His decision to eat for energy intake got me thinking, especially because I started my weight loss study this past Sunday, that most people have no idea what a proper serving size is and despite their best efforts still eat too much in a day. Energy intake means taking in calories. Calories provides your body with energy. 1 calorie is a unit of heat equal to the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree at one atmosphere pressure.

All calories were not created equal and have different effects on your body, health, energy and weight. Overeating is the major culprit for weight gain and obesity. Even over eating “healthy” food can lead to weight gain since calories are energy and any amount of energy consumed without being used or burned get stored as fat. Portions sizes are KEY to ultimate health, weight loss, weight maintenance and being able to induldge without gaining weight.

You are not going to go through life without eating cake. The difference between those people who can maintain their weight and those who can’t is portion control. Those who can control their weight would take a small portion controlled piece of cake and ENJOY IT. Those who can’t control their weight make up an excuse, sabotage themselves and take a LARGE piece of cake, telling themselves they will start eating well again tomorrow. NOT THE RIGHT MINDSET!!

If you can change your mindset to eat for energy instead of taste or emotional comfort, food appeal and power will literally change for you. Eating for energy means that when you feel full you stop eating. Think about your body like a car. When your tank is full, you can’t put any more gas in, it will spill over. When your tank is empty your car won’t run. Your body is the same. When you choose the wrong type of gas or you are running on empty your body won’t run properly. Fill your tank up with the right type of gas without over filling it and your body will run smoothly!

I have attached a great visual for you to see portion sizes of a large variety of foods. You will have to scroll down a bit to get to it because the first part is about milk. PLEASE DON’T LOOK AT THE PORTIONS IN THE CANADA’S FOOD GUIDE…SCROLL TO THE PICTURES OF THE PORTIONS.

Challenge: Weigh yourself at the beginning of the week. Follow the portion sizes suggested in the attachment. Be aware of eating for energy instead of taste and then weigh yourself at the end of the week. Is there a difference?

http://www.albertamilk.com/nutritioneducation/_pdf/Visual%20Ways%20to%20Show%20Serving%20Sizes.pdf

#1 Interactive Nutrition Protein Powder: I don’t know what I would do without protein powder. I usually have a protein shake for breakfast daily unless I have eggs (like this morning). Even in the winter I have cold shakes. They are fast, yummy and I can pack a whole bunch of nutrition into one without tasting it, like spinach. I have tried multiple brands of protein powder over the years and have found that Interactive Nutrition’s Absolute IsoWhey protein powder is my fav. It dissolves completely into water or any other type of beverage which is great when you don’t have a blender handy. It comes in plain, vanilla and chocolate and is sweetened with natural ingredients like cocoa and stevia instead of aspartame like other flavoured protein powders. It also comes in hemp, soy or rice for those people who can’t tolerate whey. I LOVE IT!!

#2 Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk: This stuff is just awesome! I use 1 cup of this tasty beverage in my shake in the morning. You can almost always find it on sale at your local health food store or health food section of your grocery store. Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk comes in plain, vanilla and chocolate. Each cup is approximately 40 calories…yes that’s right only 40 calories. A regular glass of skim milk is double!! It’s great with 1 scoop of protein powder and ice as an afternoon snack for about 150 calories.

#3 Presidents Choice Free From Meat Products: I am a huge fan of Presidents Choice products to begin with but I was so happy when they came out with this line of products. Most animals are corn fed mixed in with animal byproducts. The animals are also given tons of antibiotics to prevent them from getting sick. PC Free From products are “raised without the use of antibiotics, vegetable grain fed, contains no animal by-products, air-chilled” Since we eat ALOT of animal protein in my house I feel better knowing that I am serving my family a cleaner quality of chicken and turkey.

#4 Imagine Soups: I use the Imagine organic chicken broth and organic vegetable broth all the time. I use them to saute vegetables in stir fry’s, as a base for soups, instead of oil when browning meat and to thin out vegetable puree’s for my daughter (instead of water). Imagine also has a large variety of ready to serve soups which I always keep on hand. Having a bowl of soup with dinner is a great way to increase your vegetable content and to eat less at dinner. Imagine soups are easily found in any grocery store.

#5 Allegro 4% Cheese (Herb and Spice Flavour): I am not a regular dairy eater but I always make sure I have a block of this cheese in my fridge. It makes for a great portable protein snack and fills me up enough to get to my next meal. 2 oz of this cheese is 120 calories, 3 grams of fat and 22 grams of protein!! It doesn’t get much better then that for a low fat protein source. Allegro doesn’t seem to bother my stomach although I don’t eat it everyday. Allegro comes in different flavours, sliced or in a brick. You can find it either with the gourmet cheeses or with the refrigerated regular cheese.

