Planning is the Key

While planning is the key to healthy eating, it’s always a challenge to find time  to prepare fresh, nutritious meals each day… especially in the morning.  I like to prep and cook many of my meals for the week in advance (Sunday afternoons work best for me) so that they're packed and ready to go when I need them.  It helps ensure that I eat healthy and avoid the temptations that come with ordering in or going out to eat.

These protein packed prebaked omelets are the perfect solution for a grab + go breakfast or snack.  I found a recipe for Broccoli + Cheese Mini Egg Omelets here, but as you know, I have trouble following recipes.  Here is my version of Baked Veggie Omelets. 

Ingredients:

4 whole eggs (organic or from your local farmer’s market)
4 egg whites (organic or from your local farmer’s market)
1 ¼ cup spinach, chopped
½ cup bell pepper, chopped
½ cup onion, chopped
¼ cup goat cheese crumbles
2 TBSP olive oil
Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
salt + pepper

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Heat 1 TBSP of olive oil I in a skillet over medium heat.  Saute onions until translucent (approximately 5-6 minutes). 
• Beat eggs, egg whites and salt + pepper in a medium bowl. 
• Add onions, chopped bell pepper and 1 cup chopped spinach to the egg mixture and stir until well combined.
• Use a paper towel saturated in 1 TBSP of olive oil to coat the bottom and sides of the muffin tin.  Pour the egg + veggie mixture into the greased tins.  Fill each about ¾ full.  Top each mini omelet evenly with remaining chopped spinach, red pepper flakes and goat cheese crumbles.
• Bake for about 20 minutes or until eggs are set and cooked through.  Serve immediately or let cool and store in the fridge to reheat + enjoy later in the week.

If you make these omelets in a regular muffin tin, they're perfect for breakfast with a green juice. 

For a lunch or dinner size portion, use an oversized muffin tin. 

A mini muffin tin is great if you want to serve these as bite-size appetizers at a brunch.  

Let me know how you enjoy yours!

Wishing you health + happiness,

The one-sided Love affair that made me sick...

“I could never eat healthy. I just loooove food too much.”  I heard a girl walking by me on the street the other day declare this to her friend.  I wanted to turn around and say to her "I used to think that too!!!  I thought I was in love with pizza, French fries with blue cheese and, if we’re being honest here, cupcakes and raw cookie dough.  But don’t worry… It’s not true!  You CAN eat healthy AND enjoy it!  Isn’t that great news???”  But I decided that she would probably think I was crazy if I, a complete stranger, said that to her so I showed some restraint and kept walking.

When I used to plant myself on the couch with a bag of Tostitos and a jar of salsa after a long day at work, I would tell myself that I deserved it and that I earned it and I was sure that it would make me feel better.  But, in reality I always felt pretty shitty afterwards.  I loved this “food” but it didn’t love me back.  Eating it made my stomach hurt.  It made me feel bloated, tired and full of guilt.  This one-sided love affair was killing me… literally.  It was giving me high cholesterol and making me fat, stressed out, lazy and miserable.  So was this really love?

Slowly, as I started learning more about nutrition and making small changes, I figured out that healthy foods CAN taste good and they make you feel a million times better than eating crap.  If I really could say something to that girl on the street who looooves food soo much that she could never eat healthy, I would say this:  Clinging to your dead-end romance with junk food is not healthy.  It’s time to move on.  To find food that will love you and nurture you back.  So ditch the processed crap, start eating real, healthy, whole foods and then, you’ll discover what true love really is.     

Speaking of, let me introduce all of you to a potential new love interest... Lentil + Sweet Potato loaf. Click here for the recipe. I made it last week and it was really good!  Lentils are packed with iron, calcium, B vitamins and protein.  These legumes are also full of fiber which helps lower cholesterol, makes them a great source of sustainable energy and helps to prevent heart disease.  If that's not true love, I don't know what is.  I think I have a new crush ♥! For more healthy + tasty recipes, click here.

  

 

Love + Lentils,

 

What's your favorite color?

