Isagenix Spiced Apple Protein Pancakes

Is the following statement true or false?

Pancakes and body transformation don't go together.  

I am sure you guessed FALSE since the title of this blog made the answer pretty obvious.  Now when Saturday morning arrives and the family screams for flap jacks, you don't have to choose between body transformation and being included in family fun.  You can do BOTH!

Enjoy this simple and tasty recipe to give yourself a weekend break from your normal nutrition routine without wrecking your waistline or temporarily damaging your digestive system (come on you know the carb induced "food babies" aren't good for you... don't pretend to be shocked).

Isagenix Spiced Apple Protein Pancakes

Pancake Ingredients:

2 egg whites
1 scoop IsaPro (GET YOURS HERE>>>http://fitclub.isagenix.com/us/en/isapro.dhtml)
1 tablespoon of unsweetened apple sauce
1/2-1 tbsp water
1 tsp baking powder
cinnamon to taste

Mix all ingredients together with a whisker in a shallow bowl.  If the batter is too thick, GRADUALLY add more water until it can be poured but is not runny.  Smooth some coconut oil or butter on your pan or griddle.  DON'T GO CRAZY with the oil or butter... just coat the cooking surface. Put two tablespoons in at a time to make cute little pancakes.Flip. Serve warm.

Topping Ingredients:
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
whipped cream (optional)

Warm the apple sauce up in the microwave for about 15-30 seconds.  Place on top of the hot pancakes and top with a squirt of whipped cream.

These are DELICIOUS and leave you feeling like you had a tasty weekend cheat!

Workout Nutrition - A Quick Review

If you are confused about what to eat and when to eat to maximize your workout performance without compromising your goal of improving your body composition (getting tight and lean), take a glance at our workout nutrition review and then apply these principles to your meal plan on workout days.

Pre-Workout Nutrition

Goal: To fuel your body for exercise and promote optimal performance by providing a steady stream of energy to your muscles and mind.

Timing: Eat within an hour before your workout. If your meal feels heavy in your stomach during the workout, consider a liquid nutrition option (protein shake or yogurt), reduction in the amount of fat in your pre-workout meal, or an increase in the time between your meal and the start of your workout.

Nutrients Needed:

Protein for muscle support and slow released energy.

Medium Digestion Carbohydrates for both immediate and sustained energy.

Fat (optional small amount) for sustained energy for longer workouts.

Simple Solutions:

Concita's Pre-Workout Pudding

1/2 cup fat-free, plain Greek yogurt

1 scoop Prograde Vanilla Protein

1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce

Cinnamon & Nutmeg to taste

Mix all ingredients together and enjoy.

Yogurt Parfait

1 cup fat-free, plain Greek yogurt

1 cup mixed berries

1T crushed nuts

Alternate layers of yogurt, berries, and nuts in a glass or container and enjoy.

Post-Workout Nutrition

Goal: To replace lost glycogen (stored sugar) burned from the high intensity workout and speed and enhance recovery.

Timing: You can begin to consume your post-workout meal as early as during your workout (for protein shakes) to as late as 45 minutes post-workout. If you feel that you are experiencing a decrease in energy during your workout, consider sipping on your recovery shake during the workout.

Nutrients Needed:

Protein (half portion) to support muscle repair.

Fast Digesting Carbohydrates (full portion) to replace lost muscle glycogen and enhance recovery.

Fat intake at this time should be as little as possible to prevent slowing down the digestion of the protein and fast digesting carbohydrates.

Simple Solutions:

Prograde Workout Drink

Simply add water or almond milk, mix and enjoy.

Post Workout Dreamsicle

2T Orange Gatorade Drink Mix (regular version- not low sugar)

1 scoop Prograde Vanilla Protein

1 cup Almond Milk

Mix all ingredients together and enjoy! Add ice and blend for a colder, frothy version of the drink.

Get Prograde Protein Powder and Workout Drink at http://greatshapefitclub.getprograde.com.

Food Pressure - How to Deal With It This Holiday Season

How to Deal With the Press - Food Pressure That Is!

Food pressure, feeling compelled to eat something or a quantity of food that is not supportive to your health or fitness goals, can be manifest in countless ways. Whether perceived or real, food pressure can make the holiday season prime time for unwanted weight gain but it doesn’t have to be that way this year.

External food pressure is when someone is unrelenting in insisting that you eat a certain dish or a certain quantity of food. This person may be well meaning but the pressure can often come in forms of hurtful remarks (“oh so you are dieting AGAIN) or guilt trips (“I really worked hard to make this special dish. I can’t believe you won’t eat it.”). Internal food pressure is the pressure we feel when are compelled to alter our food choices based on what we believe those around us think or feel about our food choices.

4 Tips for Dealing with the Pressure

Tip#1: Offer to bring a few healthy dishes along to share. Your plate won’t look empty because you will have plenty of supportive options to choose from and maybe no one will notice you didn’t go back for your usual second serving of mom’s cornbread dressing.

Tip #2: Decide in advance when and how much you will indulge. Be polite yet stern when others try to influence you and focus on non-food parts of the celebration to turn the attention off of you and your dietary choices. Stick to your guns. Self-determination is one of the most powerful tools you have. If you go into a social situation with the thought, “I MAY have some dessert, a drink, etc”, you absolutely WILL have an indulgence and you will most likely feel bad about it since it was not part of your plan. This perceived failure then leads to more indulgences because the “I already messed up and I will start again tomorrow” mentality kicks in. You have the power and responsibility to remain in control- decide in advance.

Tip #3: If someone keeps pressuring you about your food, explain why you are choosing to eat what you have chosen and be enthusiastic about it. You just may inspire someone.

Tip #4: Realize that in most cases people really don’t care deeply about what is on your plate as long as you don’t make everyone else miserable because you feel you are missing out on the fun. Come to the gathering prepared with a game plan. Stick to it and most of all be upbeat and fun- no one may even notice what you ate.

