Beat the Heat with a Watermelon Treat

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Watermelon – not just for seed spitting.

Not only is watermelon is a favorite summer food selection and barbeque closer, it is equally beneficial to health. The antioxidant lycopene is a chemical found in plants that gives certain foods (watermelon, tomatoes, red grapefruit, and guava) their red color.

Part of the large class of plant compounds called carotenoids, which help protect and preserve body cells from oxidation and damage, lycopene may reduce one’s risk of various cancers, particularly prostate cancer. Watermelon is also a good source of antioxidants, that work towards preventing heart disease, lowering cholesterol.

CHOOSING THE PERFECT WATERMELON

watermelon2

Choose a firm, symmetrical fruit that is free of bruises, cuts, and dents. Pick up the melon, it should feel heavy. (A good watermelon is 92% water.) The underside should have a creamy yellow spot where the melon sat on the ground and ripened in the sun.

Watermelon-Strawberry Smoothie

(16 oz serving)

  • 1 cup seeded watermelon, diced
  • ¾ cup lemon sorbet or sherbet
  • 8 frozen whole strawberries
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 4 cubes of ice
  • 1 cup water

Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.
(cals; 224, carbs: 50g carbs, 4g fiber (net carbs = 46g (mostly natural sugar: fructose), 2g pro, 0 g fat.

Watermelon Sorbet

1 seedless watermelon (peeled and cubed)

1. Arrange the watermelon cubes in an even layer on a baking sheet and freeze until the watermelon is solid, about 2 hours.

2. In a blender, puree watermelon cubes until smooth

3.  Put the puree in loaf pans or dish, packing it down as you add more on top.

4. Freeze until the sorbet is scoopable, 1 to 2 hours more.

5. To serve, scoop the sorbet into dishes and eat immediately.

watermelon sorbet

Watermelon Parfait

(2 servings)

  • ½ cup low fat granola
  • 1 cup seedless watermelon, cut into small chunks
  • 2 cups of low fat vanilla yogurt
  • 1 sliced banana, sliced
  • ¼ cup of Almond slivers

In 2 tall glasses layer ½ of each of the granola, watermelon, yogurt and banana
Repeat layers with the other half of the ingredients.
Garnish with slivered almonds.
(cals per serve: 230 cals, 4g fat, 9g pro, 35g carbs, 5 g fiber)

watermelon kids

How to Keep a Food Journal

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The number one complaint about keeping a food journal is that it is too much work for your busy schedule or that it makes you think more about food. Both of these are probably true. In the beginning, however, driving a car was a lot of effort. Eventually it became second nature and now you can probably drive while eating. By using either of these tools you can also update your food journal while in your car. (not while driving of course )

Keeping a food journal will help you improve your eating habits. No doubt about it. You can’t manage what you can’t measure. It is an old management adage that is just as meaningful to your weight control. Unless you measure something you don’t know if it is getting better or worse. If we are going to be able to help you with your weight management, we need to be able to see what you are eating and when you are eating it. SO.. we are going to do this thing, let’s make it as easy and fun as possible.

There are various apps on-line that regulate your fitness and food journal. They typically let you track what you eat with a few clicks – almost no data entry and record your workouts in minutes. Some examples are FitBit, MyNetDiary, Livestrong, MyFitnessPal, etc.

TweetWhatYouEat  is another on-line food journal – stripped down to the bare necessities.  If you use Twitter, this is incredibly easy to use.  You sign up with the service and then, using your Twitter account, send a direct message every time  you eat something.   Like this:

DM TWYE 2 eggs, spinach, olive oil

That’s it.  When you go to your TWYE diary, you will see a list of everything you entered.  The calorie counts are “crowdsourced”,  meaning that other users have given “2 eggs” a calorie count and TWYE uses that in your calculation.  If you don’t like the calorie count they used you can edit it.   TweetWhatYouEat gives you a total for the day.

You can use either of these services to send  food logs to your nutrition clinicians, or merely just for self accountability.

If you use Twitter, feel free to follow me on Twitter for our latest tips @ilanakatz.  I try to post neat stuff to share with  Twitter friends frequently.  Or of course Facebook too “Optimal Nutrition for Life – by Ilana”.

