It seems that everything I read about prevention of disease comes back to nutrition. One easy addition to my life has been a morning elixir. If you want a new way to start your day in a healthy way, this recipe is for you. This week’s tip is for a super easy to make morning elixir to help start your day on the right foot. I drink one every single morning without fail.
Digestive health appears to be more important than anyone may think. Getting our digestive system straightened out can reap huge rewards and even help in weight loss. Combining three simple ingredients in a morning shot will aid your body in many ways, including improving your digestive health.
My morning elixir is made of three ingredients, each have been said to improve digestion and provide detoxing assistance to the body. Bragg’s apple cider vinegar can help balance your body’s PH. It also contains enzymes that can act as probiotics and can aid in helping your liver detox. Combining this with lemon juicecan help boost your metabolism. Lemon juice has a high mineral count and of course contains vitamin C which can also help balance your PH. Top this off with a spring of cayenne pepper and your have a great natural fat burning and anti-inflammatory morning drink.
If you absolutely can’t stand the taste, but I promise you will get used to it, you can substitute the apple cider vinegar with coconut vinegar. Coconut vinegar has many of the same properties and a slightly better taste. I recommend you drink it quickly and give it a few days your taste buds will adjust.
I drink this upon waking each morning, prior to eating or drinking anything else. I imagine it cleaning out my pipes. If you want you can add a second one to your day before bed. Give it a try, I think you will like the improvement in your digestive health.
Morning Elixir
Ingredients
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp lemon juice
dash of cayenne pepper
8 oz water (room temperature, or warm)
Directions
Combine all ingredients, stir and drink. (When I first started, I just downed it like doing shots at the bar. Now, I can sip it and take my vitamins with it.) It is important to use the best quality ingredients. Bragg’s is always my top choice. Here the the two vinegars I use:
Anyone who has been to physical therapy knows resistance bands are no joke. Those little rubber bands that look so simple can really challenge the best of us. When I was training for my race last year, my trainer recommended I add resistance bands to my routine. Resistance bands, like those found in any physical therapy routine, are made of rubber and come in many different resistance levels. I quickly learned just how effective, dare I say muscles you never knew you had, these little bands can be.
When using resistance bands, you can work any muscle group and build strength. They are great for travel because they are so light and easy to transport. When used correctly and consistently, they can be used to develop muscle strength without the need for heavy weights and dumbbells. If you’ve never tried resistance bands, you may be surprised at how much you can do with them.
Resistance bands do not rely on gravity as free weights do. This means your muscle works throughout all parts of the motion. They are quite cost effective, do not take up any space in your home and are quite portable. Further, they can be used to complete full-body workouts that challenge every muscle group in your body. I generally use them for work on my hips and legs to develop strength for running and can tell you they are no joke. The trick is to get the right resistance for your current fitness level.
The resistance bands I purchased were color coded. Others available are made in different thickness, with the thicker bands having the greater resistance. The easiest test is to see how you feel when you use them. If you are able to complete the set and not feel anything, they are too light. If you can’t complete the full range of motion, they are too strong. Use trial and error in conjunction with how your body feels to get the right resistance. Once you feel you have it right continue increasing the resistance as you get stronger. I have mine a year and have gone up only two levels, so there is no rush.
Here is the band set I purchased for around $13.00:
There’s a ton of free videos available online to get started. I hope you give these bands a try, you won’t be disappointed. Let me know if you currently use resistance bands and how they’ve helped you develop strength.
Recently, I tried farro for the first time. Farro is an ancient grain that is a nutritious, high fiber, low gluten choice that is gaining in popularity. You can add farro to soups in place of other grains. It has a chewy texture that kind of reminded me of pasta in my dish. I was pleasantly surprised by the taste and texture. As an added benefit, farro offers lots of fiber, B vitamins, zinc, iron and even a good dose of protein.
I tried farro in a side dish for a dinner party I hosted. I used a recipe published by Ina Garten, who never fails to deliver! I’m sure there are likely many healthier ways to cook the farro, but this recipe was worth making. You can swap the bacon for turkey bacon if you wish, but I used uncured natural bacon and it was simply delicious. Added such a nice flavor. For the parmesan, I used a goat version. It was filling and a hit with my crowd and I think it could actually serve as a meal on it’s own.
