Stick to your New Year's Resolution!

Stick to your new year's resolution - here's how.
Calories Count when making that New Years Resolution to live healthier. Try these easy tips:
1. Take your weight and add a zero to the end. That's approximately how many calories you need to consume to maintain your weight.
2. To lose one pound you'll need to create a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories.
3. Limit your fat intake to 30% of your overall total calorie intake.
4. Don't worry about calories coming from foods without labels: fruits, vegetables, meats, etc.
5. Learn how to read the nutrition labels. Pay attention to the serving size and total calories. Opt for foods with nutrient values high in fiber and protein to increase metabolism.

Tips for healthy eating

here are a few easy suggestions:
- Eat at least three times a day
- Eat protein and carbohydrate combinations
- Fat is good for you and necessary for utilizing your fat stores, aid in nutrient absorption, nerve transmission, and maintaining cell membranes, but keep them monounsaturated ( like walnuts, almonds, and avocados), as well as polyunsaturated ( like salmon and fish oils, safflower, sunflower, corn and soy oils.)
- Minimize your packaged foods intake and when choosing those foods look for ones that are fortified with additional supplements your body needs like calcium, omegas, iron, Vitamin B, etc.
- Read the labels. Look for serving size, calories, protein, carbs and fat grams as well as fiber which will give you an indication of it health value. When choosing, tortillas, breads and grains look for at least 3-4 grams of fiber per serving. Not all foods are created equal. Reading the label also helps to understand how much protein you are getting.
- Aim for 80-100 grams of protein a day, 25-35 grams of fiber and at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables everyday.
- Try incorporating super foods like: Fish, nuts & seeds, soy, garlic, pom or acai berry juices, tea, mushroom yogurt, cocoa, ginger, pepper, cinnamon, and lots of fruits and vegetables into your diet. (especially berries, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, melons, tomatoes and kale)
- Avoid empty calories. Empty calories could be classified as high in calories and low in nutrition lacking in macro-nutrients (proteins, carbs, fats) and micro-nutrients (vitamins, minerals, antioxidants)
Be aware of sodium intake, especially if you at risk for high blood pressure, by keeping your sodium intake less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day.
- Think before you eat and weigh out your choices. Just by switching from a “want or crave” response, you will turn on different neurotransmitters in your brain to help you stay on track.

Turkeys are useful for more than Thanksgiving dinner

It's almost Thanksgiving and turkeys will be going on sale. Turkeys are well known for being low fat containing only 1 gram of fat per ounce of meat and a 5 ounce serving provides half the daily recommended amount of folic acid. Turkey is also a good source of B, B1, B6, zinc and potassium which help keep blood cholesterol.

But for the last ten years, there has been a tradition I created with the frozen turkey... PASS THE TURKEY Bootcamp workout. Although the location has changed over the years, during my annual Thanksgiving Bootcamp class I bring a few 10-20 pound turkeys (depending on which local grocer I can get to donate them) and play pass the frozen turkey. When the music stops the one holding the turkey is out of the circle and participating in 20 pushups, jumping jacks or whatever exercise is called for that round. The turkeys can be used just like a medicine ball or weight. A few turkeys are heading round the room simultaneously to keep people moving. When there are the same amount of turkey holders as turkeys... Well those are the winners to bring turkey dinner home! Now PASS THE TURKEY!

Chicken soup for weight loss

Learn how to cook a low calorie, high protein and fiber chicken tortilla soup- no cream, butter or heavy fats. This soup features 28 grams of protein, 10 grams of fiber and under 300 calories.fit for any program and tastes great.
We know that chicken soup is a grandmother's cold remedy but how about Chicken soup for weight loss?  Well this low calorie tasty version of Chicken Tortilla soup is creamy, hot and full of vitamins, protein, fiber and under 300 calories too.  From start to finish it takes about 20 minutes but costs under $10 for 6 servings and did I mention easy to make?
Ingredients:
12 Cups Chicken Stock
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups chopped celery
1 cup onions
2 tablespoons Olive oil
5 Whole wheat and Corn Tortillas Diced( these had 90 calories and 5 grams fiber in each)
2 cups cooked diced chicken
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans rinsed well

Start with soup pot and add olive oil. Then wipe with paper towel to take out most of the oil but coat the pot and add the carrots, celery and onions.  Saute until soft then add chicken stock.  Bring to a boil and then add tortillas.  Cook about 5 minutes until tortillas are soft and then puree contents with blender.  Add chicken, tomatoes and beans.
Divide into Six 2-1/4 cup servings
275 calories
10 grams fiber
28 grams protein

Yummy!