Planning Your Meals

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thinmanrunmarathon

In my practice,  I find the biggest roadblock to weight loss success is that people do not take the time to plan their day as far as eating goes. So they either wait for meal times, or until they are hungry, and then just see what is convenient to grab.

This sets you up to  either not eat enough during the day, or gorge on whatever is available, or just get the most convenient food which is more than likely prepackaged and processed.

If you take a few moments in the day to plan a grocery list, spend an hour or two a week shopping for nutritious foods (that can be just as convenient), and having these nutritious foods available for eating smaller meals more often during the day – the huge high calorie, high fat, or prepackaged meals can be avoided.

Planning is the best tool for success in any project, and creating a healthy lifestyle and/or weight management is a project too. Planning is not a big deal – in fact, shopping regularly and having the right type of foods available means the planning is done.

Nutritiously dense and calorically low foods that are easy to have around are things like yogurts, string cheeses, whole wheat crackers, ricotta or cottage cheese, wheat tortillas and sliced turkey, carrots and other veggies, V8 fruit and vegetable juices, raw nuts, some trail mixes (not all m and m’s), meal replacement bars, fruits, hard boiled eggs (when ready to eat peel, and discard some of the yolks), hummus (to have with some of these), 100 calorie snack pack to enjoy once a day, such as pretzels, baked chips, etc.

Many of these things can be kept in a mini fridge at work if available, else have ice packs available and pack a mini cooler for a days worth of snacks, and many can be kept in a desk drawer, trunk of the car, if not necessary to refrigerate.

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MARCH NEWSLETTER – 2017

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March is National Nutrition Month. This means the American Dietetic Association focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.

Are you still keeping your January New Year resolutions? Don’t be too hard on yourself if you answered no… statistics show that unfortunately most people fail at keeping them for more than two weeks.

For National Nutrition Month perhaps set one realistic, measurable goal. For example, lose six pounds in three months. Keep it simple! Set yourself up for success!

National Nutrition Quiz

1. In addition to Walnuts, which food is  a good source of omega-3 fatty  acids?

A. Spinach             C. Flaxseed

B. Peanuts              D. Apple

2.  Which of the following has the  least amount of calories per  serving?

A. 1 med apple        C. 1 oz cheddar

B. 1 slice bread        D. 4 ripe olives

3.  Americans tend to underestimate the amount of food consumed by what %?

A. 25%              C. 50%

B 40%               D. 75%

4. Eating a colorful range of fruits and vegetables ensures a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals to stay fit and healthy?

(True or False)

5.  Vegan diets are appropriate for  Children.

(True or False)

 Answers to Quiz:

1. C  – Flaxseeds (also known as linseed) are rich in heart healthy Omega-3 Fatty Acids

2. D  – 4 ripe Californian olives contain 24 cals per serving and 2.5 g of healthy mono-

unsaturated fat. (apple = 80 cals, 1 oz cheddar = 80  cals , 1 slice bread = ~ 80 cals)

3. C  –  Many people have no idea what constitutes a standard serving size. The result is

decreased attention to hunger cues, and inability to regulate appropriate intake.

4. T – Researchers have begun to uncover the value of pigment- related phyto (plant)

nutrients. A recent study showed that “blue/purple” such as blueberries, eggplant, fresh

plums, and purple cabbage within a lowfat diet aided in memory function, healthy

aging, healthy urinary tract, and  helped lower risk of cancer.

5. F –  General vegetarian diets that include lacto (milk) and ovo (egg) sources can

accommodate the needs of growing children, however, strict vegans should consult a

medical professional or RD to ensure they are getting enough calories and nutrients

such as Vitamin B12, zinc, iron, and calcium needed for growth and development.

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  Did you know – there is a day dedicated to the harvesting of pecans.

Pecan Day (March 25)

Pecans are source of protein, potassium, zinc, vitamin E, magnesium, carbohydrates, and folic acid. They contain mainly polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat — the type considered “heart healthy.” A handful of nuts a day, such as pecans, can help you stay on a diet by contributing to satiety. This means they will help you feel full longer.

PECAN MERINGUES

Notes on working with egg whites.

Before you start, remove eggs from refrigerator and let them come to room temperature. (A couple of hours will do, or if you are rushed for time, immerse them in warm water for 10 minutes.) Make sure that all bowls, hands, and utensils that might touch the eggs are clean and free from oils. To separate the whites:  crack them in half and gently move the yolk from one egg shell half to another, allowing the egg white to drip down into a clean container.

