SuperHero Ninja Smoothie

This smoothie went Superhero Ninja on my sweet tooth tonight.

And it's good for you too.

Ingredients

6-7 frozen strawberries

1 banana

2 kiwis

about 1 cup soy milk (more = creamier)

about 1 1/2 cups water (less = thicker)

Directions

Peel the fruit.

Add fruit to blender.

Add water and soy milk to taste. 

Blend.

Sleeper hold your sweet tooth into submission.

Healthy Habit #5-This is Why You're Sick and You Can't Lose Weight

Hi everyone!
     Healthy Habit #5 is the hardest challenge to date, but I believe it is THE MOST IMPORTANT.  If you have been trying to lose weight but can't, and think you're doing everything right, this may be the reason.  If you are sick, have disease, feel 'off,' or visit the doctor's office way more than you need to, you NEED to watch this video.
     It is time for you to give up your processed, junk, and fast foods!  The high fructose corn syrup, MSG, food additives, preservatives, and hormones are killing you!  Ditch the diet soda!  Ditch the artificial sweeteners!  They are causing your health problems, diseases, illnesses, cancers, skin conditions, allergies and more.  Does it seem hard to believe?  Do yourself a favor and pick up the books I've recommended below.  They will educate you about the state of our food industry.
     The food industry is drugging you.  They are tricking you into thinking cardboard tastes good!  If you gave up the McDonald's for a week and then went back to it, a few things would happen: (1) You would go through withdrawals.  That's what happens when you're on drugs.  (2) When you eat it again, it won't taste near as good and you'll probably get sick.  And (3) if you got through all of your withdrawals, and your cravings went away, as soon as you eat it again, you'll start craving it again.  Drugs are a terrible thing.
     At 10 minutes, I know this is my longest video to date, but I wouldn't waste your time.  This is important information.  I also go through a lot of the GOOD CARBS that I want you to be eating.  As always, I welcome you to write me with any questions you might have.  I will get back to you and it brings me ridiculous amounts of joy to help.
     I know this one is hard, but believe that you can do this!  I do.
Mon    

                                                     

Green Juice Recipe!

Green Juice Recipe

Ingredients:

2 pears

1 apple

Directions:

Throw ingredients in juicer.

Drink juice.

Feel better.

Start Losing Inches with Healthy Habit #4!

Hey everyone!

Have you joined the Healthy Habit Challenge yet?  Don't you want to transform your life week by week with just 10 revolutionary habits?  They are so simple and so profound.  Your life will begin to change little by little, then momentum will build and pretty soon you will radiate good health!  It started with drinking water, to cleanse.  Then we started eating way more fruits and veggies, to nourish.  Then we combined lean protein and high fiber veggies at every meal, to satisfy.  Today, you learn to cut portion sizes and be mindful when you eat, to start losing.

When you eat, I want you to pay attention to how your body feels and how hungry you are.  Wait until you are at least a little hungry to start eating.  Then eat slowly, mindfully, enjoy your food.  Take at least twenty minutes to eat so that your body has time to send the "I'm satisfied" signal to your brain.  When you are no longer hungry but you don't have the "full" or "stuffed" feeling, that is when I want you to put your fork down.  Never again do I want you to eat until you are so full  that you want to take a nap after dinner.  I want you to stop eating when you are satisfied but not full.  You should feel light and energetic after your meal, always. 


Your don't need to count calories ever again!  Your body will naturally regulate calories with hunger signals.  That's one reason the first three habits are so important, even if you haven't seen very many results yet.  You needed to take care of the inside of your body so that all of those signals are working properly.  What good are those hunger signals if you're really just thirsty?  But you know the difference between hunger and thirst signals now because you've been drinking all of your water for three weeks now!  There is a method to my madness, people!

As always, check in with me and let me know how you're doing.  Comment here on my blog, find me on facebook and twitter.  You can email me at liveitupfit@gmail.com.  I try to answer everyone that writes me.  

Until next week, take care of yourself, love yourself, and ALWAYS believe in yourself!

Mon

Healthy Habit #3 Guarantees You're Always Satisfied, Never Deprived...

Hi everyone!

Healthy Habit #3 will guarantee that you always feel satisfied, never restricted or deprived.  I never would have been able to lose 40 pounds if I had felt like I was on a diet.  I want to live life, and eating great food is part of that.  The invaluable trick I learned was to eat protein and fruits or veggies every few hours to satisfy my hunger pains before they started.  Protein satiates your appetite.  The fiber in fruits and veggies is filling.  Together, protein and fiber pack a powerful punch against hunger!  If you follow this way of eating, you will never feel restricted or deprived and you will eat plenty of delicious food in the process.

