfort zone on a daily basis. I never thought that I would be the type of person to share things publicly but I just love being able to help people make small changes in their life to be healthier. As many of you who have read my blog know- I am not making groundbreaking revelations here. If you are a fitness guru you might even think this blog is a bit elementary…but that is exactly what I want it to be. I am targeting the average person here. The person who was raised on whole milk, white bread, and cream of whatever soup. The person who has been making the same recipes/food their entire life but may not be aware of just how unhealthy they are. The person who knows they want to make change but has absolutely NO IDEA where to start.
We sometimes take it for granted that everyone knows the things that are "basic" to us- but those are the things that are revolutionary to someone else in this world.
And that's where I come in and say that although I have a blog- I have no idea how to professionally do it. I am learning as I go, doing a lot of googling, and spending a lot of time at my computer screen with a "wtf" look on my face. I mean, what is a RSS feed? No idea until a few weeks ago..Now I know. The next step in advancing this blog (and myself) is to learn how to take more professional appearing photos for the blog. I am looking for some advice from you all - I know someone has to have some insight!!! Help please! I am looking to mostly just take close up shots of the recipes I make/products I try. I see beautiful photos on other blogs where the focal point is crystal clear and everything in the background is a bit blurred but the colors are great and the tone is soft. I have been researching for days about apertures (sp?), shutters, ISO's and I am utterly confused. I played around with my camera today for about an hour and still can't get it right.
Does anyone have experience with this? Help a desperate lady out!!
Thanks- B
We sometimes take it for granted that everyone knows the things that are "basic" to us- but those are the things that are revolutionary to someone else in this world.
And that's where I come in and say that although I have a blog- I have no idea how to professionally do it. I am learning as I go, doing a lot of googling, and spending a lot of time at my computer screen with a "wtf" look on my face. I mean, what is a RSS feed? No idea until a few weeks ago..Now I know. The next step in advancing this blog (and myself) is to learn how to take more professional appearing photos for the blog. I am looking for some advice from you all - I know someone has to have some insight!!! Help please! I am looking to mostly just take close up shots of the recipes I make/products I try. I see beautiful photos on other blogs where the focal point is crystal clear and everything in the background is a bit blurred but the colors are great and the tone is soft. I have been researching for days about apertures (sp?), shutters, ISO's and I am utterly confused. I played around with my camera today for about an hour and still can't get it right.
Does anyone have experience with this? Help a desperate lady out!!
Thanks- B
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