Baked Farro & Butternut Squash Recipe by Ina Garten
Ingredients
6 thick-cut slices applewood-smoked bacon – (*I didn’t use 6 slices, I used 3)
2 tablespoons good olive oil (*I used 1 tablespoon of avocado oil)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (1 large)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups pearled farro
3 cups good chicken stock, preferably homemade (*I used organic chicken bone broth)
3 cups (3/4-to-1-inch-diced) peeled butternut squash
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (*I used goat parmesan)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Place the bacon on a baking rack set on a sheet pan and bake it for 20 to 30 minutes, until browned (it won’t be crisp). Dice the bacon.
Meanwhile, in a small (9-inch) Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset, heat the oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until tender and starting to brown. Add the thyme, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add the farro and chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Place the squash on top of the farro mixture, cover, and bake in the same oven with the bacon for 30 minutes, until the squash and farro are tender. Check once during cooking and add a little chicken stock if it’s dry.
Sprinkle the bacon and parmesan on the squash and farro and bake uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, until most of the liquid evaporates, the farro and butternut squash are tender, and the cheese has melted. Serve hot directly from the pot.
This stored nicely in my refrigerator for 2-3 days. I highly recommend you give it a try. I’ve also been experimenting with adding cooked farro to my salads instead of beans. I’d love to hear more about what you do with farro. Please leave a comment below.
When I first gave up drinking dairy milk, I switched over to store bought nut milks. While there are many healthy options available, I soon learned just how easy it is to make these milks at home. I was excited by this as I love to cook and wanted to have control over what is actually in my milk. As an added bonus, I am never without fresh delicious nut milks to use in my smoothies and/or meals. When you find out just how simple it is to make, I believe you will join me in whipping up a fresh batch.
Things you need to have on hand to make fresh nut milks at home are nuts (any type you wish to use), cheesecloth or what I bought – a nut milk bag (to strain the milk) and glass jars (to store milk).
My favorite recipe:
Cashew Nut Milk(My favorite nut milk)
Ingredients
3/4 cup raw unsalted cashews
3cups filtered water, plus more for soaking cashews
one whole pitted date
1/2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Place cashews in a bowl and cover with water (I use filtered water to soak)
Soak cashews for at least 4 hours (overnight is best)
Strain the cashews and add to your blender, along with the date and vanilla
Slowly add clean filtered water to your blender and blend until you reach desired consistency. I like mine creamy, so 3 cups works. If you like yours thinner, just add a little more water until it’s the consistency you want.
Strain the milk through a nut bag, or cheese cloth into your glass jar. (You can actually eat the strained creamy thick paste if you wish. It’s a healthy, tasty snack. Sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon and add some fruit.)
Store milk in refrigerator in your glass jar for up to 3 days.
This recipe can be used with any nut. I’ve tried almond, pecan and cashew. Cashew is my personal favorite, but they’ve all been delicious. I use whatever nut I have in the house at the moment I want milk. My daughter has now switched over as well and loves using this in her macaroni and cheese recipe.
I am a huge fan of simple, easy cooking. I was surprised and excited when I learned how easy making nut milk at home was. I’m hoping you’ll try it. Let me know how you like it!
One of the best tips I can give anyone who is starting an exercise program, is to be sure you build in adequate rest and recovery time. In our zest to get started on a new exercise regimen we often over do it. Unfortunately, this can lead to loss of motivation and interest in the workout after a very short amount of time. When we exercise, we put stress on our bodies. Rest days offer our body and muscles the chance to recover and repair.
Sadly, many people overtrain and push themselves too hard. I was one of those who pushed myself so hard that exercise was actually making me sick. I was working myself too hard and not taking any rest days. My schedule was full of routines that I followed with no breaks in between. Over time I began to notice symptoms of exhaustion and realized the exercise itself was the cause of my issues. Worse still, I suffered two major injuries that sidelined me from performing any exercise.
