Think a can of Coke here and there can’t hurt you? Think again.
The American Heart Association recommends women consume no more than 6 tsp and men no more than 9 tsp.
Guess how much is in a can of Coke? 13tsp.
Check out The Center for Science in the Public Interest website for more great dietary nutritional information.
My new fav protein bar tastes like a rice crispy treat and is low cal at 140 cals for a whopping 13g protein. Huzzah!
We can’t always perfectly plan our day. Yes, there will be times that you are running around the city, literally, jam packed with errands. Yesterday was clearly that day for me. So instead of not eating and running on fumes, I stopped at Dunkin Donuts to grab a bite.
Normally, I hate using fast food as a meal choice, but in this case I didn’t have time to stop and eat and I forgot my protein bar at home. “Don’t use this as an excuse to skip a meal,” I repeated to myself. It is my mantra these days….
Luckily, D&D had my back. A fact friendly tear-off perfect for my pocket. And you can download the pic I posted or check out the details below.
Best Food Choices At Dunkin Donuts:
Best Drink Choices At Dunkin Donuts:
For most of your life, you’ve probably had an image of what your body should look and how you should achieve that image. Everyday our interactions with the world breed a certain notion about “normalcy” and beauty. The more airbrushed images we see, for instance, the more we begin to believe that’s how a “normal” person should look.
But the truth is, you should examine your body based on your own individualistic set of factors. You are not your neighbor, and your neighbor is not you. We all have different shapes, sizes, body types, metabolisms, diets, etc., that all influence how we look.
Body image is an important topic to discuss in personal coaching because the psychological aspect of how we see ourselves can often influence our health. If you see yourself as imperfect and struggle to achieve a facade of reality, you may never attain that goal and that can decrease your confidence in achieving other life goals. It also can inhibit your enjoyment of food and healthy relationships with others. Food, exercise and how you look should never be a stressful endeavor. It should feel right. You should feel right.
I’ve created some guidelines to review in your own personal quest for the individualistic diet. These are encompassing rules that shed light on how you should really feel that create a healthy self image. Choose reality based solutions based on how you want to feel. Unhealthy runway models, steroid induced professional athletes, airbrushed magazine covers and celebrities (who, quite frankly, have an advanced team of practitioners taking care of them) shouldn’t dictate your personal health.
1. Eat Six Meals A Day
Researchers at Georgia State University found that if you keep your hourly surplus or deficit within 300 calories at all times, you’ll regulate your blood sugar levels and regulate insulin better. Insulin is the hormone that stores fat. When your blood sugar drops in your body for a long period of time (as in very heavy exercise or lack of food for extended periods), the next meal you take in spikes your insulin which works to enhance storage of glucose and suppress the breakdown of adipose tissue, or fat, into free fatty acids.
2. Eat Foods That Swap Fat For Muscle
Donald Layman, Ph.D.6, from the University of Illinois, published research on protein consumption for fat loss. Results show that a high protein, leucine rich diet, in combination with lower carbohydrates (150 grams or 600 calories per day) is effective to support weight loss, blood sugar metabolism, and a variety of factors that have an impact on cardiovascular health. Leucine has a direct signaling effect on muscle that prevents muscle loss during weight loss. This means that on a high protein diet, the weight that is lost is mostly fat, not muscle. Whereas on a high carbohydrate weight loss diet, much more muscle is lost.
Choose 2-3 of these foods in each of your 3 major meals and at least one of the foods in each of your 3 snacks
Greek yogurt (Fage 0%), berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries), leafy greens (spinach, sprouts), lean meats and fish (chicken breast, salmon), nuts (almonds, walnuts), colorful vegetables (red peppers, broccoli, sweet potatoes), oatmeal (steel cut preferred).