Whether you experience external or internal food pressure during the holidays, the key point to remember is that you and only you have the power and the responsibility to create the health, look, and fitness that you desire. If you consistently give your power to others, you will never attain the health and happiness that is within your reach. At the end of the day, only you will live in your skin and you owe it to yourself to make the choices that will make you comfortable in that skin. Have a happy holiday season!

Simple Body Transformation Approach

Making Body Transformation Simple – The Four Factor

If you want to transform your body by losing fat and increasing muscle definition, it can sometimes be challenging to channel all of the advice, excitement, and anxiety into a simple, effective plan of attack. Here are the four areas you need to have nailed down to enjoy a simple and effective body transformation- without the unnecessary stress.

#1: Weekly Regimen
First determine how many strength and cardio workouts you need to complete each week. In general, you will need 2-3 strength workouts and up to 3 interval workouts. Once you determine what your weekly workouts will be, schedule them in your week- ideally with at least a day between strength workouts. Put your workouts on your calendar like any other important appointment and now all you have to do is show up.

#2: Nutrition Approach
How are you going to approach nutrition? Will you be eating 4 meals a day or 6? Will you be having starches with all of your meals or only some? Which meals will you have starch with? How often will you splurge? Define your nutrition plan. Don’t leave anything out. Once you know what your plan is, you won’t have to wonder how you are doing in the area of nutrition. You are either following your plan or you aren’t. The simplest place to start is by eating meals that contain protein and produce every 3-4 hours, eliminating refined starches and added sugar, and drinking plenty of water. Once your results slow down following this approach (our Phase 1 nutrition approach), it may be time to look at carbohydrate timing and other more advanced nutrition strategies.

#3: Food Prep Strategy
Now that you know what you are going to be eating, you have to make sure that you have the right foods available at the right time. Without a food prep strategy, you are destined to fall off the nutrition wagon quickly. There are many food prep strategies that you can employ. A few popular ones are the Sunday ritual, the Twice Weekly Ritual, and the Cook Double Ritual. For the Sunday Ritual you cook all of your meals and snacks for an entire week, package them in individual containers and then store them in the fridge and/or freezer. The Twice Weekly Ritual is similar to the Sunday ritual only you prepare less food since you will complete the ritual twice. The Cook Double Ritual is where you cook twice the amount you need at each dinner and pack the leftovers for the next day’s lunch. Your personality and food preferences will determine which ritual works best for you but the most important thing is to pick one and stick to it. If it doesn’t work for you, pick another.

#4: Tracking Method
To reduce the severity of your ride on the emotional rollercoaster that can sometimes come along with a body transformation, pick at least one tracking method for both your actions and your outcomes. This helps you minimize the amount of times you will find yourself saying, “I don’t know I just FEEL like I’m not doing so well. I mean I haven’t cheated or anything but I just FEEL like I could be making more progress faster”. Tracking what you have done and the results your actions have produced makes it a lot easier to determine if you are getting results and what actions are contributing to your rapid results or lack thereof. You can use a journal to record your meals and workouts to easily assess how closely you stuck to your plan or use our Boot Camp Scorecard to get your total daily points based on your workouts and nutrition. To measure your outcome, you can watch our Self Measurement Video on the member blog and track your circumference measurements and weight or have your boot camp coach take your progress pictures every 4-6 weeks. One of my personal favorite outcome tracking methods is the “jeans method”. Get a pair of jeans that are too tight (preferably ones that don’t button). Try those on every 2 weeks and note how the fit changes. Regardless of what the scale says, you will know you have made progress when you can confidently rock those jeans outside.

Now you see, losing fat and transforming your body can be a simple and manageable task when you use our Four Factor approach.

Nutrition Self-Coaching Made Easy

How to Be Your Own Nutrition Coach
Easily Identify Your Next Step When You Want Better Results

It is inevitable that at some point during your body transformation journey that you will want better results. You may not lose as quickly as you like or worst yet you may be gaining. Experiencing less than satisfactory results can send the most level headed woman running fast in the direction of excessive workouts, an extreme diet or her doctor in hopes to discover the hormonal abnormality that is responsible for the disappointing results often before taking a really honest, hard look at her nutrition habits. Below I will share the most common causes for slow results that I see when coaching women in search of body transformation. Assuming you are already following our Great Shape Nutrition Guidelines for rapid fat loss by eating frequent, protein and produce based meals, here are the top four habits that can be holding you back.

Results Killer #1: You are splurging more than you realize.

Diagnosing the Problem: Get clear on what is allowed on your plan and then track your meals. Be sure to record every non-compliant meal. At the end of the week, tally your total number of meals and your total number of non-compliant meals. If your non-compliance meals were more than 10% of your meals, you have found your problem.

Fixing the Problem: Increasing your compliance- just stop splurging so much. Get recipes from your coach for foods you will enjoy. Prepare them in advance and take them with you. Find out what you can eat on the go. Whatever is causing you to splurge so much, fix it so that you can get results.

Results Killer #2: You are eating too much.

Diagnosing the Problem: Are you seldom hungry? Is it hard for you to accurately describe “how much” of something you ate when you write in your journal? These are signs that you may be overeating. I don’t advocate counting calories to start or even measuring all of your food but you should use some of the easy methods described in the Portion Control article to ensure you are eating appropriate portions at each meal. If you are rarely hungry when it is time to eat, you are probably eating too much. If your meals are already very small and you are still not hungry, you probably require more advanced nutritional coaching to help you get your metabolism on track as being able to eat nearly nothing without hunger is a sure sign of a sluggish metabolism.

Fixing the Problem: Eat a little less than you usually do and start by reducing your portions of starchy carbohydrates. Don’t eliminate them- simply reduce the quantity. Keep your protein and vegetable servings the same. If this doesn’t fix the lack of hunger and results issue, reduce your protein portions by a little. If eating too much was the problem, these fixes should yield noticeable results in just two weeks.