The term overtraining implies that the training itself is causing the issues, but it’s more about your body’s ability to recover. Overtraining occurs when you have an imbalance between working out and recovery time. It occurs when you put too much stress on your body and don’t give it enough time to recover between sessions. If you overreach, or push yourself harder than your body is currently ready to handle you could begin to exhibit signs of overtraining. In many cases, we tend to ignore these signs and chalk them up to normal new to fitness aches and pains continuing to push through sessions. Left unattended though, theses symptoms could begin to snowball and have a serious impact on your state of well being. There are some common symptoms that you should be aware of and that might be an indication that you are overtraining:
Trouble sleeping – This is a big one for me. I’ve been having a lot of trouble sleeping and been extremely restless lately. This is a huge indicator that I need to step it back a bit.
Body aches– Again, another indicator that I’m over doing it. I feel this coming on usually after lunch at work, I feel achy and tired and just plain exhausted.
The workout is a struggle– When I go out for an easy run and find myself struggling, this could indicate the need to take a rest day. The other day I got on the treadmill to do a 30 minute easy run and had to stop after 20 minutes as it was a real struggle to get it done. Struggling through your normal routine could be a red flag that you might be overtraining.
Loss of motivation– You used to be excited for your workouts and now you find yourself dreading them. It could be an indication that you need to change up your routine, or it could mean you are overtraining.
Hormone imbalance – When I was working with a doctor to monitor my hormone levels, there was a noticeable spike in my levels at one point. I remember her asking me about my running. Specifically, she asked me if this was a new activity and how much I was doing. I had adrenal fatigue and this new exercise routines was impacting my hormone levels negatively. Overtraining can cause hormone imbalance such as increases in cortisol and decreases in testosterone. I recommend getting in to see your doctor if you suspect you are experiencing overtraining symptoms.
Weight gain– If you are working out and experiencing these types of symptoms, you could experience weight gain. Hormone imbalance could be part of the cause. In my case I’ve experienced abnormal hunger or cravings for sweets. I get sleepy after meals, and often crave carbohydrates such as pasta. More scientific explanations discuss your body taking on extra water weight as it struggles to repair.
I’m coming off a week of vacation during which I worked out pretty hard most days. I’ve noticed an increase in aches and pains and an inability to sleep this week. I’m also feeling exhausted. In reflecting, I believe I overtrained and did not allow enough time for my body to properly recover. Observing these subtle clues my body is sending and acting upon them in these early stages is crucial to the prevention of further regression.
How much time you need to recover depends on many things, including your personal health and fitness levels. For me, when I was in full training, I was able to run at an easy heart rate 5 times a week. I would take two full rest days and be fine. Right now, I’m coming off an injury and even though I did some easy work, I was not in a full training schedule. Despite this, I jumped right back into training without taking into account that my body wasn’t ready yet. This led me to overreaching and a feeling of exhaustion. I also had some radiating pain in my lower calf the past two runs. These symptoms were my body telling me I was overdoing it. Thankfully, I am aware of these symptoms and know to slow it down. I plan to redo my schedule to reflect my body’s needs.
This week’s training tip is to be sure you incorporate active recovery and full rest days in your weekly workout schedule. Also, be aware of the symptoms of overtraining and take immediate action when you feel them, including checking in with your doctor.
Have you ever felt like you were overtraining? Did you get injured? Or, were you able to recognize the symptoms and make changes?
As I sit here watching the morning news, I’m reminded of why I prefer to make my food from scratch. This morning there are several recalls of food products. Some are more disturbing than others and should be a reminder as to why it is important to have control over what goes into your food. Apparently, there are golf ball pieces in packages of frozen hash browns, salmonella on chips and what the soup can says is not what was found inside. These issues serve as a stark reminder of why taking back control over our food sources is critical.
I work long hours and totally understand the appeal of purchasing frozen foods for ease of cooking. But when I hear of these types of situations, it increases my commitment to control as much as I can when it comes to my food. Hash browns, for instance, are merely made from potatoes, onions and peppers. Super easy to cook yourself and then freeze for later use. Doing this would avoid the large production plants in which ready made versions come from, in which we wonder this morning about the quality control. What else is in our food that we are totally unaware of!
