EATING CLEAN STARTS TOMORROW

EATING CLEAN Starts Tomorrow!

The last few weeks of my life have been VERY stressful with a move from Dallas back to LA and having to be away from my wonderful husband for the next several months. All the stress has led me to not eating the best that I can and usually do. Because of it I have been left feeling a bit sluggish and bloated. Instead of beating myself up about it I am ready to jump into action. Tomorrow I start eating clean again.

Eating Clean is NOT I repeat NOT A DIET!!!! It is a way of life, it is the way our bodies intended for us to eat. You eat lean protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats. Doing so keeps your blood-sugar stable and you feeling more satisfied. After I had my son 7 months ago I started eating this way to help lose the baby weight....I didn't even realize it had a name to it or a HUGE following. I just started eating healthy, natural foods and that coupled with exercise 5 days a week helped me drop all 36lbs gained in 11 weeks and 4 days! Not bad if you ask me.

Some of my favorite Clean Eating dishes:
A bowl of mixed fruit: That's it nothing special just cut up strawberries, bananas, blueberries, pineapple, apples and cantaloupe....YUM!

Rotisserie Chicken dipped in homemade guacamole: I love this for lunch. To make it fast I just purchase a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and I make guacamole. I dip the chicken in the guac and enjoy.

The Bison Burger (my husband LOVES this):
Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive or safflower oil
• 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup oat bran or oatmeal ground in a coffee grinder
• 1/4 cup cooked, mashed sweet potato
• 1 Tbsp molasses
• 1 tsp crumbled, dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground, black pepper
• 1 lb ground bison

Preparation

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Cook the onion until soft and golden. Set aside.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together egg whites, oat bran or oatmeal, sweet potato, molasses, oregano, sea salt and pepper.
Stir in onions and bison. Mix the ingredients together with clean hands until just combined. This is real hands-on cooking. Take a handful of the meat and create a flat patty. You can get your family involved here too, so they can make patties that fit them. Just make sure they use clean hands.
Grill the patties for 7-10 minutes on each side or until the burgers reach desired temperature.
If you would like to store the patties in the freezer to use later, wrap the patties individually in parchment paper. They can be stored for up to one month in the freezer.

Tip
Pair these burgers with whole-wheat or Ezekiel buns. Top the burgers with cut-up tomatoes, leafy greens, and hummus.

For more information on Eating Clean check out www.eatcleandiet.blogspot.com

Book Review: EAT THIS NOT THAT

Yesterday while browsing the book store with my 6 month old, I wandered over to the health and fitness section. I picked up the book Eat This Not That. I had heard a lot about it and was curious to see just what kind of information was in it. Well boy did it blow my mind what I saw. We all know that eating out is not the best for us because there can be a lot of hidden calories in the food....but just how many was astounding to me.

Take the bloomin onion from Outback Steakhouse....2210 calories...SERIOUSLY???? Poison on a plate!

I also like the helpful tips in it, like.....

An egg McMuffin is a healthier choice than a bagel (you save 210 calories)

White chocolate can cause depression but dark chocolate can cure it

A Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut has 130 fewer calories than one from Dunkin Donuts

Overall I enjoyed flipping through the pages and found some helpful tips, this book is great for anyone looking to keep those extra calories at bay when they go out to eat.

Body After Baby

Being a trainer who specializes in pre and postnatal fitness, it was my job to keep myself in shape throughout my pregnancy.....which I did (in my opinion). I still gained 36lbs but I worked out 5 days a week right up until I delivered. It wasn't always easy and it wasn't always fun but I knew at the end of it all I would be happy that I did it.

Don't get me wrong I DO enjoy working out so more often than not I looked forward to my workouts but like I said it wasn't ALWAYS fun. Knowing that it was not only good for me but for my growing baby is was kept me motivated.

Benefits of exercising throughout your pregnancy....

• reduce pregnancy discomforts (lower back pain, swelling in your legs etc.)



• shorter labor



• less weight gain



• faster recovery



• babies have higher APGAR scores



• babies are more calm



• babies sleep better

Below is a picture of me at 32 weeks pregnant and one of me 12 weeks postpartum

I wish I could tell you there is a miracle way of doing it but there is not. It came down to one thing and one thing only.....wait for it.....JUST DO THE WORK!!!!

I worked out 5 days a week through the pregnancy, had a C-Section, waited 3 weeks to recover and then started working out 5 days a week again. Let me point out I was cleared for ALL physical activity by my doctor before I started to exercise again.

SLEEP YOUR WAY SKINNY

Being a go-getter is great but skimping on sleep is not. AM workouts are great if your going to bed early enough (10pm or earlier). Recent studies show that women who slept seven hours or more were less likely to put on weight then women who didn't. Those who slept only 6 hours were 12 percent more likely to gain weight...on average 33 pounds over 16 years. Other studies have shown that lack of sleep affects the levels of appetite hormones and may cause you to have a higher Body Mass Index (BMI).

Moral of the story....start counting those sheep an hour or two earlier each night and those workouts will start being a bit more effective!