Although I was out today, all day, very unexpectedly without the time to grab food I still made good decisions. My goal was to have 100g of protein and only 1 grain. Here is what I ate

6am: 1/2 cup fibre 1 with unsweetened vanilla almond milk

8:30am: protein shake – 1 cup frozen berries, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1 cup water, 1 tbsp Greens+ 1 handful of spinach and 2 tsp flaxseed oil blended (30g protein)

10am: 1 slice light havarti cheese + 1 hard boiled egg white and 2 tangerines (15g protein)

2pm: 1 cup of beef vegetable soup and a turkey sandwich on whole grain bread with lettuce and cucumber (out, cafeteria) (25g protein)

4pm: tall decaf coffee with cream and 1 splenda

6:30pm: chicken soup with 2 tbsp noodles, 1 chicken leg and 1/2 breast and broccoli (25g protein)

9:30: 1 small green apple and 1 tbsp of raw almond butter (yum) (3g protein)

Total protein: 98 grams approximately

I didn’t drink enough water today but my eating was GREAT!

What did you eat today?

So today being Thursday I will be STRICT, my kind of strict, the nutritionist kind of strict. My body type is one to reject carbs and all I want to eat are carbs so what am I do to? Well, I know it will take about 3-4 days of dealing with carb cravings but I can deal with it and force myself to up my protein and fat intake while seriously decreasing my carb intake. No more snacking on crap!! Even the healthy cake I make myself has got to go because IT IS STILL CAKE AND I NOT FOOLING MYSELF! Are you fooling yourself? What do you eat, healthy or not that you know you shouldn’t?

Couldn’t go to my aquafit class yesterday because my daughter was home sick. Am definitely going tomorrow and looking forward to it. I hope the gloom of the winter and the winter weight gain isn’t getting you down!

Ingredients:

Serves 15

3 large, very ripe bananas

1/4 cup canola oil

3/4 cup sucanut

1 egg plus 2 whites

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup kefir

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 white light spelt flour

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup Reese Peanut Butter chips (I had to use them up plus who doesn’t love peanut butter and banana)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325F. Spray a 7 x 11 ” Pyrex with non stick spray. Puree the bananas in the processor until smooth. Measure 1 1/3 cups of puree and set aside. In the food processor beat oil, eggs, egg whites, vanilla and sucanut until all mixed and light. Blend in bananas. Add kefir and process for about 5 seconds. Add baking soda, baking powder and flour. Process with quick on/off pulses until flour disappears. Add in ground flaxseed and Reese’s peanut butter chips. Pulse until combine about 3-4 times. Pour batter evenly in Pyrex. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a fork comes out clean.

Truthfully I haven’t exercised at all during this pregnancy. I was a nervous wrek for the first 3-4 months because I previously had a miscarriage and didn’t want to do anything to jeopordize this pregnancy. Then school started and my life became so hectic. I am going to use the excuse of “no time”. Sure I had some extra free time but there was no way I was going to the gym to exercise. Anyways, I started to feel the need to move my body, so I am glad that the suggestion of aqua fit came up. I LOVED THE CLASS.

Maple Community Center is in a very Italian area. The class was comprised of me and a bunch of over 70 year old Nona and Nono’s (grandparents). It was the cutest thing I have seen in a long time. They welcomed me with open arms, literally. The Nona’s all hugged me and wished me luck with my pregnancy. Very cute.

Getting myself there this morning was a test against my will. It was freezing outside and snowing. Who wants to go in the water in winter but I promised myself I would start this class today and go 3 times per week. I am so happy I went. The water was warm and it felt amazing to be weight free. My body isn’t used to this excess weight and I am sore all the time. The water gave me freedom. The water gave the Nona and Nono’s freedom too. It was inspirational and beautiful to see. I cried a little (doesn’t take much these days) watching all these older adults move so freely in the water. I saw some of them in the change room using a cane or even walker but in the water they were as agile as me. It was like they were little kids again, chatting with their friends being able to move around without pain.

I actually had a pretty good workout. I used the resistance of the water and by about 15 minutes in my arms were sore. I was able to breathe and my hips were fine during and I have no pain now which is great and not like my last experience on the treadmill. I think the best thing about aqua fit was that although I was exercising it was peaceful, relaxing and enjoyable. I think it has something to do with the water. I felt good about moving my body and doing something just for me for 1 whole hour!!

I look forward to my class on Wednesday morning! If you have an injury try an aqua fit class and give up the excuse “I’m injured and can’t exercise”

I haven’t updated this website since I can’t remember when. I think about doing it all the time since I read alot of blogs and think, I should really use my website. My life has been crazy over the last couple of months but is starting to wind down. I am going on maternity leave in exactly 3 weeks (YAY) and wanted to use this blog to chronicle my year off, having my second baby, getting my body back for the second and hopefully last time and to keep you updated on my weight loss/nutrition related ideas/finds and progress. This blog will be a little bit of this and a little bit of that…really just what I feel like talking about. For example, my daughter (2 yrs old) said to me in the car this morning “Mommy, my teeth are ok and they are in my mouth” Really Lex, that’s fantastic!