Recently, I read about someone who found a bat inside a popular salad mix. I would literally die if I opened my bag of salad and found a dead bat! This morning, I’m hoping we all consider what we are buying for convenience that could possibly be replaced, like bagged salads, canned soups and frozen hash browns. All of these items are easy enough to assemble at home to avoid mass production assembly lines.
Here are my suggestions for making this type of change to your food pantry.
Canning Food
Items like soup that come in cans are generally filled with sodium and lord knows what else. Soup is such an easy meal to prepare at home, but not something you might have time for after a long day at work. Luckily soup is an easy to cook ahead store meal. You can purchase glass food storage jars and seal the soup for months in your pantry. Or, you can place it in freezer safe storage containers and store in your freezer. Making a large pot of soup on the weekend is super easy as it’s they kind of meal that can slow cook in the crockpot, or on the stove. Once cooked, you divide the soup into several glass jars, seal and store.
The process of canning is fairly simple. You fill a clean jar with prepared food, apply the flat lid and the threaded ring to the jar and submerge the filled jar in boiling water. The time for boiling depends on what you are canning and is the process that creates an airtight seal, keeping food safe for extended periods of time. These are the jars I purchased when I was canning tomatoes. This morning I went down the basement and brought them back up. I plan to wash, sterilize and prepare for use again.
Open your freezer and look at what types of frozen foods you are purchasing. Are there any, like the hash browns on recall, that you could possibly make yourself? Hash browns are a perfect example of an easy to make and freeze food. Cooking these at home and placing in freezer storage bags or containers when cooled give you homemade goodness ready to grab and heat. I took stock of my freezer this morning and I have lots of frozen organic vegetables and fruit for use in smoothies. I started purchasing them when I got tired of throwing out food that we didn’t eat fast enough. I also have baggies with cut up banana and fresh blueberries. This reminded me that I can purchase and freeze fresh vegetables to avoid waste. I just need to invest in some extra freezer storage bags to place them in. They may not store quite as long as the store brought variety, but I don’t need to store them long.
I have seen food storage machines at Costco in the past and am wondering if I should pick one up for freezing vegetables and fruits. I think this would help them maintain their crisp color and avoid any danger of freezer burn. This one looks affordable and might be an investment I make.
Thankfully, if I am the person putting the fruit and vegetables in the bag, I’d be completely sure there are no extra critters inside my bags!
Make Your Own Salad Bags
The reason most of us purchase ready made salad bags is convenience. I’ve had many a morning where I didn’t bring salad to work because I didn’t have time to wash, chop and assemble it. Food prep will avoid this, but once you wash salad it begins to go bad if you don’t eat it. I used to have a salad spinner that dried the salad after washing. I may have to dig that out of my basement as well. This way I would wash it, spin it, assemble it and store it. Purchasing the Romaine lettuce whole is also more cost effective. I could purchase my lettuce, wash and inspect, dry and assemble for the week in separate containers. The trims can be added as needed to ensure freshness. Most of the trims are easy enough to grab and go. This is the type of spinner I have and I think I’m going to see if it dries it enough to stay fresh for the week.
I’m excited to get back to my routes and rethink some of my food preparation practices. I wish I had the time to grow my vegetables again, but I know I can’t maintain the garden properly. Making these simple changes will get me closer to that and hopefully avoid unknowingly eating items such as golf ball pieces in my food.
What are your thoughts on these recalls? Are you as sickened as I am? Will you give these types of suggestions a try? If you do, let me know how it works out for you.
Well this has been a rough week for me when it comes to healthy eating. My birthday was Wednesday so there was some eating of cookies and cake during the day at work, followed by dinner out and some wine. Then Thursday was a late night at work so we ordered dinner in – Chinese food. Friday was a night out for dinner at a yearly PTA function which involved more wine and restaurant food. While I didn’t over eat at any of these events, my body is just not used to eating in this manner anymore. I’m feeling lousy because my eating routine is totally off kilter. I’ve been eating out, not home cooked, so I feel sluggish and tired. I feel like I’m full of salt, chemicals and wine. I need to snap out of this and get back on track, but I’m not feeling motivated right now to even move. My bed is so comfy and cozy and it’s cold and dark outside right now. I have a scheduled slow, long run today and I’ve yet to move. I feel like slapping myself and yelling, snap out of it girl.
