Archive for the ‘Healthy Foods’ Category

Yesterday the FDA released the calorie count draft guidelines to fast food restaurants. These are the guidelines explaining how chain restaurants (with 20 or more locations) will have to post their calorie count info. This gives us as consumers a bit of insight into how everything will look come spring of 2011.

There are a few places already following the guidelines. I recently saw at a  Jack In The Box, nutritional info was listed at their drive thru and there were actually several healthier options. But wooooaaaahhhhh, watch the sodium!  I think the guidelines will be great for when people are in a bind and just have to have something to eat. So, what will it look like?

The calorie count guidelines state that the calorie count must be displayed as big as either the menu item name or the price and be similar in appearance. Other nutritional info like fat and sodium must be available as well, but it doesn’t have to be posted. Items that are short term (60 days of less) don’t need nutritional info posted either. This was done to prevent the restaurants from having to do too much work.

My question is this… do you think having the calorie count info posted will prevent people from ordering the obscenely high calorie items? I am anxious to see how the calorie count guidelines affect our waistlines.

Who doesn’t need a few more quick healthy suppers ideas? Especially when dieting, we find ourselves getting into a rut with our food choices. Here are a few healthy suppers to shake things up a bit.

Quick Healthy Suppers

Stir fry zucchini and yellow squash strips with some low salt teriyaki sauce and place in whole wheat tortillas with sesame seeds, fresh cabbage, and onions. Side of chicken broth soup with sliced mushrooms and chopped green onions. Yum!

Enjoy turkey cutlets with cranberry sauce on toasted whole wheat bread with lettuce. Add a sweet potato on the side and enjoy Thanksgiving any time of the year. Protein and vitamins!

This is a great dinner for when you are coming off of or just about to start the Master Cleanse. Saute fresh spinach in a pan for about 30 seconds, just enough to make it wilt a little bit. Remove spinach from pan and add chopped onion, mandarin oranges (with a little juice), garlic, and apple slices. Saute until onions are slightly soft. Place on top of bed of spinach for a fresh, healthy salad.

100% whole wheat pizza dough is a lifesaver when trying to make quick, healthy suppers. Top with marinara and fresh veggies from the farmer’s market. One of my favorites is to use Laughing Cow cheese wedges (they have tons of flavors now) and mix it up. I like the queso flavor so you can have a mexi pizza with taco seasoned black beans, corn, onions and peppers!

Please leave a comment with your favorite healthy suppers and we will be sure to try it and post a review here at BurnFatClub.

Blackberries are in season so here are blackberry calories and nutritional info, along with some tips and recipes for how to add them to your meals. No, not blackberry phones, blackberries you eat! (Though if you want blackberry phones, check out the link below and you can get Blackberry calorie apps at Livestrong.com But I digress….

Many diet plans highlight added more fresh fruit to your diet and buying in season is always the best choice. I remember picking blackberries off the bushes around the corn fields of my grandparent’s farm as a young girl. They are so good right off the bush, but at this time of year, it’s pretty close so enjoy.

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A lot of times I hear that it is too expensive to eat healthy and that cheap and healthy dinners to lose weight are just not possible. Even when I was watching Food, Inc. by Michael Pollan, this topic was discussed. The family couldn’t afford the fruits and vegetables on their budget so they went to the fast food drive-thru instead.

Cheap and healthy dinners are definitely possible and I know you can even SAVE money when you make the right choices. Also, remember portion control is important here too! When you start to keep track of what a serving really is, there is plenty to go around.

The main focus is buying what is on sale. I got red, orange, and yellow peppers on sale at Kroger this week 10 for $10. I can make so many different dinners from just those, a can of black beans and some rice. Oh and use your freezer! Chop them up and freeze them so you can use them later. I used to get frustrated because I was buying too much produce and it would go bad before I got to it. Now, everything gets frozen. One banana on the counter gets cut up and frozen for a smoothie. Grapes, strawberries, onions, sweet corn…try so hard not to waste anything.

Other great buys right now are squash and zucchini. I got about 4 zucchini for a little more than a dollar, and the same with the squash. Onions, whichever salad green is on sale, small peppers that are cheap but have a lot of flavor like jalapeno. Just try to spend most of your shopping time in the produce department, then get a few meats, and the staples of rice and beans and you can easily make a week’s worth of dinners.

Here are a few cheap and healthy dinners I have had recently:

• Sausage and peppers – Jennie O Lean Turkey sausage ($3.99 for 4 or 5 links), cut up into one inch pieces, and peppers on brown rice.

