OMG!!!

Honestly, I don't think I'm overreacting just because I've had nothing to eat all day. I didn't even feel hungry at 7:30 pm when I started cooking. That is waaay late for me, but I was busy today. Getting Shit. Done.

I'm typically a recipe gal. I don't do well without the boundaries and guidelines a recipe provides but that is typically just a starting place for me. My real strength lies in doctoring recipes. I always cook them to the letter as much as I can the first time but then once I have a baseline, I like to critique and evaluate them for ways to make them better.

This is more of a mashup than a recipe edit.

I found this great recipe at Damn Delicious and it is fabulous on it's own. I think it's really cute how she says "this is just one of those dishes to make on your “cheat day". LOL.  Little does she know, she's made a perfect #lchf #keto recipe that pretty much anyone doing #lchf or #keto could eat every day of the year.

Garlic Butter Shrimp

Ingredients:

•     8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
•     1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
•     Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
•     5 cloves garlic, minced
•     1/4 cup chicken stock
•     Juice of 1 lemon, or more, to taste
•     2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions:

•     Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium high heat.
•     Add shrimp, salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pink, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.
•     Add garlic to the skillet, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in chicken stock and lemon juice. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until reduced by half, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in remaining 6 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until melted and smooth.
•     Stir in shrimp and gently toss to combine.

Now, this is fabulous on it's own but add it to another #lchf recipe I've recently found and it's a match made in heaven!

Butter Fried Green Cabbage

Ingredients:

• 1½ lbs shredded green cabbage
• 3½ oz. butter
• salt and pepper

Directions:

•         Melt butter in a frying pan.
•         Sauté the shredded cabbage on medium heat for at least 15 minutes or until the cabbage reaches desired color and consistency. (I go for fairly singed)
•         Lower the heat a little towards the end. Stir regularly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

So much buttery goodness!!!

Seriously, do yourself a favor and try it.  It may just be your new favorite thing! This is definitely going in my weekly rotation!

I recently traveled for work and the hotel I stayed in offered free breakfast which I thought was great until I saw what was available.

Every single option was either fat free or loaded with carbs. Every. Single. One.

On the airplane, the only thing they offer for free are carbs...pretzels and cookies. I've heard they still give out peanuts on occasion but mysteriously on all of the flights I was on there was someone on board that had a peanut allergy so there were no nut options available of any kind.

In the office, there was birthday cake, chips, and candy...all carbs. Meetings usually involve free cookies or bagels and coffee.

What the heck?

Would it kill people to offer something healthy once in awhile?

My new favorite lunch!

I've always been a fan of eggs and avocados. I found this recipe at the Keto Diet Blog. It's simple yet so delicious, and easily made for just one person if you halve the recipe. I typically keep hard boiled eggs on hand for a quick snack so this just takes a few minutes to make. Enjoy!

Ingredients (makes 2 servings):

• 1 extra large or 2 medium avocados, seed removed (300 g / 10.6 oz)
• 4 large eggs, free-range or organic
• ¼ cup mayonnaise (you can make your own) (58 g / 2 oz)
• 2 tbsp sour cream or cream cheese or more mayo for dairy-free (24 g / 0.8 oz)
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard (you can make your own)
• 2 medium spring onions (30 g / 1.1 oz)
• ¼ tsp salt or more to taste (I used pink Himalayan)
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

I've mentioned the 80/20 rule previously in this post and again here. The general concept is that weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise. But I heard something recently that really rang home:

Diet is for weight loss, Exercise is for getting fit.

This is similar to my own comments above but refines it more and separates it, which makes so much sense!


I've used this tactic in the past when I was ready to start getting healthier but changing both diet and exercise at once seemed too daunting. One surprising side affect I've discovered from doing it this way is that once you start eating better and losing weight, you start wanting to exercise.

The Diet Doctor mentions this on their website as well:

...few things are so overrated for weight loss as exercise is. Exercise cannot compensate for other issues in your life. Those must be addressed first.

If you just want to lose weight and get into a smaller dress or pant size, your eating habits will be the bigger factor here. If you want to look sleek, toned, and muscular, then you are going to need to put in some work but the two are mutually exclusive. You don't have to do both. And if you are only going to do one of them, your best bet would be changing your diet. At least that's what my experience has proven to me.

I track all of my calories using the Calorie Counter at MyFoodDiary.com. It provides a great deal of detailed information regarding the food that you eat breaking it all down to what percentages of your daily intake are fats, carbs, and protein; giving you a breakout of nutrients as well as a summary of what you ate that was good and what was bad.

There are two recurring items of concern for me, sodium and trans fats.