I think I need to do some detoxing this week to get myself clean and restart my mojo. It’s so amazing how much difference a week of unhealthy choices can make on my overall feeling of health. I’m tired, bloated and totally lacking motivation. I feel myself struggling hard to get back on track. I know how easy it would be to just say forget it and continue on this path, but I just can’t let myself do it. I have got to get myself back on track and quickly. It seems to take me six months to lose 10 pounds, but I can put them back on in less than two weeks. Funny how life works sometimes, right.
I’m not a fan of pills and drinking powdered shakes when detoxing. I am a firm believer in nutrition and using the power found in food itself to get myself back on track. I am going to pull out a 10 day green smoothie cleanse I used a few months back and give that another round. Yes, this plan does involve drinking smoothies, but they are filled with delicious vegetables and super foods, not powders and expensive products.
This cleanse is super easy to follow. I do the modified version which involves drinking two green smoothies a day (breakfast & lunch) followed by a healthy dinner. There are options in the book for the modified version, as well as the full version. The full version involves drinking three smoothies and eating healthy snacks and drinking tea. I like to eat food and the thought of ten days without does not appeal to me. Doing the modified version and substituting breakfast and lunch are super easy for me because then I don’t have to worry about packing lunch. The author also hosts a free Facebook group, so you can go on and network with other people doing the cleanse. This book provides shopping lists, recipes, and detailed instructions for the 10-day cleanse, along with suggestions for getting the best results. It also offers advice on how to continue to lose weight and maintain good health afterwards. Easy and far less money than purchasing a program! Many programs will cost $200 or more to get started. This book is under $10. You know I’m going to say it, win – win.
This is just the jumpstart I need right now! How about you? Are you ready to do some internal cleansing? Do you want to jumpstart your spring healthy eating and just plain feel better? Then join me in doing the 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse! I’m heading out to do my shopping after my run. I’m feeling better already and can’t wait to get some healthy food coursing through my body! If you are joining me, leave a comment below. I’d love to exchange recipes and good health with you.
This week’s tip is one I’m currently experimenting with and have included in my workout schedule. I have included three high intensity interval training sessions in my current workout rotation. One of the best parts has been that the workouts are considerably shorter – no more than 30 minutes.
For me, the HIIT sessions are running based, speed work sessions that I’ve been performing on the track. I am using a free APP to prompt me as I run. It tells me to run/walk, sprint at 80% and then either easy run, or walk to recover. I love it and feel like I’m improving my stamina. There are many known benefits of incorporating this type of workout in your weekly routines.
Increased Calorie Burn– research shows that performing high intensity interval training burns more calories in less time. My 30 minute session burns almost 500 calories. Studies have shown that a HIIT session can burn more calories than jogging on a treadmill for 60 minutes.
Improved Weight Loss– Studies report that 8 – 12 weeks of HIIT could result in reductions in body fat.
Challenging – Plateau Buster –This is not an easy workout and I definitely can’t hold a conversation through most of mine. But, because it’s short bursts, I’m working harder the entire workout and time flies by. I feel like these sessions have helped me push through my most recent plateau AND increased my motivation. You know I love win win situations.
Here’s how to incorporate the principles of HIIT into your current workout routine:
Warm up for at least 5 minutes
Exercise as hard and fast as you can for 30 seconds. This should be hard, think gasping for breath and feeling like you can’t possibly continue.
Recover for at least 1 minute, still moving at a slower pace.
Repeat the cycle at least 4 more times, increasing to 6-7 as you improve fitness.
Cool down for at least 5 minutes.
Allow recovery time between sessions, so limit HIIT to 2-3 times per week. This is not an every day event.