Results Killer #3: You aren’t eating enough.

Diagnosing the Problem: Are you hungry all the time- even within an hour of eating? Do you feel so sluggish that even basic daily activities feel like a chore? Do you feel that the only way to get the weight off is to eat less? If you are experiencing extreme hunger and lethargy or believe that the only way to your goal is to starve off the weight, you are probably sabotaging your progress by eating to little. If you don’t eat enough, your body will store every morsel you eat in order to survive. Although we want to look great, our body is concerned primarily with surviving and will fight to do that if you are underfeeding yourself.

Fixing the Problem: Eat a little more than you normally do. Increase the portion of your protein at each meal. If this doesn’t fix the hunger and lethargy problem, increase your starchy carbohydrate portions next. Finally, increase your intake of vegetables if needed.

Results Killer #4: Your nutrition habits vary wildly from day to day.

Diagnosing the Problem: Write down what you eat and how much for three days and then compare. Are your meal types, times, and amounts all over the map? If so, your body is staying the same because you are not giving it clear, consistent instructions on what you want it to do. The way you eat (how much, when, which nutrients) are simply instructions and you are confusing your body into homeostasis.

Fixing the Problem: Develop a routine that fits your lifestyle and then follow it consistently. This doesn’t mean you have to eat the same exact meals daily but you do want to be fairly consistent with your habits so that your body can respond to your instructions.

If you have attacked the apparent root issue of your slow results and are still dissatisfied, it may be time to get granular with your approach. Consult your fitness professional for help with estimating your daily caloric needs and your portions of meat, starch, and vegetables at each meal. Measure your food in advance and stick to your plan. If you follow this approach for more than 2-4 weeks with little to no results then it is indeed time to head to the doctor and find out if there is an underlying medical issue preventing you from having the body transformation you are working so hard to achieve.

How Can I Get Fit When He Eats Like This?

Body Transformation While Married to a Nutritional Opposite

Consistently eating a healthy diet for greater health and body transformation in today’s world where tempting food is often available can be challenging even for the most dedicated fitness enthusiast. The difficulty of succeeding with the supportive eating habit can grow exponentially when your spouse or housemate is not quite on board with healthy eating. Although staying the course while facing daily temptation is hard, it is possible and it is definitely worth it. Here are three tips to staying the course despite your surroundings.

Tip #1: Talk to your spouse or housemate about your reasons for changing your eating habits.
Sometimes when someone we are close to changes, it can be uncomfortable and evoke worries about whether or not the relationship will remain intact. It is important to identify and share your motivation with your partner. In most cases, your driving force is far deeper than fitting into a certain size or outfit. Tap into the raw, emotional reasons why you want to change. Someone who sincerely cares about you is very likely to be supportive of your changes if they know what you are fixing by changing your lifestyle. Your spouse may not think it is important for you to drop a dress size but if he knows that your lack of follow through with your fitness goals is building a habit of avoiding rather than overcoming challenges, he may be less likely to bring you food treats as his display of love for you.

Tip #2: Make a plan that includes splurges and then stay true to your plan. If you don’t respect your plan, don’t expect anyone else to do it for you.
Part of your initial discussion with your partner can include sharing exactly what your plan includes and when you are free to splurge. Knowing when you will have time for a more relaxed nutrition approach can help your spouse know that your new goal doesn’t completely eliminate any food related events you used to enjoy together. While many coaches will advise that you just replace the food related events with events that don’t involve food, this switch may not be immediately feasible- especially if your spouse doesn’t have a fitness goal of their own. Finally, once you set your plan and state your intentions…STICK TO YOUR GUNS! If you want your partner to respect your nutrition decisions, you must be the first to respect those decisions. If you are all talk and no follow through, your partner will not take you seriously and may still suggest unsupportive foods and events due to your inconsistency.

Tip #3: Designate a spot for the unsupportive food in your house and then stay clear.
A complete kitchen sweep in which you throw away all of the unsupportive foods in your house may not be feasible if those foods belong to someone else in the house. You can however, move all of the unsupportive food to a designated area so that you don’t have to reach past them multiple times a day. You can explain how having this separate area helps you stay on track and then stay out of the stash.

This is one Fit Club member's unsupportive food designated area. It is in an obscure part of the pantry that she can easily ignore. Hopefully soon, her family will be following her example and this food can be tossed never to return again.

Bonus Tip: Don't nag. Don't judge. Don't be a drag.

Your decision to change should be about you! Lead by example but don't nag him to change just because you have finally seen the light. Don't make smart comments about what he is eating. Finally don't walk around somber and sad just because you no longer randomly indulge in unsupportive foods like your partner. Your change is supposed to be for a better you so be excited about the journey and the benefits. Your spouse will probably not be supportive if your healthy lifestyle change causes you to be in a sour mood all the time.

In summary, you can successfully transform your eating, health, and body even if you live with someone who doesn’t share the same desire. Sharing your motivation with them and then leading by example just may win them over to the fitness lifestyle as well!

Top 5 Healthy Eating Shortcuts

Top 5 Healthy Eating Shortcuts
Help Me Get Lean!- I Don’t Cook & I Work Long Hours

Getting and staying lean can be a challenge for many women. If you don’t cook and have a relatively busy schedule, eating to support body transformation can seem impossible. Although eating to support body transformation is simple, it requires a bit of preparation and planning. Failing to plan meals is the most common busy woman body transformation mistake so I am sharing my top five Healthy Eating Shortcuts.

1. Rid your home, purse, car, and desk of junk food like starchy, sugary, high fat snacks.
You will eventually eat what you have in your possession no mater how good your intentions. This is especially true if you are on the go and pressed for time when it is time to eat. Since convenience is a driving factor for your food choices, make it inconvenient to eat unsupportively.

2. Stock your home, purse, car, and desk with healthy snacks.
Since you will eat what you have, make it convenient to eat healthy. Make sure you only have healthy, supportive food in your possession.