 INGREDIENTS

 1 cup whole pecans

3 egg whites

Pinch salt

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vinegar

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 300°F.

2 Place pecans in zipper baggie and beat them with a wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Set aside.

3 Put egg whites into a standup mixer bowl. Add salt. Start the mixer speed on low, gradually increasing the speed until soft peaks start to become visible and the egg white bubbles are very small and uniform, about 2 to 3 minutes.

4 Increase the speed to medium-high, and slowly add the sugar to the egg whites. Continue to whip the eggs and sugar for a few minutes. Then add the vinegar to the bowl. Increase speed to high and whip the egg whites until they fluff up and become glossy, and stiff peaks form when the whisk is lifted, 4-5 minutes.

5 Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the pecan pieces. Drop by teaspoons onto a cookie sheets that have been lined with wax paper.

6 Put the cookies sheet in the 300°F oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Leave them in the oven overnight. In the morning they should be ready – crisp on the outside, light and airy on the inside. If they are a little marshmallowy or chewy on the inside in the morning, just let them dry out for a few more hours.

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FITNESS –

Turning what we eat into optimal fuel

Great Cardio workouts

Interval training is associated with fat burning is because the higher the intensity the more likely the physiological response is to overcome lipogenesis sensitivity (in layman’s terms, fat storage mode). To keep it simple, the mechanism is related to how the different hormones bind to either alpha or beta receptors. Before going into a physiology dissertation, in its simplicity, high intensity can overcome problems associated with alpha-receptor dominance in stubborn body fat. Well, why not keep the intensity high all the time, you may ask. The answer is that while high intensity can break down fatty acids in the cell, it does not burn fatty acids as a fuel, so that’s where the intervals become important. Switching between high and low creates that magic bullet.

 Elliptical, treadmill and stationary bike rotation  – 1 hour and 15 minute work out       (starts with treadmill, then elliptical, and ends with bike)

 Repeat this rotation twice:

Treadmill:  10 straight minutes.

Form: long stides and squeeze glutes at end of each stride.

Min 0 – 5:       set at a pace of ~ 4.0 at 0% grade.

Min 5 – 10:    12% grade and pace at ~ 3.5, maintaining stride form

Elliptical:  16 minutes.

set program that is most like a consistent running stride.

Set level (resistance) at moderate (should be about 160 – 180 strides per min)

Cycle: 10 minutes

manual setting 3. Pedal hard (feel your hamstrings) for straight 10 minutes

After 2 rotations: THEN     Cool down on cycle for 3 minutes

 

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ONE MORE FUN RECIPE :

 Lazy Sunday Guiltless Pancakes

 On Sunday, I was just in one of those moods, its been years since I had a pancake for breakfast. I sifted through what I had available in my fridge and grocery cupboard, threw some ingredients in my blender and made some delicious, perfectly-pancaked textured, low-cal, low-fat, health-packed  pancakes. I thought this would be a great choice for the pecan addition of my newsletter, as guess what a perfect addition to these panckes would be?? Yeah – you got it – yummy, fresh pecans !!

  (makes 5 servings)

1 scoop vanilla whey protein

1 cup raw oats

6 egg whites

1 cup low fat cottage cheese

2 T silken tofu

1 T  wheat germ

Optional – ½ cup chopped pecans

Optional – TRUVIA  to taste

Blend all ingredients in a blender. Spray skillet with pam. Pour ½ cup batter in pan. When batter bubbles, flip until both sides golden brown. The recipe makes about 12 – 15 pancakes, 3 pancakes = 1 serving.

1 serving (without the pecans) = 135 cals, 20g pro, 12g carbs, 3g fiber, 200mg sodium. 

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FUEL SAFE ZONE

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protein cookies

protein-cookies

1 c (4 scoops) vanilla whey protein powder

1 c almond flour

1 c almond butter

1½ c unsweet applesauce

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

sweetener optional, and for taste: Recommend to use a stevia based one and about 1 Tbsp is perfect amount for the recipe.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Use as a batter and shape into cookie size on a baking sheet (3″ diameter, can roll into a ball and press slightly down to flatten).

Bake at 350 for 5 – 6 minutes, right as turning dark tan color.