Women should be getting 46-58 grams of protein per day and men should be getting 56-70 grams per day, unless of course you are a body builder or training your body with exercise and nutrition to build more mass.  You can get protein from a variety of animal and plant sources.  It is surprising how much protein you find in vegetables -- especially spinach!  Below you will find a handy list of animal and plant protein sources, and how many grams of protein you receive per serving.  Use this as a guide and start pairing these proteins with a variety of smoothies, salads, juices, and sides.  Get creative and share your creations with the rest of us!  Post pictures of your meals on my facebook or twitter.  Comment on this post with your favorite combos and meals.  Who knows, you might help someone who stumbles across your post. :)

Good luck with Challenge #3 this week!  I KNOW you can do this.  I believe in you, and I want you to believe in yourself too.

Lots of love <3,

Mon

Why You Should Eat Spinach, A Spinach Salad on the Go & a Green Smoothie

Hi everyone!

In my last video, I encouraged you to eat plenty of spinach, one of the most amazing superfoods on the planet.  This leafy green has so many health and healing benefits, vitamins and minerals that you would be crazy not to eat it. There is a reason Popeye became a bona fide super hero whenever he popped a can of the good stuff.  So read on because I've listed all kinds of benefits you can receive from spinach. Spinach aids in almost every function of your body, heals your body, prevents disease, and keeps you young!  At the end of the post, I've also included a yummy salad I took with me to work the other day and a green smoothie I had for yesterday's breakfast, both great ways to get more spinach into your diet.  Check out my facebook page as well for a Green Juice recipe with spinach.  And if I can't convince you, then maybe Popeye can in the video below. ;)

Btw, I've heard from a lot of you and am so proud of you all for keeping up with these challenges!  You have started a journey toward a life that is better than you ever could have imagined.  Keep checking in with me, I LOVE hearing from you!

Lots of Love<3,
Mon

Popeye says to eat your spinach!

Benefits of Spinach

• B Vitamins (B6, Thiamine, Riboflavin, Folic Acid) -- The "happy" vitamins that boost mood and energy levels; helps digestion, skin, immune function, memory and concentration; aids the nervous system.
• Vitamin C -- The immune booster, a powerful antioxidant that heals your body, prevents colds and cancers.  Aids in the growth and repair of tissue, blood vessels, teeth, bones and gums.
• Vitamin E -- Great for your skin and keeps you looking young, energizes, slows cancer growth, lowers blood pressure, prevents Alzheimer's.
• Vitamin K -- Aids in blood clotting and bone health, a powerful antioxidant that protects cells from oxidative stress, an anti-inflammatory for the body, prevents calcification in the body, improves brain function.
• Iron -- Protects against disease, prevents anemia, makes your skin glow.
• Calcium -- Strengthens bones and teeth, prevents cancer, helps insomnia.
• Magnesium -- reduces stress on the body, fights depression, gives you energy, reduces PMS symptoms, good for your teeth, helps you burn fat faster, good for cholesterol levels, prevents heart attacks.
• Manganese -- Good for your bones, aids in building connective tissue, helps the body absorb calcium, aids thyroid function, regulates blood sugar, helps metabolize fats and carbs.
• Zinc -- Maintains the body's acid/alkaline balance, aids brain function, helps with infertility.
• Potassium -- Improves mental clarity and focus by sending oxygen to the brain, reduces blood pressure.
• Beta carotene -- Great for your eyes!
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids -- Good for skin, hair, nails, and brain; lubricates the inside of your body and reduces inflammation, lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol, helps with arthritis and reduces risk of breast cancer.
• Coenzyme Q10 -- Helps with weight management, converts glucose to ATP (the energy your muscles need), improves muscular performance.

Ways to Include spinach in your diet

• Make a spinach salad.
• Throw a handful of spinach into your smoothie.
• Add spinach to your fresh juice.
• Add spinach to your omelet.
• Add spinach to your tomato sauce.
• Steam your spinach and serve it as a side to any dinner.
• Add spinach to a wrap for lunch.

Fruity Spinach Salad Recipe (on the go)

I took this fruity, sweet salad with me to work the other day.  I put baby spinach, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, sliced apples, sliced pears, dried cranberries, dried mango, pecans, raw almonds and mozzarella cheese into a tupperware as an easy takeaway meal.    Then I mixed a little extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar (about half and half) in a mini tupperware for the dressing.  You can shake it up for a nice balsamic vinaigrette when you eat.

The mini tupperware fits nicely in the salad container....

...put the lid on and I have a filling, delicious, lunch packed with good-for-me vitamins and nutrients!