• Hot turkey sandwiches – on whole wheat bread, or pita bread, with tomato and onion or peppers, grill with a touch of olive oil. I spread one wedge of Laughing Cow cheese ($2 for 8 of them) on the bread too. Then for the side, frozen organic potatoes ($2.99) for the whole bag…can get 4 servings from one bag or sweet corn which at Publix right now is 10 for $3 I think. Cheap!

• Veggies and noodles – Zucchini, squash, cut into long thin strips, cherry tomatoes, tossed with whole wheat angel hair or spaghetti. Seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic, basil, dash of olive oil. Perfect.

• BLT salads – Turkey bacon, lots of greens, tomatoes, onions, and for the dressing, whatever mayo or mayo substitute you use thinned out with skim milk. Season with fresh ground pepper. Soo good.

• Chicken drummies a la easy – chicken drumsticks in the crock pot with barbecue sauce or Worcestershire sauce. Cook all day long, meat will almost fall of the bone. Side of broccoli or boiled cabbage on brown rice.

• Fiesta – Ice berg lettuce wraps with a stuffing of fajita seasoned lean ground beef (1/2 pound), black beans, rice and vegetables.  SHORTCUT—- ground beef, cook it up and mix with two weight watchers Sante Fe rice and beans dinners (can get for like $1.50 each and even less with a coupon) and use this as the filling for your lettuce wraps. That would be enough for about 2 adults and 2 kids.

• Hamburger wraps — With the other half of the cooked hamburger, mix with ketchup, mustard, pickles, onions, maybe some leftover turkey bacon…wrap in lettuce wraps with tomatoes. Remainder of frozen organic potatoes as the side.

Try to always put a bowl of fruit on the table too. Those few grapes no one is eating, an orange you sliced up, a couple of watermelon slices. Then if no one eats the fruit, time to freeze for smoothies which are great “dessert” offerings!

Cheap and healthy dinners are very doable, but it takes planning and timing. This planning is an investment in you and your family! Finding what is on sale, in season and what you might be able to use for more than one dish are the keys to cheap and healthy dinners to lose weight.

With today’s economy, more and more people are taking their lunch to work with them and searching for brown bag healthy choices. While there are healthy options for eating out (Subway, Chick-Fil-A…etc) making things whole from home is becoming more and more popular as people seek ways to trim their bellies and their budgets.

A few things to think about when you are going to be “brown bagging” it for work. The first thing is food safety. Tuna, sliced tomatoes, guacamole, cantaloupe, and dairy are all potentially hazardous foods that need to be kept cold to prevent bacteria growth. So use an ice pack or a cooler, and be sure to store in the fridge at work. The next thing is preparation. For the first few days of your brown bag healthy choices, go ahead and prepare your lunch the night before so you wont have the excuse of running out of time. Once you get into the swing of it, then you can start making them in the morning.

Here are a few brown bag healthy choices to get you started:

• Chicken tortillas with sliced veggies and low fat ranch. Tortillas, canned organic chicken, all the veggies you want and a side of ranch.
• Asian chicken salad with ginger. Again, the canned organic chicken is the lifesaver here. Greens, chicken, low fat or low calorie asian dressing and sliced ginger.
• Tuna pita. Tuna, pitas, hard boiled egg whites, low fat mayo, greens and veggies, paprika to top.
• Fruity salad. Greens, madarin oranges (in a small can with juice), strawberries, walnuts, fat free Feta cheese, raspberry dressing. Use a little raspberry dressing but also include some of the juice from the oranges. Yum!
• Adult peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Ezekiel 9 grain bread, organic peanut butter, celery diced up finely, sprouts, any organic fruit spread. You will be surprised how good the celery tastes in this.
• Taco bean tortillas. Cook beans in a skillet with 1/4 cup of water and taco seasoning packet. Mash beans slightly with mixture. Use this as taco filling with tortillas or taco shells. Add veggies and greek yogurt for “Sour cream”.

With some planning and creativity, you can get away from the boring subs and turkey sandwich and have some great brown bag healthy lunches to keep your weight loss heading in the right direction

Yea, I am so happy that I found the Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwich with no added sugar! You probably remember my recent rant about the high fructose corn syrup that is in the regular sandwiches, so I was thrilled when I saw these. Good news is that they taste just as good as the regular ones. The exchanges are 1 carb and 1 sugar (for the naturally occurring sugars). Now I am back to having my one Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwich per week!

On today’s “What to Eat Today to Burn Fat” menu, we have veggies and more veggies. Now is the time to visit your local farmer’s market and stock up. Use the freezer if you have to, just get those veggies for great weight loss. Enjoy!