3. Buy supportive foods that require minimal preparation.
Think “done for you” when you go shopping. I am not advocating buying sodium laden frozen meals here. Instead, buy individual serving size yogurts, roasted chicken, sliced all natural deli meat, pre-washed bagged lettuce, cut veggies, etc. You will still need to put the components of the meal together but now you can prepare an entire day’s meals in about 10 minutes. You will pay slightly more for the convenience factor but at least you won’t skip meals or eat unhealthy selections because you ran out of time to prepare your food.

4. Become familiar with healthy options that you can buy on the go.
If you eat food prepared outside of your home more than twice per week, you will want to learn how to pick healthy options when dining out or picking up. Pick meals made mostly of grilled meat and vegetables. When you eat starches (ideally with your earlier meals rather than dinner when you are more likely to be sedentary), pick options like black beans or plain baked potatoes since these are less likely to be prepared with extra oil and butter. Speak up and ask for your items to be prepared without added oil or butter. Skip the cheese and croutons when you choose salads since most establishments give you servings that are more than one portion and use moderate amounts of clear salad dressing (think vinaigrettes instead of Ranch or Thousand Island).

5. Always carry water with you…and drink it!
It is very common to mistake thirst for hunger- especially when you are moving quickly from one appointment to the next. Always have a bottle of water with you (again making what you need convenient) and be sure to sip often. When it is empty, immediately refill or get another. You will be less likely to overeat and will feel refreshed and energized rather than feeling the lethargy commonly associated with dehydration.

Portion Control Tips for Body Transformation

Staying in Control With Portion Control
Top 5 Tips to Avoid Overeating

If you have been following your nutrition and progressive training plan for some time and have either failed to lose body fat or your progress has stalled, it is more than likely time to get control of your portion control. Although I believe that counting calories is a tedious, unreliable approach to losing body fat, you can not successfully transform your body if you are overeating- even if you are overeating healthy foods. So assuming you have mastered the first two steps of my “eating hierarchy”- what to eat and when to eat, it is critical to learn how to recognize and stick to eating proper portions for body transformation success.

Before we discuss sticking to proper portions, let’s review portion sizes of our most common food groups. Generally speaking, a protein portion is the size of your palm without fingers. When following a fat loss nutrition plan, it is often advisable to enjoy protein portions that are slightly larger to maintain your muscle and to avoid under eating. A portion of fruit or starchy carbohydrates is about the size of a baseball or your fist. A handful of nuts (approximately 20 nuts) is a portion size. A serving of nut butter or oil is about the size of half of a golf ball or the tips of your thumb. Although you can enjoy unlimited amounts of green vegetables, you want to have at least a handful of cooked vegetables or two handfuls of raw leafy greens with your meals. For anything that comes in a package (which should be very few things in your nutrition program), you can follow what is listed on the package as one serving. Knowing proper portion sizes for each type of food will not help you successfully transform your body unless you actually apply the knowledge. Here are my top five tips for staying in control with portion control.

1. Eat frequently.

Eating every 2-4 hours will keep your energy even and your hunger in check. Going much longer will inevitably render you hungry and indiscriminate at your next meal.

2. Cook and/or store your food in single portion sizes.

Rather than cook an entire meatloaf, make meatloaf muffins. Rather than cooking a sweet potato casserole, make medium sized whole baked sweet potatoes. This approach makes it easier to stop after one portion because each portion will be a distinct piece of food rather than some of a much bigger amount. Take this approach a step further by storing your pre-cooked meals in single serving Tupperware dishes as well to avoid the temptation to grab more than a serving when the hunger hits.

3. Fill up with fiber and water.

Even when you know what should be one portion, it can be hard to stop at just one when your stomach feels empty after your meal. To fill in the gaps, be sure to eat vegetables with each meal, select higher fiber (at least 3 grams per serving) carbohydrate choices, and drink water before, during, and after your meal.

4. Eat slowly and with awareness.

Close the laptop, turn off the television and be in the moment when you eat. Take your time eating your food so that you can realize that you are full and stop eating before you feel stuffed.

5. When the meal is over- move on.

Rather than linger at the table or in the kitchen, move on to another activity when you are done eating. If for some reason, you can’t leave the area, remove your plate to signal the end of the meal and get a glass of water or unsweetened green tea to fill up more space in your stomach so that you aren’t tempted to go back for seconds or to munch on other snacks after your meal.

In summary, controlling your portions is as much about developing helpful dining habits as it is about nutrition knowledge. Practice these habits and you will be controlling your intake to drop body fat and tighten up in no time. Although the last two tips may seem insignificant, I have personally increased my nutrition compliance greatly by implementing these habits.

Practical Nutrition Tips for Busy Moms

Top 5 Practical Nutrition Tips for Moms

Mom is responsible for so many things on a day-to-day basis. She keeps the house cleaned and well-managed, keeps up with the children, their school work, their friends, their health, and their activities. In all that, many times mom’s health and nutrition routines either go out the window or never even enter the house for consideration.

Here are Concita's helpful tips that can help a mom regain and retain her nutritional focus as well as maintain that of her household’s. First, moms should focus on small, frequent balanced meals composed of protein and produce. Those meals will keep their energy levels and metabolism high so that they can effectively tackle all their other life obligations.

Busy schedules, fast paced lifestyles and potentially stressful and unpredictable demands on mothers’ time can lead to meal skipping, mindless munching, and over consumption of nutritionally bankrupt foods that often lead to fatigue and weight gain.

A three-fold solution to this problem, is for moms to recognize their basic nutritional needs, set up their living environments for effective nutritional success, and discover healthy meal and snack options that are also fast and convenient.

With the following FIVE simple tips, a mom can effectively reclaim her nutritional fervor.