I am starting a weight loss study in a couple of weeks with the intention of statistically tracking my clients progress. The goal is to use this data to prove to insurance companies that what Registered Holistic Nutritionists do in the form of using whole foods works to prevent disease, reverse disease and help make people healthier without the use of medications. I will keep you posted through the study on the results.

Food Tip: 1/2 cup of Liberte Fat Free Greek Yoghurt + 1-2 drops of peppermint oil extract + 1 tbsp of semi sweet chocolate shavings put in the freezer for about an hour is an AMAZING dessert, like peppermint chocolate frozen yoghurt. Add some Splenda if you need it sweeter. Enjoy!

As I write this, my daughter is sitting on me eating one of these AMAZING cookies. Yes, I can type with her plopped on me and thank goodness for PVR and the Wiggles! We can discuss the TV watching issues later. I often take recipes from Jessica Seinfeld’s cookbook Deceptively Delicious and change the recipe to reflect the nutritionist in me! I didn’t think that Jessica’s recipe was all that healthy with ¾ cups of butter, 1 cup sugar and 2 cups chocolate chips. I did LOVE the idea of using chickpeas and believe it or not you can NOT taste them at all.

My husband, who is my normal person taste tester said “WOW, Lor, it actually tastes like a real chocolate chip cookie – Good job!” I took that as a huge complement, because the last time I made chocolate chip cookies (with protein powder instead of flour) that definitely was NOT his response. It went more like this if you can picture it “Uch, (spit cookie into garbage) turns to me and says what the F@!@ was that?!?!”

I tried these cookies a couple weeks ago because I just felt like a chocolate chip cookie. Everyone needs a chocolate chip cookie every now and again. I am not opposed to cookies if you make them yourself, use nutritious ingredients and have 1 or 2 at a time – not the whole recipe!

Without further ado…

Here is my version of Jessica Seinfeld’s Chocolate Chip Chickpeas Cookies

Makes 24-36 cookies depending on size

Ingredients:

¾ cup Sucanut

¼ cup butter + ½ cup unsweetened apple sauce

1 egg

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

14oz can of chickpeas, drained, rinsed and pureed in a mixer

½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips (large ones so you need less)

2 cups white spelt flour

½ cup old fashioned oats (I had to add more oats because the mixture was too loose)

½ cup whole flaxseeds

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two baking trays with parchment paper. In a food processor puree chickpeas until smooth and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sucanut and butter applesauce mixture with a wooden spoon or on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla, then the chickpeas and chocolate chips. Add the flour, oats, flaxseeds, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed until a thick dough forms.

Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 1 inch apart. Flatten slightly with a fork. Bake for 11-13 minutes, do not overbake. Leave on cookie sheet to cool and then transfer onto wire rack until completely cool. Do try one in the process of cooling as the gooey chocolate is wonderful in the cookie. Store in airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze.

The recipe didn’t call for a lot of vegetables so I rough chopped whatever I had in the fridge. I turned the crock pot on before bed. I woke up to lunch and dinner for the next 3 days! YIPPY! I only used 2 dishes (1 pan to brown the meat and the crock pot). Super easy and super tasty!

SIDE NOTE: I also had 1lb of extra lean ground beef I had to cook. I compared the food labels of both meats and felt the need to share with you what I found. The ground chicken serving size was ¾ cup and 10g of fat per serving. The beef serving size was ½ cup and 0g fat per serving!! That’s right, the extra lean beef had MUCH less fat then the extra lean ground chicken!! Check your labels and don’t be fooled!

Here is the recipe

Serves 4 if using 1lb, 8 if using 2lbs.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp oil

1 lb (I used 2lbs) ground chicken

1 796mL can organic chopped tomatoes in it’s own juice

1 container of garden fresh medium salsa

1 can black beans rinsed

1 whole yellow pepper, rough chopped

1 zucchini, rough chopped

2 handfuls spinach

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Heat oil in frying pan. When hot, add ground chicken and brown until cooked through. Add whatever spices you like to flavor the chicken (I used garlic powder, paprika, chili flakes, salt, pepper). Once browned, drain excess liquid. Pour browned chicken into the crock pot. Open the can of tomatoes and salsa and add to the chicken. Open the beans, drain and rinse until they stop foaming and then add to the mixture. Lastly, add the vegetables. Salt and pepper to taste. Turn the crock pot on low and cook for 6-8 hours. Serve over ½ cup of quinoa or brown rice or 1 cup spaghetti squash. ENJOY!

As you read it, ask yourself if you are 1 of the families/people the article describes.

http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/familyhealth/article/762275–three-household-routines-cut-risk-of-childhood-obesity