BREAKFAST – Two eggs, turkey bacon, sliced orange, one slice of Ezekiel grain bread (no flour) with melted Veggie cheese (any flavor but I prefer spicy Pepperjack) on top, green tea (hot or cold)

LUNCH – Taco bean salad. Black beans flavored with low sodium taco seasoning. Fresh vegetables such as onions, tomatoes, diced zucchini, cilantro, lettuce, cucumbers, whatever you want (no corn). Layer for a pretty presentation. Unsweet tea or water water water!

DINNER – Salmon with vegetable skewers on the grill. Coat grill with olive oil spray before placing salmon (scale side down) on grill. Season with salt and pepper. Grill for about 5-10 minutes depending on heat, interior of fish should be 145F. Vegetable skewers with yellow squash, zucchini, onion, pepper, mushrooms, etc. Coat lightly with olive oil spray, season to taste with spices of your choosing. Yummm!

Enjoy other “What to Eat Today to Burn Fat” menus here.

When thinking about overall health, does eating meats processed or unprocessed make a difference? A new study just out from Harvard School of Public Health might offer some insight. While there has been an association made between meat consumption and things like colon cancer, this is study attempts to clarify risk (though in this case of heart disease and diabetes) even further by separating meats – processed or unprocessed.

For this study, researchers looked at over 20 other studies and 1,218,380 individuals from many countries. What they found was that on average, each 50 gm daily serving (1.8 oz) of processed meat (a couple of slices of deli meat or 1 hot dog) was associated with a 42% higher risk of developing heart disease and a 19% higher risk of developing diabetes. On the other hand, eating unprocessed red meat was not observed to be associated with a risk of developing either heart disease or diabetes.

Why are Meats Processed different from Natural Meats?

Processed meats includes things like deli meats, sausage, bacon, hot dogs and pre-made meatballs. Basically, you want to avoid meats that have had anything (sodium or preservatives like nitrates) added to them. Levels of  sodium and preservatives are believed to be the two things that separate the processed meat from the unprocessed meat. Saturated fat on the other hand, appears to be about equal in the two so apparently, the fat is not what makes the risk for heart disease and diabetes increase in this case.

So choose organic meats with no preservatives and grass fed beef. The closer you can keep your meats to natural and “clean,” the better you will be. When eating meats, processed or unprocessed does matter.

The basic cabbage recipes soup diet is very simple and it’s not limited to “just cabbage soup” for weeks and it’s not the cabbage soup diet of the past. Make this soup on a Sunday with the plan of having a bowl or two every day. You can use it like you would Slim Fast, to replace a meal or two or you can also just have it on hand for a filling, healthy snack, with very low calories. Use it alongside a great weight loss plan and you will see results. Use the free “7 Tools to Burn Maximum Fat Workbook” (Get it FREE ————>>>>>>)
from the Burn Fat Club with both a menu planner and diet shopping list to help you stay focused. There’s also a measurement tracker, exercise tracker and motivation to keep you going.

Here is the basic
cabbage recipes soup:

• 5 tomatoes or a can of low sodium diced tomatoes
• 4 large onions
• 3 carrots
• 3 stalks of celery
• ½ head cabbage

In a large pot, place all of the vegetables and cook for 2-3 minutes while stirring. Then add boiling water until veggies are all covered and add seasoning like curry or beef bouillon cubes. I like the new Goya Sazon natural flavoring that is low sodium. Simmer for 2 hours (pot should be almost to boiling).

Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool for about a half hour. Then blend until smooth. Feel free to adjust this recipe with other healthy vegetables and seasonings to your liking. Just avoid starchy vegetables like potatoes and corn (important part of cabbage soup diet) and keep it low fat, and low sodium if you are watching your salt intake. My sister also likes the soup as is without blending. This cabbage recipes soup is a great free weight loss plan that is flexible, you can use alongside other programs and it will help you lose the fat.

To the right —->>>, a free downloadable (is that a word?) diet planning eBook that has worksheets like a diet shopping list, menu planner, measurement tracker … etc that you can use with any diet plan. Get it now cause it wont be here much longer and we swear it’s super easy to download. You’ll get it instantly to your e-mail and we will NEVER sell or give away your e-mail address to anyone.  Just give your name and e-amil and then “Lettuce” know how it works for YOU! waaha ha ha ~BurnFatClub.com

Have you seen the frozen, sprouted grain bread Ezekiel 4.9 in your store? Have you wondered about it? Why is it so great? Is it healthy? Why is it frozen? Perhaps it doesn’t come frozen where it’s made, in California, but in other parts of the country, Ezekiel bread can be found in the frozen, natural sections of your grocery stores.