3. Know
If you don’t already know what’s slowing you down, it may be in what you eat. Groceries stores can quickly become the enemy when they sell you pesticide covered fruits and vegetables, genetically modified organisms, and synthetically produced goods full of chemicals for preservatives. Check out this list of things you should always avoid:
1. Nonorganic StrawberriesRobert Kenner, director of Food Inc. and founder of FixFood.org
The Problem: While filming Food Inc., Kenner says he wanted to film strawberry farmers applying pesticides to their fields. “The workers wear these suits to protect themselves from the dozens and dozens of known dangerous pesticides applied to strawberries,” he says. “When I saw this, I thought to myself, if this is how berries are grown, I don’t really want to eat them anymore. I haven’t been able to eat a nonorganic strawberry ever since.” Unfortunately, for the food-concerned public, he wasn’t able to get the shot of these farmers. “I guess they didn’t think it looked too appetizing.”
The Solution: Opt for organic! The Environmental Working Group, which analyzes U.S. Department of Agriculture pesticide-residue data, has found 13 different pesticide residues on chemically grown strawberries.
2. Diet SodaIsaac Eliaz, MD, integrative health expert and founder of The Amitabha Medical Clinic and Healing Center in Sebastopol, CA
The Problem: Dr. Eliaz stays away from any diet soda or foods, sugar-free candies, and gum containing artificial sweeteners such as sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame K, and neotame, among others. “The safety data on these sweeteners is shrouded in controversy and conflicts of interest with the manufacturers of these chemical compounds,” Dr. Eliaz warns. “Independent research strongly suggests that when metabolized in the body, these sweeteners can cause health-related issues and problems related to metabolism and weight gain, neurological diseases, joint pain, digestive problems, headaches, depression, inflammatory bowel disease, chemical toxicity, and cancer, among others.”
The Solution: If you’re craving a soda but want to avoid the shady sweeteners, fake food dyes, and preservatives found in popular brands, try a bottle of Steaz zero-calorie green tea soda or Bionade, a fermented soda that’s majorly popular in Europe.
3. Anything from McDonald’sJoel Salatin, sustainable farmer and author of This Ain’t Normal, Folks
The Problem: McDonald’s isn’t just about food-it’s about food mentality, according to Salatin. “It represents the pinnacle of factory-farming and industrial food,” he says. “The economic model is utterly dependent on stockholders looking for dividends without regards to farm profitability or soil development.”
Fast food typically is loaded with all sorts of the ingredients mentioned earlier in our list-genetically engineered corn, food dyes, artificial sweeteners, and other bad actors in the food supply. The type of farming that supports this type of food business relies on harmful chemicals that not only threaten human health, but also soil health.
The Solution: Learn to cook! You might be surprised to find that paying extra up front for a pasture-raised chicken can be cheaper than buying prepared fast-food chicken. For instance, cooking a chicken and then boiling down the bones for a rich, disease-fighting stock can yield up to three meals for a family! (Here’s how to make homemade stock.) Find sustainable farmers at LocalHarvest.org.
4. Canned TomatoesFrederick vom Saal, PhD, professor of biological sciences at the University of Missouri
The Problem: The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, or BPA, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Studies show that the BPA in most people’s bodies exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. “You can get 50 micrograms of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that’s a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young,” says vom Saal. “I won’t go near canned tomatoes.”
The Solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Eden Organic and Bionaturae. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, such as Trader Joe’s and Pomi.
5. BreadWilliam Davis, MD, cardiologist and author of the New York Times best-seller Wheat Belly
The Problem: Modern wheat is nothing like the grain your mother or grandmother consumed. Today, wheat barely resembles its original form, thanks to extensive genetic manipulations of the 1960s and ’70s to increase yields. “You cannot change the basic characteristics of a plant without changing its genetics, biochemistry, and its effects on humans who consume it,” Dr. Davis notes.
In his book, Dr. Davis makes the case that modern-day wheat is triggering all sorts of health problems, everything from digestive diseases like celiac and inflammatory bowel disease to acid reflux, obesity, asthma, and skin disorders. “If there is a food that yields extravagant, extraordinary, and unexpected benefits when avoided, it is bread,” says Dr. Davis. “And I don’t mean white bread; I mean all bread: white, whole wheat, whole grain, sprouted, organic, French, Italian, fresh, day-old
You know your appetite clock is right when you are hungry for breakfast in the morning. When you decrease your PM snacking to just 50 calories, you wake up with a healthy hungry in the morning.