According to WikiPedia:

Unlike other dietary fats, trans fats are not essential, and they do not promote good health. The consumption of trans fats increases the risk of coronary heart disease by raising levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol and lowering levels of "good" HDL cholesterol. Health authorities worldwide recommend that consumption of trans fat be reduced to trace amounts. Trans fats from partially hydrogenated oils are more harmful than naturally occurring oils.

Because of these health risks, the experts at MyFoodDiary.com recommend eating absolutely zero trans fats. This can be a difficult task as trans fats are commonly found in items such as, commercial baked goods (cakes, cookies, doughnuts, biscuits, etc), fried Foods (French fries, fish sticks, fried chicken, etc.), margarine and vegetable shortenings, and chips and crackers. The main reason manufacturers use these unsaturated fats is to increase product shelf life and improve the texture of some items. Those sound like poor reasons to subject your customers to health risks to me!

As with most dangers, awareness and avoidance are key in keeping yourself safe. Paying attention to food labels, particularly looking for items with zero trans fatty acids or hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils is your best bet. Increasing your intake of fresh foods such as fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, grains and low-fat dairy items are a good start toward reducing your exposure to trans fats. Cooking for yourself using butter and other oils high in unsaturated fats is much healthier than eating highly processed although usually more convenient and tasty foods found in restaurants and drive-through locations.

Try the Calorie Counter at MyFoodDiary.com

For those of you new to this blog I have recently moved to a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean called Kwajlein. You can check out my adventures on my other blog Kwajalein Adventure.

The reason I bring it up here is because in this new environment things are much different than my old life. Mainly, the main form of transportation here is bicycle or on foot (mostly bicycle)and we get to eat for free in what I call the mess hall. As much as you want, all for free...there is a salad bar and several entree's to choose from, there is water, coffee, soda and milk at every meal and there is dessert and ice cream on hand at all times as well. The ice cream machine is offline a lot but that's another story.

What I've been observing is that a majority of the folks that live here are overweight and quite a few are flat out obese. Yet they all ride bikes every day of the week as well as quite a few other activities, it's warm all the time here so there are a lot of outdoor activities to participate in. But they are still overweight.

I mentioned in a previous post 80% of weight loss is diet and 20% is exercise. It's much easier to make a significant reduction in the amount of calories you take into your body than it is to exercise enough to burn the excess. I proved this in my own weight loss journey.

Getting into an exercise routine is tough. Breaking the inertia of being a non-exerciser takes some time and effort. So I would exercise a little here and there. Then it got to be more and more over time but what I did do was start tracking my calorie intake and using the weight loss equation. I kept my calorie intake less than my calorie expenditure and I lost weight. A lot of weight.

Another example of how the 80/20 rule applies is to take a sample of some numbers. A Big Mac meal from McDonalds with a medium fries and a Coke is 1130 calories; for one meal! Pair that with a Denny's Grand Slam for breakfast and a deli sandwich for dinner and you are looking at over 2500 calories for the day. If you are a snacker or drink several sodas or gatorades or have a few beers at the end of the day and you could hit 3500 easily. My calorie goal to maintain my current weight is 1800 or less. If I ate 3500 calories a day I would gain a pound every two days!! That doesn't sound like that much food does it? It adds up.

Now lets look at exercise. Lets say I'm going to go ahead and eat like the above example everyday but I'm going to try to exercise the extra calories off so I don't have to cut back on my meals. Using my calorie goal I would need to burn 1700 calories a day to keep from gaining weight. I would have to run at a pretty intense level for almost 4 hours a day to burn those calories! 4 hours! Is that going to happen? Heck no!

Portion control and calorie tracking are the way to go. You still want to exercise, it makes you healthy and will make you look and feel better but you will not achieve your goals with exercise alone.




Try the Calorie Counter at MyFoodDiary.com

This is a juice recipe that I learned from The 3-Day Energy Fast: Cleanse Your Body, Clear Your Mind, and Claim Your Spirit.

This recipe is made with a juicer. I'm not sure if there is a way to make it without one.

Ingredients:
6 Granny Smith or Red Delicious apples
1 handful blueberries
1 handful raspberries
1 handful strawberries
1 sprig of mint (optional)
1/2 lime
Juice in juicer. Makes about 20oz.

Calories: 625

That's kind of a lot of calories for one dessert. A piece of pumpkin pie is only about 300. But it's sugar-free (other than natural sugars) and it's fruit which is healthy. The calories vary depending on the size of the apples you use, and it could easily be cut in half. I would suggest making half as much rather than trying to save half, I don't think it keeps real well.