Here’s one of the great things about it…it has no flour! How did they do that? They take the whole, natural grains, add water to them and let them sprout. You know how healthy sprouts are, right? Same idea. Then they mix everything together and bake (this is my simplified version). Here’s what the company Food for Life, says about how they do it:

Through the sprouting process the grains become living, nutrient-rich, food. It is these “live” grains we use to make our breads. Different from other breads, we sprout all of the grains used in our bread prior to using them in our products. During our unique sprouting process, enzymes are released from the germ of the grain.

Sprouting is the only way to release all the vital nutrients stored in whole grains. The sprouting process activates beneficial enzymes which cause the grains to sprout and become living and nutrient-rich. Stores of vitamins and minerals dramatically increase over the amount available in flour. Sprouting also converts the carbohydrates in grains into maltose, which is ordinarily done by the body during digestion, thereby predigesting nutrients for you. The enzymatic action enables the body to assimilate the vitamins and minerals more efficiently. Plus, the sprouting process naturally increases the protein content and decreases the calories and carbohydrates found in the original grain.

So I have definitely noticed that I don’t get that rush I usually get from eating bread which is normally followed by fatigue and sluggish feeling about an hour or so later. This is because it is low-glycemic and this bread keeps me feeling full and satisfied with no crazy highs and lows. I eat less and lose more weight. The new diet plan called “The Diet Solution” is a fan of sprouted grain breads for this reason, too.

Sprouted Grain Bread Ezekiel Actually Tastes Good

Best of all, it tastes REALLY GOOD! It’s a bit nutty, and it makes the greatest grilled cheese sandwiches (Two slices of Veggie Pepperjack cheese, spray bread with olive oil lightly…sooo good).

And don’t let the fact that it comes frozen stop you from buying it. For me, my bread now lasts longer and I don’t throw any away. I just take out a few slices every couple of days, put them in a bag and leave those in the refrigerator. They are thawed and ready to go whenever I want them and I don’t have to look to see if there is mold growing!

Oh and don’t forget to try the tortillas with some grilled veggies or the Ezekiel 4.9 cereal which somehow stays crunchy in my skim milk? I love it. Let us know what you think here at BurnFatClub.com

If you don’t try any sprouted grain bread Ezekiel then you are really missing out.

“Should You Eat 6 Meals A Day to Lose Weight?”

According to a University of Ottawa study, the answer to the question “Should You Eat 6 Meals A Day to Lose Weight?”  is No. It has been debated that eating 6 small meals each day vs. 3 normal meals each day does everything from “make your stomach work harder” to “increasing metabolism throughout the day.”

This study compared the weight loss between two different groups. For 8 weeks, one group ate a low calorie diet and had meals three times a day and the other group ate six meals a day, but the same number of calories were consumed in both groups. The two groups each lost approximately 5% of weight but there was no significant different in weight loss between the two groups.

So, it appears, at least from the results of this study, that you don’t need to eat the 6 meals a day diet to lose weight. However, if that is easier for you, there doesn’t appear to be any harm in it either.

Cooking kale to add nutrition to your diet can sometimes be a little tricky for those who have never had to prepare it before. It’s dark crunchy leaves and somewhat bitter taste can sometimes turn people off before they have really experienced everything it has to offer. This article will give you some tips on how to prepare kale and add it to your meals to get all the benefits of one of the world’s most nutritious vegetables.

First of all, some background info on kale. It is one of the most nutritionally dense foods, meaning you get a ton of vitamins and minerals for very few calories. One cup of kale has 36 calories but is loaded with things like vitamin K, vitamin C, and vitamin A. Kale also includes manganese, copper, calcium, fiber, vitamin B6, potassium, iron and even Omega 3 Fatty Acids. So there is a lot of bang for your calorie buck! Studies of diets high in vegetables like kale continue to show associations with decreased occurrences of cancers such as colon, lung, breast and bladder.

Not to mention what it can do to help you lose belly fat! With a low caloric intake, you can get a good batch of fiber from kale which will help you feel fuller. This can keep you from overindulging and keep that tummy trim.

Now on to cooking kale. Here are some quick and easy recipes and tips to add more kale to your diet.