For my running routine, the warm-up is walking or a slow jog. This is followed by a cycle of comfortable run, full on sprint, comfortable run/easy jog. Cool down is a nice slow jog or walk, depending on the day. The app I used to get started with this was called Running for Weight Loss. I use the free version, but they offer a premium version of the app as well.
For biking or elliptical workouts, I just go fast and slower. On the elliptical an easy way to do is to alternate – one song easy effort, one song harder effort.
My favorite HIIT weight routine is Tabata. I haven’t done this in a while, but it was my favorite class at the gym. So much fun and time flies by.
If you are currently including this type of workout in your routine, please comment below. I’d love to hear what you are doing and how it’s going for you.
Sometimes I feel like I’m always starting over with my running. I’ve had to overcome some serious injuries along this path, but I keep getting back out there. As you know this Christmas Eve I broke three toes. Not quite the present I hoped for, but you take what you get in this life. Even though I worked out over the winter these first days back out on the road reminded me just how daunting my new challenge really is. 26.2 miles – gulp!
This week, I started reflecting back on my running journey. When I was younger my dad and I used to run together and do some local fun runs. My training runs back then consisted of me running either on the track across from my house, or around Juniper Valley Park. I was blessed to live across the street from this beautiful park. At the time, I worked in the city and also did some fun runs with my work friends.
Fast forward far too many years to mention and I returned to running with the hope of losing weight. I was doing some walking, but always felt the pull to move my feet and run, so figured I’d go for it. I had no plans to do any races, but ended up signing up for one with my work friends. The running community is a beautiful one to be part of so I’ve continued doing races. To date I’ve completed many 5k, 10K, 15K and one half marathon. The half was my goal race last year and I thought that would be my distance limit. Why then do I now find myself signed up to run in the NYC Marathon?
I can’t even tell you why anyone would even want to run 26.2 miles. I’m not sure how I plan to do it, but do it I will. The real training plan starts June 12th, but the base building plan has already begun. With the arrival of warmer temperatures and healed toes, I’ve taken myself off the treadmill and put myself back outside. With my broken toes, I tried hard to maintain my base by using the elliptical and treadmill over the long winter months.
My first few outside runs have been challenging and disheartening anyway. I feel like I’m back to the beginning again and three mile runs have felt like marathons. Already I feel my negative self talk returning full force. As I’ve been out there I say mean stuff like, “Are you out of your mind? Three miles feels like this, imagine what 26.2 will feel like. Why do you have to do this anyway? You should forget about it.” Right now I’m procrastinating getting out to do my long run. Lord, I need to get CONTROL.
What do you do when you feel yourself giving in to fear of an upcoming challenge? Do you eat, drink or quit? Me, I definitely eat and indulge in some nice wine. I wallow in self pity for a bit and beat myself up with negative self talk. What I don’t do though, is quit. Once I’ve allowed myself to go through the process of eating, drinking and talking trash, I begin to claw my way back out and get busy.
This week has been about that – getting over it and getting serious. This goal is not going away and I fully plan to meet it. Here are a few of the ways I get myself back on track when fear of failure gets in my head:
Connect with People Who Share Your Goal
I reminded myself this week that I am NOT alone on this journey. I have a tribe of people who are supporting me. In addition to my family, I have running friends who will support me as I train for and run this race. I have a running club that I am part of and have started reaching out for support. They connected me with another group who consists of people also training to run the NYC Marathon this year.
I also have two running partners in crime who will toe the line with me this November.
Helen & I – Roosevelt Island 10KFlo & I – Freshkill 10K
I also have my 2017 Run the Year teammates coming up to NYC so we can run this race together. We have in essence created our own tribe of strong women who will meet this goal.
Read, Read, Read
When I start feeling self doubt, I like to read motivational books, articles, quotes, basically anything I can. There are tons of books out there written by others who have walked our walk in life, whatever it may be. This week I reread my own blogs written to remind myself why I am on this path. These two in particular were most helpful –
In her memoir, Alexandra speaks to the journey through self doubt and hard work to meet her goal of running the London Marathon. I laughed out loud in some parts and strongly connected to her pain in others. A true journey of triumph and highly motivational to me and many others who have read it. Worthy of a read for anyone questioning their ability to meet their goals.