Try the Calorie Counter at MyFoodDiary.com

I once knew a guy that drank a 12 pack of Coke everyday. EVERYDAY!!!!
Personally the thought of drinking even one a day is enough to make me hurl but I really don't like soda (pop, whatever you call it). One day he realized it probably wasn't the most healthy thing to do so he cut back to two a day. It makes sense, if it's something you really like, you don't really want to give it up completely, just cut back. Guess what happened? He lost something like 25 pounds in a matter of about 2 months. Wow!

Let's do the math....12 Cokes at 143 calories each is 1716 calories a day. (That's my total daily allowance right there, but that's another story). When he cut back to 2, his Coke calorie intake went from 1716 to 286. That's a calorie savings of 1430 a day. Since we know that 3500 calories equals a pound, he would be able to lose almost a pound every two days if the rest of his diet remained the same and he didn't start taking in extra calories somewhere else.

Alcohol was where all of my extra calories were coming from. I didn't really eat much sweets and I'm not really big on fried foods so there wasn't a whole lot of other places to cut back on calories. I'll admit, I was able to put away a significant amount of alcohol calories each week. Not a very healthy habit on a few different levels.

Instead of cutting back, I quit completely. In the first two months, I lost 15 pounds. Over the course of the next 5 months I lost a total of 27 pounds. That's a lot! While I did try to improve my eating habits to include more veggies and fruits and increasing my exercise as well, the drinking thing was the biggest change that I made.

Most of the overweight people I know have one main weakness that they keep giving into regularly. French fries, dessert, soda, alcohol, ice cream. All of these are high in calories and more enjoyable than they are healthy. If you are looking for a way to impact or kick start your weight-loss program, this can be a biggie. It can also be the hardest thing to do.

Isn't that always the way? Some of the most beneficial rewards in your life are gained through sacrifice and hard work. Why can't it just be easy?

What is the one thing you could sacrifice in your diet that would probably cause you to lose weight? How hard would it be to give it up?

Try the Calorie Counter at MyFoodDiary.com

Image from Epicurean.com
Recipe from Dr. Weil's Recipe of the Day

8 Servings

The classic vinaigrette is made with 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. As you can see, this version has no oil in it at all, making it extremely low in calories. But don't worry — it's very high in flavor. Once you've tried this I'm sure it'll become your basic everyday staple for salad. And you can never eat too much salad!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried whole oregano
Pinches of rosemary and thyme
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 of a roasted red bell pepper

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a blender container. Blend to mix thoroughly.

Nutritional Information:

Per serving:
8 calories
0 g total fat (0 g sat)
0 mg cholesterol
2 g carbohydrate
0 g protein
0 g fiber
50 mg sodium

This looks so delicious! I can't wait to try it. I put dressing on pasta a lot for an easy meal, this would be great I'm sure. 8 calories is all! You could eat salad all day long with this dressing on it and barely register any calories. Unless of course you are putting croutons and cheese and meat on your salads. I was referring to vegetable salad of course!

From FitnessMagazine.com

INGREDIENTS
2 tsp olive oil
2 4-oz beef tenderloin medallions
1/4 cup sliced onion
3/4 cup sliced portobello mushrooms
1/2 cup beef broth
1/4 tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
Rub oil in a heavy skillet.
Heat to high heat; sauté tenderloins, turning once,with onions and mushrooms for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add broth and thyme; reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes, or until liquid is reduced.
Season with salt and pepper.

Nutrition facts per serving:
Calories 247
Total Fat (g) 13
Saturated Fat (g) 4
Carbohydrate (g) 5
Fiber (g) 1
Protein (g) 27

I used peppered beef tenderloin for this and served it over plain penne pasta and it was wonderful! I think if you used non-marinated beef it would be kind of plain but as it turned out it was very flavorful. We will definitely be having this one again soon.

From FitnessMagazine.com

INGREDIENTS
2 tsp olive oil
12 ounces lean all-white-meat ground turkey
1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
Cook brown rice or whole-wheat pasta.
Rub oil in a heavy skillet.
Brown turkey over medium-high heat with mushrooms (5 to 7 minutes); deglaze pan with white wine.
Stir in vegetables, oregano and salt and pepper to taste.
Heat through; serve over rice or pasta.

Nutrition facts per serving:
Calories 464*
Total Fat (g) 8
Saturated Fat (g) 1
Carbohydrate (g) 49
Fiber (g) 5
Protein (g) 48

This was my least favorite of the FitnessMagazine.com 20 Minute Meals recipes I've tried so far.

The turkey ended up the consistency of scrambled eggs and it was kind of dry and bland. I'm not going to say that it would happen the same way for you but I wasn't too excited. I served it with rice and I don't really think using pasta would have changed it much.