1. Start the day off right. Have a breakfast shake or parfait.

2. Don’t treat yourself like the kid food garbage disposal. Keep your hands off of your children’s food. While whole grain goldfish or raisins may be good snack for growing, active, children, most adults won’t need as much carbohydrates as their growing children. Even if you feed your children exactly like you eat with mostly protein and produce from whole food sources, finishing up their meal leftovers will add up in the long run and pack on the pounds so make it a habit to pack up their leftovers to reserve for them later.

3. Keep food out of sight to eliminate mindless munching and stress eating. When it takes effort to get to the food, you will be more aware of what, when, and how much you are eating.

4. Develop a weekly menu plan and choose a cooking strategy that meshes with your lifestyle and personality (i.e. bulk cooking, twice weekly cooking, or every other day cooking).

5. Make vegetable and fruit chopping and cooking a family affair. Give children age-specific tasks, turn up some music and have fun!

Sweet Breakfast Tacos - Nutrition for Body Transformation

Sweet Breakfast Tacos Recipe

The terms “eating clean” or “eating to support body transformation” often evoke thoughts of bland chicken breasts, steamed broccoli and hours of cooking but it doesn’t have to be that way. Eating for a successful body transformation can be delicious, easy and quick. The basic building blocks for a supportive meal or mini meal are protein and produce (fruit or vegetables). Depending on your primary goal and your personal carbohydrate tolerance, you may add starchy carbohydrates (bread, oatmeal, potatoes, rice, pasta, cereal, or crackers) to a few or most of your meals. The breakfast meal is often one of the best meals to consume starchy carbohydrates because your blood sugar will be low in the morning from hours of fasting while you sleep and you are likely to be active after breakfast and less likely to go sit on the couch for hours (like many of us might after dinner). So how can one turn the requirements of protein, produce, and a whole grain starch into a quick, easy, and delicious breakfast meal? Your answer is the sweet breakfast taco. Here’s how it is made.

1. Start with whole grain, frozen waffles, fat free Greek yogurt, and an all natural, fruit spread.

2. Place two waffles in the toaster and portion out some yogurt (6-8 ounces).

3. Add 1 Tablespoon of fruit spread to the yogurt and stir to distribute throughout.

4. Place the yogurt and fruit spread mixture in the waffles to make delicious tacos.


Enjoy and don’t forget to drink 16 ounces of water and take your multivitamin and EFA supplements.

Try this recipe out and tell me what you think in the comments section below.

How to Eat Protein with Every Meal for Body Transformation Success

One of the “Eating for Great Shape” nutrition principles is to eat protein with every meal. Since you will be eating every 2-4 hours, this can mean eating protein 5-6 times every day. Since eating chicken and steak five times per day doesn’t appeal to most people, it is important to discover a variety of healthy protein selections to be successful at eating to support your body transformation. A great protein source that is a staple in the nutritional arsenal of many fit ladies is Greek yogurt.

Greek yogurt, also known as strained yogurt, is yogurt that has been strained in a cloth or paper bag or filter to remove the whey, the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled. This straining process removes excess water as well as dissolved salts and sugars and results in a thicker, creamier yogurt whose consistency is between the consistency of yogurt and cheese that still has the sour taste of yogurt. Even the non-fat versions are creamy, unlike unstrained yogurt.

Although strained yogurt is part of the traditional fare in Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries, strained yogurt has recently grown in popularity in the U.S. because of its rich texture. It has become an absoute mainstay in fitness circles because it has twice the protein of regular yogurt and less sodium, carbohydrates and sugar.

Adding Greek yogurt to your daily nutrition is a quick and tasty way to get adequate protein intake but as with any food there are a few precautions you can take to be sure that your Greek yogurt isn’t secretly sabatoging your body transformation efforts.

Does your Greek Yogurt Pass the Test?

#1 Be sure that you are eating the lowfat or nonfat versions.
Lowering your intake of saturated fat to make room in your daily nutrition to add heart healthy fats like avocado, nuts, and olive oil is one of the ways that we manage intake for successful body transformation without having to count calories.

#2 Avoid flavored yogurt – buy plain only.
Buying flavored Greek yogurt eliminates one of the benefits of eating this kind of yogurt – low sugar content. To make flavored yogurt, fruit, other flavors, and SUGAR are added to plain yogurt. Reducing our intake of added sugar in another strategy we use to manage intake for successful body transformation without tedious calorie counting.

#3: Watch out for additivies.
Some companies add thickening agents like gelatin to their Greek yogurt. While some of these agents aren’t necessarily “unhealthy”, our goal is to eat foods in their most natural state so look for brands whose ingredient list doesn’t include food additives.

Is That a Splurge? Fat Loss Nutrition Tip

Since we are headed into the weekend, I figured it is a great time to talk about the little "extras" that sometimes sneak into our nutrition plan that can be pretty harmless alone but add up to sabotage even the best of fat loss efforts.

As I read my email and checked out the flavors of the day for my local Rita's Ice place, I started to think about this topic and decided to make it a blog post. Yes you read that right, I am on Rita's email newsletter. I'm an East Coast girl at heart and I was super happy when Rita's came to Texas. Anyhow, back to the topic of this post...

I believe it is important to stick to a supportive nutrition plan that compliments your fitness and fat loss goals. Part of that plan is enjoying planned splurges or indulgences. It's easy to know that a banana split or burgers and fries are indulgences or splurges but what about those "healthy" little treats that don't fall squarely into the meal component categories or aren't a meal at all?

Not sure what I mean? Here's a list of "little treats" that many of us fit (or becoming fit) girls like to slide into the nutrition rotation. Do you consider these splurges?

Fat -Free / Sugar Free Jello or Pudding
Sugar Free Popsicles
Fat - Free Fudgesicles
Sugar Free Italian Ice
Fat - Free / Sugar Free Frozen Yogurt
Skinny Latte
Sugar Free / Fat Free Hot Chocolate

What do you think? I'll give you my personal take on the matter. Feel free to agree or disagree and share your opinion here in the comments section.