• Steam in the microwave (place clean kale leaves in a colander over a glass bowl with about 2 cups of water in it, cover top of colander with plastic wrap) or you can do this same method on the stove top with a metal colander. You may find you have to cook the kale leaves a little bit longer because the leaves are quite thick. It usually takes about 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle with anything from garlic, to reduced fat Parmesan cheese, to apple cider vinegar. Serve hot.
• Take several leaves equal to approximately one cup worth and chop very, very finely. Add to your favorite salad. You can add to a salad with deep flavors like mustard, pepper, etc and it compliments it nicely. Or you can add kale to a fruity type of salad with mandarin oranges, apples, or strawberries for a bitter/sweet grassy flavor. This is the best way to introduce kale into your diet because you will barely notice it’s there.
• Finely chop kale leaves and add to stews, soups and pasta. Again, if you chop finely, you will hardly know it’s there. One cup should do it!
• Bake kale leaves in a glass pan in the oven. Add 1/4 cup of organic chicken stock, chopped apples, balsamic vinegar and walnuts. Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes.
• Saute’ in a pan with garlic, lemon juice (fresh) and a touch of olive oil. The leaves do wilt nicely and the color is amazing so it looks great on the plate when serving.
• Bake a 100% whole wheat Boboli pizza crust until almost done. Remove from oven and spread 4 Laughing Cow wedges all over pizza (this is your “sauce”). Then add onions, steamed kale, peppers, and any other vegetables you would like. Bake entire pizza at 450 F for 5 minutes. Yum!

Please let us know at BurnFatClub.com if you have any other great ideas on how to prepare kale and also let us know how your kale cooking experiences turn out!

What are the top eight most nutritious vegetables? When it comes to vegetables, how can we get the most bang for our buck? Every serving counts so let’s make the most of them.

8. Tomatoes – Research lately points to processed tomatoes having the higher levels of it, but the amount of lycopene, a super cancer preventing agent, makes tomatoes a great choice. Choose organic, and the darker the better. This goes for ketchups (low sugar, organic) and sauces too.

7. Carrots – It’s true what your mother said, “Eat your carrots, they are good for your eyes.” In addition to helping vision, they have antioxidant compounds which fight against heart disease and cancers. Eat raw or puree carrots and add to spaghetti sauce or let them stew all day in the crock pot for a flavorful soup.

6. Onions – Everyone has been hearing about the disease diabetes being on the rise. To help protect yourself, onions have chromium, a trace mineral that helps cells work with insulin better. Onions can also help lower high cholesterol and high blood pressure which can both lead to heart disease. Choose sweet onions for a lighter flavor and add raw to sandwiches and salads. Even if you think you can’t eat raw onions, try them a little at a time and you will soon see yourself wanting more for flavor.

5. Red, Yellow and Orange Peppers – Choose colorful, bright vegetables such as bell peppers for a punch of vitamin C and vitamin A. These two antioxidants chomp up free radicals in our body which can cause damage to our systems. They also have lycopene found in tomatoes. The fiber, vitamin C, beta-carotene, and folic acid in peppers appears to play a role in reducing colon cancer. Steam some peppers for about 4-5 minutes, cut them open, clean them out and stuff with whole grain rice or quinoa. Or chop up for vegetable fajita night.

4. Sweet Potatoes – Vitamin A, vitamin C and manganese, copper, fiber, vitamin B6, potassium and iron are all found in sweet potatoes. Unlike their white counterparts, sweet potatoes seem to have more ability to fight the free radicals in our bodies and help prevent heart disease and some cancers. Choose purple varieties for the highest antioxidant levels. Bake and serve with some cinnamon sprinkled on top or cut into french fries and bake until crispy.

3. Broccoli – Off the charts in Vitamin A, K and C, broccoli contains more Vitamin C than an orange. New research shows broccoli’s powers to fight certain cancers such as stomach, prostate and ovarian. There is even research to study the effect of broccoli on sun-damaged skin which is very promising. Steam broccoli and sprinkle with pepper or enjoy raw in salads.

2. Spinach – Like broccoli, spinach with it’s dark, leafy greens is sure to be near the top of the list. Researchers have found at least 13 different compounds in spinach that act as antioxidants and cancer fighting agents. Eat boiled spinach for osteoporosis with it’s over 1000% Daily Value of Vitamin K. Chop up for salads, make spinach egg white omelets for breakfast, and add curly leaf spinach to sandwiches for a leafy crunch.

1. Kale – The powerhouse of vegetables, hands down. Though not as well known as spinach, if you take the time to learn some recipes and how to add this to your daily meals, the nutrient benefits will be well worth the work. Anti-cancer properties, cleansing and detoxifying, memory helping, bone fortifying and cardiovascular support in the leafy greens (and stalks) of kale. Steam and serve with lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and olive oil or chop to put on pizzas and in salads. Make kale your new best friend!