Green Smoothie

This was a smoothie made for 3 people, so keep that in mind when you are looking at how much fruit I threw in to the blender!  The smoothie was a hit, though, so I want to make sure you all know the recipe!  Also, don't let the term "green" smoothie scare you away.  You can make any smoothie green just by throwing in a handful of spinach or kale or some other green fruit or veggie.   I put the following in the blender:  Frozen strawberries, blueberries, kiwis, banana, clementines, ground flax seed, then I added....

...equal parts soy milk (great source of a plant protein, although you should have it in moderation) and fruit juice.  I used apple raspberry kiwi juice.  I also added a few spoonfuls of vanilla yogurt.

Oops!  I almost forgot to add the spinach!  Don't worry, I added a nice big handful before it was too late!

And here is my (kind of) green smoothie!  Kind of an odd color, but it was a tropical kind of sweet that made you feel like you were on the beach in Hawaii.  

**This is also a good time to point out that a lot of food looks good to you because chemicals and dyes are added to them to make the food look, smell and taste more appetizing.  Do you know what red food coloring is made of?  Bugs.  Yep, an insect called the cochineal.  Check it out for yourself.

A Delicious Salad, A Salad Dressing Review and Reading Labels!

Hi everyone!

I want to share the salad I had last night with you because it was DELICIOUS!  We just threw this together at my boyfriend's house with what was on hand and the results were nothing short of amazing.  If this doesn't make you want to eat more fruits and veggies, I don't know what will! ;)

This salad's ingredients were:

Spinach

Mixed Greens

1/2 Apple

1/2 Chicken Breast

About 10 Almonds

Sprinkled with Craisins and Mozzarella Cheese

Dress with Litehouse Fuji Apple Vinaigrette Dressing

A word about the dressing.  I don't normally use bottled salad dressing, although I do from time to time.  I mainly use extra virgin olive oil and some type of vinegar because it keeps the ingredients as simple as possible.  I'm about to show you how this seemingly healthy dressing is really not that great for you.  (Hey, it's all I had to top my salad with!) 

If you take a look at the label, you'll notice that there are 7 grams of fat.  I want you to learn the difference between the types of fats out there.  Saturated and Trans Fat = BAD.  Poly and Monounsaturated Fat = GOOD.  The Bad Fats raise the bad cholesterol (LDL or Loser Cholesterol).  The Good Fats raise your good cholesterol (HDL or Happy Cholesterol).  Monos and Polys are essential to our bodies functioning at their peak.  Our bodies NEED fats to lubricate our insides and help transport fat-soluble vitamins, among other things.  The key to fat intake is, of course....moderation.  Salad dressings, oils, fish, and flax seeds are all great ways to get good-for-you fats into your diet.  This dressing has the right kinds of fats, but I could do without the sodium and sugars present on the label.  Compared to other salad dressings this really isn't so bad, though, and the calories are relatively low.

Now, after you read your nutrition label, I want you to get into the habit of reading the ingredients.  If you can't pronounce the ingredients or don't know what they are, then you probably shouldn't eat it.  But that is another habit...you don't need to worry about this for a couple weeks. ;)  I like that most people would know what all the ingredients are until the last four.  Now this is where I'm going to shock you....This looks like a healthy dressing so far.  So far, you would probably buy this at the grocery store, am I right? 

Before you answer, let me tell you what maltodextrin is.  Maltodextrin is an artificial sweetener.  This week, you don't need to worry about cutting out artificial sweeteners, but eventually I want you to get rid of all of them!  Maltodextrin is a fake sugar that has addictive qualities and slows down your digestion.  Junk food is full of maltodextrin.  All of a sudden, this seemingly good-for-you dressing isn't looking so hot, is it?

Then we see natural flavor.  That seems harmless, right?  It's natural, right?  Wrong.  Do your own homework on this one (Thank you, Google.) but basically, natural flavor, is a clever marketing ploy to name another man-made chemical additive.  These chemical additives wreak havoc on how your system operates. 

Next, we have xantham gum which is, despite its scary sounding name, a natural thickener in cooking that actually has positive benefits.  You can buy this at the grocery store.  It can also be used as a substitute for gluten in cooking for those with gluten intolerances.

Finally, we come to malic acid, which is a naturally occurring substance in fruits and veggies, especially apples, that has many health benefits.  Sounds a little iffy, but it is good for you!

So, after scrutinizing this salad dressing, I would say that it is not as healthy as advertised, however it is not the worst on the market.  Staying in line with my gradual approach to a new lifestyle, I would recommend this salad dressing for those of you who want a healthier option than what you currently use, but whose taste buds are not necessarily ready for oil, vinegar and lemons as a salad topper.

I hope this info helps all of you.  Try this salad--it was SOOOO good--and maybe if we all put our heads together we can come up with our own healthier recipe for an apple-inspired dressing. :)  And don't forget to check in with me and let me know how you are doing with this week's challenge!

Lots of Love<3,
Mon