Get Started and Try Your Best
The hardest part of the journey is often getting started. Just lace up and get out there – take that first step. I’ve been using my week off to jump start my motivation. I’ve been able to get my runs in outside in the beautiful world. It’s refreshing to see the sights after a winter in the basement. It’s good for my soul to be out in nature and though it’s been hard this week, I know I’m making progress. Finally, in the words of William O’Brien –
Some say risk nothing, try only for the sure thing, Others say nothing gambled nothing gained, Go all out for your dream. Life can be lived either way, but for me, I’d rather try and fail, than never try at all, you see.
The sun is shining, it’s a beautiful day, I’ve bared my soul here and now feel ready to get out there and get it done. Enjoy this day and set yourself back on the path to meet your goal, whatever it may be.
Please take a moment to leave a comment. I’d love to hear about your goals and plans to meet them.
Healthy living doesn’t have to be hard. When we make it complicated, we are setting ourselves up for failure. Let’s face it, most of us lead busy lifestyles and struggle to fit everything in as it is. We need to find ways to make it easier to meet our goal to live healthier, or we may end up failing. Every Thursday, I will share with you one tip, or trick I currently use to ensure that I keep my life simple.
I love to cook and want to eat healthy dinners, but I work a full time job that requires long hours. I’ve had to learn some new tricks to ensure I get healthy food on my plate each night. Realistically, I can’t walk in the door at 6:00 PM and start cooking a full meal as we would be eating dinner way too late. I need quick, healthy, home cooked meals on my plate in 30 minutes or less.
I want to eat home cooked food each night, but usually arrive home hungry. My meals need to be simple, quick and healthy because if they aren’t, I’m going to go down that rabbit hole of eating junk instead. Gone are the days of ordering dinner in each night, or picking something up on my way home. That only led to unwanted weight gain and feeling just plain lousy.
This week’s tip is to invest in a well made, easy to clean grill. If you live in a climate that allows outdoor barbecuing all year round, lucky you! If you don’t, and don’t mind standing outside in the freezing cold, or rain, more power to you. If you’re like me and prefer to cook inside, you should invest in an easy to clean indoor grill. This will become your most used kitchen tool, that will enable you to have a healthy dinner on your plate in 30 minutes or less.
I’ve tried so many different grills and the sticking point for me was always the clean up. I don’t want to eat fast and then struggle to clean the mess. I also don’t want something that spritzes up my kitchen, so prefer a closed grill. I want something compact, preferably portable, that comes apart for cleaning.
I have settled on the Optigrill for many reasons. First and foremost, the food tastes amazing and there is no more cutting into it to check it’s doneness. The machine has an automatic setting that tells you when your food is ready. No turning or bothering with it once it’s on the grill. Second, the whole grill comes apart and goes right in the dishwasher. No scrubbing at all and it comes out perfectly clean each time I use it. Third, if I forget to take something out, I can use the frozen setting and cook without defrosting. Great for quick hamburgers or turkey burgers. Finally, grilled vegetables or panini come out so good.
The possibilities for cooking on this grill, or any grill you own, are endless. Our favorites are grilled chicken and salad, or quinoa, or spinach, etc. Today, we had hamburger with lettuce, tomato and avocado and a side salad. Easy and on the plate in under 15 minutes. There’s also a fish setting that allows you to grill delicious tuna steak or salmon. I’m not a huge fan of fish, but it does come perfect anytime I’ve tried it. I’ve also never had a bad filet mignon grilled on it. Just set it and watch the color coding for the finish you want.
For all of these reasons and to ensure I can cook dinner without relying on a microwave oven, my tip is to make sure you have a working grill ready to use in your home. It may seem like an expensive investment, but I’ve had mine for 3 years and use it at least 4-5 nights a week to cook. It was worth every penny and I’ve certainly saved money not ordering in so much anymore. Here’s a link to see what the Optigrill looks like. (*I don’t work for Optigrill and was not paid to recommend it.)
Reclaiming My Health 