Maybe if you decide to try it you can tell me what I did wrong.

The calories should probably be manually calculated for this recipe as whether you use rice or pasta will change the count significantly.

From FitnessMagazine.com

INGREDIENTS
2 tsp olive oil
1 6-8-oz lean steak
1 tbs canned chipotle in adobe, chopped
4 tbs fresh cilantro
2 large whole-wheat tortillas
2 tbs light mayonnaise
Lettuce and tomato

DIRECTIONS
Rub olive oil in a heavy skillet.
Saute steak over high heat until medium rare to medium, turning once (7 to 10 minutes).
Set aside until cool; slice thinly.
Stir together chipotle in adobe and mayonnaise; spread on tortillas.
Add 2 tbs.fresh cilantro to each; top with beef and lettuce and tomato. Roll up.

Nutrition facts per serving:
Calories 379
Total Fat (g) 15
Saturated Fat (g) 3
Carbohydrate (g) 43
Fiber (g) 4
Protein (g) 29

Whoo doggy! Be careful with the chipotle, it is very spicy! I would say taste your chipotle/mayo mix and add more mayo to cool it off if necessary. (You may be able to tell, I did not do this) I put the chipotle and the mayo in a food chopper and processed them together, this worked well.

I'm positive you should recalculate the calories for this recipe. It all depends on how much mayo (and what kind) you use as well as how much meat you really put on your wrap.

This is yummy and quick, and FP really liked it which is a plus. Anytime I can make a low cal meal and the boyfriend can't tell it's a winner!

From FitnessMagazine.com

INGREDIENTS
2 6-oz white fish fillets, such as tilapia, flounder or halibut
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp slivered almonds
1 leek, thinly sliced
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Lemon pepper

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Rub fillets with olive oil and season with lemon pepper to taste.
Cover each fillet with circles of thinly sliced leek.
Sprinkle with almonds.
Seal in heavy-duty foil; bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
Serve with lemon wedges.

Nutrition facts per serving:
Calories 256
Total Fat (g) 9
Saturated Fat (g) 1
Carbohydrate (g) 9
Fiber (g) 1
Protein (g) 33

This was incredibly easy to make. I used tilapia and it was delicious. Go easy on the lemon pepper. You will probably want a side dish with this as it isn't a whole lot of food by itself and it's quite low in calorie. This would be a great dish for one person who didn't want leftovers.

Oh, I very much enjoyed today's workout! It was simple, fairly quick and fun. Fun because it builds progressively so I will add a little more weight each time. Fun because I have a plan, I'm not just wandering round aimlessly trying different machines. Fun because it's not machines.

If you missed the last post, I'm trying out the Stronglifts 5x5 program. I'm going for muscle.

Hilariously enough, I didn't think I had used enough weight for the squats. Hilarious because I am already very sore. I wouldn't be able to walk if I had used more weight.

Only two days in and I am very happy about the structured meal plan. I will post the two recipes I've tried so far. It's a list of 30 meals from FitnessMagazine.com: Healthy Eating Planner: Easy 20-Minute Meals. I printed the calendar page and posted it on the fridge, I printed the weekly shopping lists and did the shopping for one week already. I'm sure there are other people out there that can do this kind of planning already; not me. It's always been sort of a haphazard, half assed attempt at a plan.

I'm feeling positive and inspired. Reviewing what was and wasn't working for me and searching for a new plan was just what I needed. I think I was getting bored with my previous routine.

Change is good!

From FitnessMagazine.com

INGREDIENTS
1 tsp sesame oil
1 1/4 cups sliced baby bok choy
3 tbs sliced shallots
1/3 cup sliced or cubed extra-firm tofu
3 tbs teriyaki sauce
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
Cooked rice noodles

DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in a nonstick skillet.
Add bok choy and shallots; stir-fry 3 minutes.
Add tofu, teriyaki sauce and ginger; cook, stirring frequently, 3 to 5 minutes.
Toss with noodles and toasted sesame seeds.

Nutrition facts per serving:
Calories 323
Total Fat (g) 6
Saturated Fat (g) 1
Carbohydrate (g) 59
Fiber (g) 1
Protein (g) 8

This turned out good. Next time I make this I would cut back on the noodles . The recipe does not specify and I used an entire bag of rice noodles. The package said it would make 2 cups when prepared but it ended up being more like 4 cups.
Tofu is not really one of my favorite foods. I'm a texture person and it's kind of mushy for my palette but this time I purchased super firm and cut it into very small pieces. This made it very acceptable. Being the prepared person that I am, I also didn't have any sesame seeds, it would probably make it just that much better.