In general,all fruits and vegetables are beneficial to your health.  They can help reduce your risk of certain chronic diseases, assist your body in detoxifying and help you build strong bones, eyesight and give your skin that beautiful natural glow. But let's have a little fun today... below is a cheat sheet that shows some specific benefits of certain produce based on color.  

 

Photo Credit: IIN



White
The key benefit of white foods is increased immunity. Ahem….This does not include white flour or white sugar!  Some beneficial immune boosting white fruits and veggies include:
Garlic, onions, cauliflower, ginger, turnips, potatoes, mushrooms, white peaches and nectarines

Green
The natural plant pigment, chlorophyll, colors green fruits and vegetables.  These green foods induce enzymes in the liver that assist the body in removing potentially carcinogenic compounds.  Other benefits include a lower risk of some cancers, improved eye health and strong teeth. Examples of green fruits and veggies you should eat to stay healthy are:
Broccoli, spinach, kiwi, asparagus, brussels sprouts, grapes, limes, leafy greens, cucumber, celery, peas, green bell peppers

Yellow

Want great skin and healthy eyes? Add a glass of water with fresh squeezed lemon juice to your morning ritual or eat anti-inflammatory yellow foods high in Vitamins A and C such as: 
Lemons, pineapple, yellow bell peppers, yellow beets 

Orange
Orange foods are high in antioxidants such as vitamin C, carotenoids, and bioflavonoids. Eating orange foods has been linked to skin and eye health, increased immunity, decreased risk of cancer and a healthy heart.  Load up on these orange foods:
Oranges (of course!), cantaloupe, apricots, sweet potatoes/yams, carrots, butternut squash, pumpkin

 

 

 Red
Lycopene is the predominant pigment in reddish fruits and veggies.  Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant that has been associated with a reduced risk of some cancers, improved heart and circulatory health and protection against heart attacks.  In addition, red fruits and veggies also contain vitamin C, folate and flavonoids, which reduce inflammation and have antioxidant properties.  To reap the benefits, eat these red foods to your heart’s content (pun intended):

Tomatoes, watermelon, beets, red grapefruit, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, red bell peppers, radishes

Blue/Purple

These colorful foods get their bright hue from anthocyanins which are antioxidants that are heart healthy and provide anti-aging benefits like helping with memory and promoting bone health.  Fill your plate with these blue/purple fruits and veggies:

Eggplant, blueberries, blackberries, plums, purple cabbage

 

What's your favorite color?

 

 

Have a healthy day!

 



Do you wish you had more time?

My husband is an avid golfer and on the weekends, spends much of his time on the golf course.  Well, when you live in New York City, you can’t just step outside and go down the street to play 18 holes.  It’s quite a commitment if you want to play golf when you live in a big city.  My husband drives 45 minutes to and from the course, not including traffic (and if you live in or anywhere near the city, you know there is always traffic).  Secretly I think golf is his sole reason for wanting to move out of the city (and what I consider the most perfect neighborhood in all of New York) and into the suburbs. 

I’ve always thought it would be fun to play golf but never really pursued it because, to be honest, I didn’t think I had the patience or the time.  I’m one of those people that always needs to be busy.  If I don’t have a long To Do list to guide me through the day, I’m lost.  It’s very hard for me to sit down on the couch and just watch TV or just read a magazine... I also have to be writing a blog post, packing my lunch, doing the laundry and checking my email at the same time.  There is always more that needs to be done than there are hours in the day.  If I spend 4 hours out on the golf course, how will I get everything else done?  I know myself, I would spend the whole time thinking about all of the other things that I could or should be doing instead or will have to do as soon as we get home.  However, since I'm not ready to move to the burbs just yet but I do want to spend more time with my husband on the weekends, I said “yes” when he offered to sign me up for a golf lesson.

On Sunday morning, I bought some shorts, a collared shirt and a pair of golf shoes.  This alone took more time than I thought (if you've ever shopped for women's golf apparel, you know it can be quite challenging if you aren’t into knee length plaid shorts and a shirt with a matching plaid collar) but after I was finally outfitted properly, off we went to the course. 