CONCITA'S ANSWER......IT DEPENDS!
Let me explain. If you are in a rapid results fat loss phase, I would say that anything that isn't part of a meal and doesn't fit squarely into the protein, produce, healthy fat, or appropriate starch categories is a SPLURGE. No worries though. You get to splurge 10% of the time. But during a serious lean out phase, these little treats count.

What about not so rapid results or maintenance?
In those cases, I would say experiement and assess. My little disclaimer here though is that when you first start a plan, you should count everything. This way you will know how your body responds when you are completely compliant (by completely I mean 90%) and you will have a good baseline for comparison when you are figuring out how your body responds to having the extras. I believe in outcome based training and nutrition. If what you are doing yields the desired result without setting you up for future failure (like going on a super low calorie diet that will eventually backfire), then stick with it. If your fat loss results are not coming along like you want then it's time to start counting those little extras as splurges.

So what "little extras" do you eat? Do you count them as splurges always, sometimes or never? Share with us in the comment section below.

Weight Loss Nutrition Boot Camp Style in Coppell

Coppell Boot Camp Personal Trainer Says...

BEWARE THE BREAKFAST MEAT - THEY AREN'T ALL CREATED EQUAL

This weekend, I spent some time at the new Sprouts market in Coppell. This is one of my favorite grocery stores so it was only logical that I would attend the Grand Opening festivities. As always when I'm out and about, I found something of interest that I wanted to share with my boot camp participants and community in general.

Today's empowering information is about breakfast meat.

If you are interested in weight loss, it goes without saying that what you eat is very important. However many times we get overly consumed with caloric content instead of quality of the food we eat. One interesting example of lower quality (or poorer choice) food appearing to be equal in value to high quality food that will produce weight loss was staring right at me in the breakfast meat cooler at Sprouts in Coppell.

Side by side were 2 turkey bacon options. One choice, I would highly recommend to my personal training clients and the other I would encourage them to avoid.

GREAT CHOICE: Applegate Farms Turkey Bacon
HEALTH FOOD IMPOSTER: Oscar Meyer Turkey Bacon

Both options were 35 calories per slice BUT Applegate Farms Turkey Bacon was made with no nitrates (suspected cancer causing chemicals used for curing) and had 6 grams of protein and only 1.5 grams of fat. Oscar Meyer contained nitrates and had only 2 grams of protein and 3 grams of fat.

Just another example of why calorie counting for weight loss can leave you with less than desireable results.

Mother's Day in Valley Ranch / Coppell - Boot Camp Style

Valley Ranch Personal Trainer & Coppell Boot Camp Presents...

Mother's Day Weekend

CHEAT TO LOSE- PART II

Read today's boot camp nutrition tip to find out how to "cheat to lose" this Mother's Day weekend. For our boot camp members, this weekend is like any other where enjoying a treat meal or two is encouraged. However there is a strategy to using treat meals to maintain a high metabolism and your sanity while following a weight loss program. Cheat the wrong way and watch your fat loss efforts go right down the drain. Here are my top 6 tips of how to "cheat to lose" for fat loss.

CHEAT MEAL DAMAGE CONTROL DONE RIGHT

*Stick to your nutrition plan leading up to the treat meal.


This includes the meal right before the treat meal. Don't set yourself up to be extra hungry at the treat meal or you will likely overeat. You can enjoy a scoop of ice cream but a whole gallon will definitely do some damage.





* Don't skip your workouts.


If that was a workout day, get it done.





*Create a "deficit" or a need for carbohydrates right before the meal.


Your body will do one of three things with your carbohydrate intake- either use it to restore glycogen stores in your muscle, use it for immediate energy, or store it as fat. If you are not about to exercise, your body won't need the carbs for immediate energy. If your muscles are already full of glycogen, then there's no "need" for the carbohydrate there so.... you guessed it- the carbs are stored as fat. So the best way to keep your pasta dinner off of your hips is to "create a deficit". The best way to do this is to do some form of hi-intensity exercise before the meal. High intensity exercise burns up your muscle glycogen so there will be a need for those carbs and sugar afterward.





No time to hit the gym before your event? No problem!


Remember the tabatas from class?


The ultimate 4-minute cardio solution.





Do this...


Burpees (20 seconds)


Rest (10 seconds)


Repeat 8 times for a total of 4 minutes.


It's not about time but intensity. If you do your tabatas right, you can create a deficit!





*Avoid mixing high fat and high carb dishes.


My personal belief as arrived at through research and personal experience is that natural (not on muscle building drugs) females rarely need or benefit from "fat loading" when following a nutrition plan like the one we follow in Fit Club. However the occasional higher carb meals can do the body lots of good. So keep that in mind when picking a treat meal. Enjoy the extra bread, muffins, pasta, etc but AVOID mixing them with butter, full fat cheeses, etc. You are ingesting extra carbs and if you've followed my advice so far, your muscles are depleted and ready to soak up those extra carbs BUT if you combine them with lots of fat also (which slows down digestion), you may just miss your window of opportunity to replenish your glycogen stores (approximately 45 minutes - 1hour post workout) and end up feeling stuffed and bloated instead of re-energized.





*Get back on the plan until your next scheduled treat meal.


No need for explanation here.





*End the night in a healthful way.


This part is more mental than anything. It's easy to keep the party going after a treat meal and discover than 2 days later you are still trying to get back on track with your meal plan. It's also easy to feel guilty or miserable (which shouldn't happen if you follow the tip about fat and carbs together) after your treat and be too strict in the following days.





I have found that ending the night with something (doesn't have to be food) helps me wake up with my head in the game the next morning. Some of the things I've tried...


A long walk with the hubby (this should be at an enjoyable pace- not an attempt to burn off the calories).A hot bath with mineral salts.


A cup of my favorite tea.A long stretch session.


A mini facial after taking off the night's makeup.





This way when I wake up in the morning, my most recent memory is one of me taking care of myself and I'm mentally set to continue that pattern the next morning. Ok that's all I've got.