1. Mint Tea w/ 2 tsp Honey (45 cals)
2. Clementine + 4 Pistachios (50 cals)
3. Air-Popped Popcorn w/ Vinegar & Sea Salt (45 cals)
1-1/2 cups popcorn + drizzle of balsamic + 1/8 tsp sea salt
4. Cocoa Covered Frozen Banana Slices (50 cals)
Peel, slice & freeze 1/2 of a banana. Sprinkle w/ cocoa powder.
5. Kefir Shot + Raspberry Chaser (44 cals)
1/4 cup plain, low-fat kefir + 1/4 cup fresh berries
Start thinking about Bone Mineral Density. It’s an important factor in injury prevention, now and in your future health–and it’s cumulative. That means if you’re an athlete and aren’t getting the proper nutrition, rest and relaxation your body needs now, you’re setting your body up for failure later.
Bone Mineral Density is a cumulative history of energy availability, hormonal fluctuations, genetics, good nutrition, behaviors and environmental factors. As you get older, bone mineral density falls as our muscular infrastructure changes. When you do damage to your body, by starving/binging yourself, exercising too hard, not getting enough sleep and allowing stress to become a regular component in your life, you seriously alter your future body.
Your fat cells won’t ever go away (without lipo anyways), but cellulite (the matrix that holds your fat cells together) can be reduced by how much you diet and exercise. Fat cells shrink and expand depending on how much fat you are taking in, so if you reduce the fat in your diet, they will shrink and will not be held taut against the cellulite matrix.
Siggi’s is one of my favorite diet secrets. I use it in the afternoon for a boost at lunch. With only 100 cals and 14 grams of protein, this is one of the highest non-synthetic forms of pure protein out there.
Stay tuned for a CoreFit book of health & wellness which includes meditation, workouts, nutrition plans and mental health awareness. Basically my secrets to staying young and fresh and most important healthy–leading a Kick Ass Life.
This whole clementine cake is a classic Sicilian recipe, which I adapted from a book by Nigella Lawson. This cake is made using whole clementines that have been boiled until tender, then pureed into a smooth, intoxicatingly flavored paste.
Since it is flourless it’s easy to make this low carb by baking with natural sweetners. The low carb recipe is by Alejandra Ramos of Always Order Dessert.
Flourless Clementine Almond Cake Recipe
Adapted from a recipe by Nigella Lawson
Ingredients
4 clementines (about 13 oz)
6 large eggs
1/2 cup erythritol + 1/2 cup granulated Splenda (OR) 1 cup granulated white sugar
2 1/4 cups of ground almond meal (or 9oz of almonds finely ground)
2 teaspoons pure almond extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
Directions
Place the clementines in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and let simmer 1 1/2 hours, until very tender. Remove from water, then chop and remove seeds. Add the remaining boiled clementine (everything but the pits) to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and line a springform baking pan (this is a sticky cake; you NEED a springform pan).
In a mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs for 5 minutes until very light and frothy. Add the sweetener or sugar, ground almonds, almond extract, salt, and baking powder and beat again for 5 more minutes until very light. Pour into the prepared baking pan and bake 50 minutes to 1 hour or until set. Let cool in the pan, then unmold and serve.
Low Carb Note: Using the mix of sweeteners that I used, the cake works out to about 9g of net carbs per serving, which is fantastic. (The cake has 10 servings.)
The CoreFit healthy diet… Eating real food. Balancing out your vices with your good choices. Not pretending you need to eat perfectly every second of the day. Giving yourself a break, mentally and physically. Reiterating that food is nourishment for this icy cold day.
-Shayna 
Herbs De Provence Roast Chicken
1 Whole Roasting Chicken
1 lb Whole Organic Carrots, sliced big and chunky
1 lb Whole Organic Celery, sliced in 2-3in segments
2-4 Organic Yellow Onions, peeled and roughly sliced
2-4 Cloves Organic Garlic
2tbsp Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a roasting pan place washed chicken, breast side up, pat with paper towels to dry and cover with 2tbsp olive oil. Massage in and cover chicken. Sprinkle herbs de provence over chicken and salt and pepper. Place cut veggies in and around chicken. Throw in the over for 1-2hrs, 20min/lb.
Use leftover chicken and bones to make chicken soup tomorrow!
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