I learned quickly that golf is a very humbling and selfish sport.  It wants all of your attention.  You can’t think about anything else when you’re golfing.  You can’t think too far ahead and you certainly can’t multi-task… at least not successfully.  Golf forces you to live in the moment, to think only of the ball in front of you.  Sure, you have to take a look at what’s in front of you, locate the hole and pick a target but then you have to turn your attention first, to your stance, then to your grip, then to your backswing and then to your follow through.  If you lose sight of the task directly in front of you, if you’re thinking about the next hole or just your next shot, you will miss the ball completely.  You will be right back where you started and you will have to go through the motions all over again until your focus is just right, until you make contact and swing through the ball and then, and only then, do you dare pick up your head to see where it might land.   

Ask for what you want and the universe will give you what you need.  Basically, that’s what happened with me and golf.  We all have the same number of hours in the day, but if you’re anything like me, if you were given 24 more, you could easily fill those up too.  So, I'm constantly asking the universe for more time to get everything done and what I got was an introduction to a sport that takes 4 hours to play and demands singular focus and all of my attention. 

Golf made me realize that what I need isn’t MORE time, what I need is to slow down to enjoy the time I have, to live in the present moment without worrying about what comes next and to appreciate the time I can now spend with my husband on the weekends.   I think this is the first of many golf lessons to come.

Have a happy + healthy day!

 

Getting Back to the Basics.

Last month. my Dad celebrated his 74^th birthday!  When I called to wish him a Happy Birthday, he asked about my Health Coaching business which led him to tell me a story about some changes that he made when he was younger and wanted to lose weight. I asked him if he would share his story with my readers and he agreed.  Here is my Dad's story...

It was 1960 and my friend and I decided to weigh ourselves on the scale in the bathroom at work.  My friend, 2 inches taller with wider shoulders, was 'overweight' in my mind and weighed in at 219 lbs.  Then I stepped on the scale and I weighed in at 214 lbs!  That's when I realized I was the overweight one. 

From then on, I reduced my food intake by quite a bit, not drastically but still a lot.  Instead of 2 sandwiches, soup, a piece of cake and 2 small whole milks, I had 1 sandwich, soup and 1 milk with occasional dessert.  After a night out, I would go to the diner with my friends and I would drink coffee instead of having the meal I would have normally consumed (2 eggs, ham or bacon, home fries, toast, coffee and a glass of whole milk).  

I started losing weight slowly, more so at first.  I also started playing more handball, basketball, softball, etc...  My habits regarding eating changed markedly, especially as to volume, but I knew I still had too much fat, sugar and salt in my diet. Gradually, from then on, I reduced my consumption of these items as well. 

I am not a health "nut" but I am still careful as to what I eat.  For ex. I would be happy (if only temporarily) eating Hagen Dazs ice cream every day but I know this isn't healthy for me so I have it every week or so and then only a small portion.  I have kept the weight off for all of these years and I am certain my overall health is surely better at age 74 than if I had not made some changes all those years ago.

After a year of reading lots of books, weekly classes, tests, and trainings + certifications to become a Health Coach, I learned that my Dad had already figured out the key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle... getting back to the basics:  motivation, moderation, smart choices and reason. I am sure my Dad has told this story before but I didn’t really hear it until now… when health + nutrition is always top of mind.

When I think about it, my Dad and Mom always knew that going back to the basics was the answer. Growing up, I remember my Dad working in the garden in our backyard where we grew corn and tomatoes and where my sister and I ate fresh peas on summer mornings.  We picked apples from the tree on the hill and also had fresh eggs from the chickens we kept in the coop by the garden.  My parents have recycled for as long as I can remember and have composted for even longer.  My Mom always packed our school lunches and they were gauranteed to include carrot sticks and a handwritten note wishing us a good day.   I literally grew up surrounded by these healthy habits.  I realize how lucky I am and I want to thank my parents for being such wonderful and healthy role models for me and for my sisters.

Happy Birthday, Dad!  Here's to many more healthy and happy years.  Cheers!

Have a healthy day!

 

Family Photo from my Dad's 70th Birthday Party