Enjoy your Mother's Day weekend!



For more support with weight loss, fat loss, and body transformation, join our boot camp program in Coppell. Your boot camp program will include fat blasting, boot camp workouts, a metabolism makeover, nutrition program, daily support to meet your weight loss goals, and service from top notch personal trainers for a fraction of the cost. Try our entire boot camp program for free for an entire week. Next free week boot camp trial membership begins May 27th. Visit our site to reserve your spot for boot camp. Space is limited. http://www.boutiquebootcamp.com/.

Mother's Day in Coppell - Boot Camp Style

The Best Coppell Boot Camp for Women & Dallas Fat Loss Personal Trainer Presents....

Mother's Day Weekend Nutrition & Fitness Advice for Weight Loss

So what are you doing this Mother's Day weekend? Mother's Day lunches, brunches, and goodies? Remember you get 1 cheat meal PER DAY on the weekend so spend it wisely! Let's talk about how to enjoy your cheat meal without sabotaging your weight loss and fitness goals.

CHEAT MEAL DAMAGE CONTROL....
If you've ever wondered if I have any "secret" to staying fit and lean looking while indulging in treats, I'll let the cat out the bag. I do have a "secret". Even when I'm on a "lean out" program to lose weight and get into bikini shape for the summer, I enjoy ice cream and chocolate just like my friends but I've learned how to work them into my program and practice a bit of "damage control" so that my indulgences don't rest on my hips, thighs and belly. So now I'm going to share my "secret" but it may not be what you expect.

Here's what I DO NOT use to stay lean even when I decided to enjoy chocolate, pizza, burgers, etc

TOP 5 TREAT MEAL DAMAGE CONTROL MISTAKES...

* Carb Blocker Pills

* Fat Blocker Pills

Both of these have some pretty nasty gastrointestinal side effects. I'll spare you the details! :-)

*Fat Burning Pills

You won't burn away the calories from your treat meal but you will be speeding through the day and possibly dizzy and light-headed.

*Starvation Before & After

You know the deal. You barely eat all day to "save the calories" for your cheat meal. If you are a Fit Clubber then you know from listening to your boot camp nutrition audio exactly why this approach makes no sense and will only backfire on you. It's just as ineffective to "starve away" the cheat meal the next day.

*Cardio Confessional

Forget about "burning it off" after with hours of cardio. I know so many people who eat like crap on the weekend- all weekend and then log ridiculous amounts of time on the treadmill, trails, or elliptical on Monday to BURN IT OFF. It's like Monday punishment for an indulgent weekend. You know the deal. I was bad this weekend SO let me pick up 2 magazines and hit the cardio machine and cardio until I can't anymore to BURN THOSE CALORIES OFF.

I could write a whole article on the science behind why that DOESN'T work and why those people are more likely to end up bigger and less fit over time but again I'll spare you the details.... You're reading this article so you are among the lucky individuals that will know better than to do this.

Come back to the blog tomorrow and learn how to do CHEAT MEAL DAMAGE CONTROL THE RIGHT WAY!

For more support with weight loss, fat loss, and body transformation, join our boot camp program in Coppell. Your boot camp program will include fat blasting, boot camp workouts, a metabolism makeover, nutrition program, daily support to meet your weight loss goals, and service from top notch personal trainers for a fraction of the cost. Try our entire boot camp program for free for an entire week. Next free week boot camp trial membership begins May 27th. Visit our site to reserve your spot for boot camp. Space is limited. http://www.boutiquebootcamp.com/.

Coppell Fitness Boot Camp Nutrition - Valley Ranch Nutrition

Best Coppell Weight Loss Boot Camp for Women Presents...

Boot Camp Nutrition - Meals for Weight Loss and Improved Fitness

After working hard at your boot camp session, it's crucial that you eat the right foods to lose weight, recover quickly from your workouts, and improve your fitness. Your successful boot camp weight loss depends on you eating healthy food at regular intervals.

Here's a boot camp fat loss recipe for breakfast.

Power Oatmeal

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (dry measure), rolled oats
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder (Pick a brand without artificial sweeteners and additives)
1 tsp all natural peanut butter
1/2 large banana

Preparation:
Add oatmeal to a bowl and cover with water.
Microwave oatmeal and water for 1 minute.
Remove oatmeal from the microwave and add protein powder, peanut butter, and banana.
Stir all ingredients together.
Add a little warm water if needed to create a creamy consistency.

Enjoy!

Get more recipes like this one for weight loss and fitness when you become a trial boot camp member of Great Shape Fit Club.

Try our entire program: boot camp workouts, boot camp nutrition program, and boot camp accountability program for FREE for an entire week. Go to our website today to reserve your sport as a trial boot camp member. Spots are filling fast so don't delay!

http://www.boutiquebootcamp.com/

Master Eating for Fat Loss - Making Healthy Eating Easy

How to Lose Fat When You Find Healthy Eating Hard - Part II

Time to get back to this subject.... "what makes eating healthy so hard"

After asking a group of women interested in fat loss, why healthy eating was so hard, I got many really good answers. The first one was, "I don't associate 'good food' with healthy food." Find out how to conquer that issue in the post How to Lose Fat When You Find Eating Healthy Hard to Do .

A different women interested in fat loss responded that healthy eating was so hard to do because every life event- happy or sad- was centered around food. So today's post addresses the concern with our tradition of celebrating the events in our lives- happy or sad- with food! Here's my response below.

This is indeed true in our country and I can totally understand the struggle to eat healthy when you are challenged with some type of "event" on at least a weekly basis.And yes it's so true that usually "celebration food" isn't the healthiest. I wish I had some profound remedy for this dilemna but I really don't. I only have one word of advice that I heard/read somewhwere and I'm not exactly sure who deserves the credit for this quote but here it goes, "be the change you want to see in the world". We can't change how others celebrate (at least not overnight) but we can change how WE celebrate.