It's unclear what a serving is in these recipes from Fitness Magazine as well as how much of certain ingredients you are supposed to use. I usually end up recalculating the calorie count because I've substituted some ingredient or another. I do this by using the Calorie Counter at MyFoodDiary.com to add up the calories in all of the ingredients together and then divide by the number of servings.

I will definitely make this again.

From FitnessMagazine.com

INGREDIENTS
8 ounces chilled, precooked chicken breast, cubed or shredded
2 cups cooked whole-wheat corkscrew or shell pasta
1/2 cup halved red grapes
2 tbs chopped celery
1/4 cup plain yogurt
Snipped fresh or dried tarragon or basil to
taste
Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
In a bowl, combine first 6 ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste; mix well.

Nutrition facts per serving:
Calories 409
Total Fat (g) 5
Saturated Fat (g) 2
Carbohydrate (g) 47
Fiber (g) 4
Protein (g) 45

This was yummy. I think it was intended to be a chilled meal but I made it warm and it was good. It was a little bit like a turkey, cranberry, sandwich in pasta form.

It's unclear what a serving is in these recipes from Fitness Magazine as well as how much of certain ingredients you are supposed to use. I usually end up recalculating the calorie count because I've substituted some ingredient or another. I do this by using the Calorie Counter at MyFoodDiary.com to add up the calories in all of the ingredients together and then divide by the number of servings.

I will definitely make this again.

INGREDIENTS
* 1 pound uncooked penne pasta
* 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
* 4 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
* 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
* pinch sea salt
* 2 tablespoons vodka
* 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS

1. In an unheated skillet large enough to hold the pasta later on, combine the oil, garlic, crushed red peppers and a pinch of sea salt, stirring to coat with the oil. Cook over moderate heat until the garlic turns golden but does not brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes. Stir to blend, simmer uncovered until sauce begins to thicken, about 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

3. Add the drained pasta to the skillet with the tomato sauce. Toss. Add the vodka, toss again, then add cream and toss. Cover, reduce the heat to low and let rest for 1 to 2 minutes to allow the pasta to absorb the sauce. Add the parsley and toss again.

6 servings
Nutrition information: Per serving: 537 calories, 12 gm protein, 64 gm carbohydrates, 25 gm fat, 11 gm saturated fat, 54 mg cholesterol, 237 mg sodium

I love this recipe, it's one of my all time favorites. Unfortunately I am unable to give credit to the creator as all I have is a photocopy from the cookbook and there is no information about the book or author.

For years I have been tossing around the idea of becoming vegetarian. I am not driven by the passionate beliefs of ending cruelty to animals or any kind of spiritual reasons, more out of curiosity and for the potential health gains. I do have to say, if I were required to kill and process my own meat, I would have become vegetarian long ago. The first time I pulled the skin off of a chicken almost put me over the edge!

Meat is not a huge part of my current diet. Many times my meals are vegetarian anyway. Why haven’t I tried being a vegetarian already? I don’t know for sure but I get a pretty intense craving for a big fat cheeseburger every couple of weeks that I think has something to do with it. Another reason is because it’s easy. When you are cooking for a family of meat eaters it’s easier to just eat what everyone else is eating.

While I’m not sure I will be a vegetarian forever, I have decided to give it a try.

One of the most inspiring writer/bloggers I’ve ever run across is Steve Pavlina. Steve is a personal development guru and one of the techniques he employs on a regular basis is the 30 day trial. Any time he wants to know how a new diet, lifestyle change or habit will impact his life, he tries it – for 30 days. The idea behind it is that it’s temporary but it’s also long enough that you should be able to see results that help you in your decision of whether to make it long term or not.

Tomorrow, October 20th will be the first day of my 30 days as a vegetarian. In its most basic form, being a vegetarian means not eating meat. If that’s all I manage to do for the next 30 days, I will have accomplished my goal. I do intend to try and follow the “eat like a King at breakfast, a Prince at lunch and a pauper at dinner” way of eating as well. This has always made sense to me but is totally opposite from the way I have been living. That part will be more difficult so I am not going to make it officially part of my 30 day goal, I’m just going to try and fit it in if I can.

I will be posting the details of this experiment each day, including what I eat, how many calories, my activities of the day and an assessment of how I feel mentally and physically as well. I think this data will be important in making an informed decision. It will help me (and you) see whether this is a good fit or me and whether it’s something I should continue after the trial is over. I also plan to share some of the recipes I end up using. If you have a good vegetarian recipe, please share it with me! I could use the help.

I hope you join me over the next 30 days and check back often to see how it’s going. Maybe you will even try your own 30 day trial or other short term goal. If you do, please share it with us in the comments.