Here are a few tips to overcome the "celebration food" obstacles that stand boldly on your path to the body you want:

1)Bring food to share to the celebrations.
This takes some effort but bring healthy alternatives to the celebration. At the very least, there's something there that you can eat to support your goals and you just may turn someone else you love onto healthy eating. You may even take the time to discover how to make a healthier version of a family favorite.

2) Start another celebration tradition.
I had a client who was from a very large Italian family. She told me that they ALWAYS overindulged in rich food during the holiday BUT they always played a really intense game of touch football a few hours after the meal. Your family may not be into football but dare to add something (preferably movement) to the events besides eating. This can help burn up some extra calories and provide a distraction so that you don't catch yourself in endless food fests.

3) Realize and accept that celebrating doesn't mean getting off of your healthy eating plan... even if everyone else is doing it.This may be a hard one to do but I will personally admit that some of my best body transformation success came when I realized that I had to eat for MY goals and health regardless of what everyone else was doing. It's always easy to believe that 'IF ONLY' my husband, boyfriend, family, mom, etc would join me in eating healthy, I'd be so much more successful but that's simply not true... it's an excuse, an out, an obstacle or barrier that you are putting in your own way. You will be most successful when you are eating healthy, exercising, etc for YOURSELF- to produce the changes in YOU that YOU desire. Decide what you want for yourself. Follow through and then watch those closest to you be inspired.

How to Lose Fat When You Find Eating Healthy Hard to Do

Deep down inside you know that if you are ever to lose fat, flatten your tummy, get lean legs, or toned arms, you will have to eat healthy. After various attempts at losing weight by exercising with no fat loss or body shaping results to show for your efforts, you've finally succumb to the idea that in order to get the fat loss results you want, you will have to change your eating habits. But how can you lose fat when you find eating healthy nearly impossible?

First ask yourself... why is eating healthy so hard? I asked this question to a group of women interested in fat loss and got many different answers but one jumped out at me because it was the first time I heard this answer. One woman told me very simply. "It's hard to eat healthy because I don't associate "good food" with healthy food. When I want something "good to eat", I think of fried chicken, mac and cheese, or pizza." So how exactly do you lose fat if you are a woman who doesn't associate "good food" with the healthy kind?

Here was my response:
For the healthy DOES NOT = good food dlimena, there are a few approaches we can take. I'll outline all of them and you can use some of all of these techniques.

#1 - Change your preferences by changing your habits. Our preferences are formed from habit. The reason we perceive cheeseburges, pizza, mac and cheese,etc as GOOD FOOD is because we were repeatedly exposed to those foods and for some of us those foods were used as treats or to celebrate special occassions. Just think about it, Friday night pizza with the family to celebrate the end of the week. Mac and cheese as a part of Sunday dinner, etc. In order to change our preferences, we can change our habits. Routinely abstaining from GOOD FOOD that we know isn't good for us and "indulging" in healthy foods that support fat loss and energy over a period of time (sometimes as little as 3 weeks), can be a step toward changing our preferences. Here's something that I've tried. Abstain from GOOD FOOD for 3-4 weeks. After that time, give in to one of my cravings. I was surprised that my memory of how good that food was and tasted did not match my experience with the food when I reintroduced it. For example, the first time I ate fried food after abstaining for a long time, I was very disappointed. I could literally feel the grease gather in mouth and coat the inside of my lips. Needless to say it wasn't hard to abstain from that food and not "feel deprived" after that experience because my memory of what it would taste and feel like was different than before. This has also worked with me for fruit juice (I can only tolerate it diluted now). This isn't to say I didn't try it again from time to time but each time has been disappointing and it hasn't gotten very easy to pass on food that used to be my idea of a treat. Now when I think of good food for a treat, I think sushi made with brown rice or some healthier version of my former comfort foods. That brings me to the next point . This may be a tough approach to try as a first go at learning to eat healthy but some people do really well with the cold turkey approach to eating healthy for fat loss.

#2- Find healthier versions of traditional "good food".
This approach works for many people beause they don't have to ban their favorite food or reserve to eat it infrequently. This is kind of the "have your cake and eat it too" approach. However some people want what they want and would rather not deal with substitutes. One of my favorite things to do is recreate a former comfort food to a dish that still tastes great but is way better for me than the original version. This one takes some practice but I've practiced now for about 10 years so I can usually help you recreate a dish fairly quickly. Some of my favorite "transformed dishes" are fat-free, reduced sugar sweet potato pie, reduced fat whole grain lasagna, spicy "fried" chicken, reduced fat, whole grain mac and cheese, ok you get the point. My list is very long BUT the point is that you don't have to ban food you like from your meal plan but there are ways to make it healthier so that you can enjoy the food AND the body you live in at the same time without having to choose one or the other. Some easy tips to convert recipes:
multi-grain or whole wheat pasta instead of white
reduced fat cheese instead of whole fat (same with milk)
apple sauce instead of oil in baked goods
There are more but this helps to start.

#3 Save your favorite foods for "planned indulgences" that occur 1-2 times per week.Eat your full fat, full sugar versions of your favorite foods but limit frequency and portion size. This one works for some personalities but not for all. I will be the first to admit that many people struggle to do this successfully because we are such creatures of habit. Many times just when you have started to establish the habit of eating healthy after 4-6 days, it's time for a planned indulgence (which most people will schedule for the weekend). After having the planned indulgence, it's hard to stop at one reasonable serving only 1-2 times per week because you are awakening a habit (eating junk) that is only asleep but not dead. Many times, it may take several meals or even meals to get back on track and re-establish the healthy eating habit only to fall off the wagon again at the next "planned indulgence". This type of cycling is very destructive and can lead to discouragement and quitting very easily. In our minds, the 5-6 days of clean eating should produce fat loss results and then when we don't get the results we expect on the scale, the tape measure, or the clothes, we get discouraged. Our bodies are complex machines and often don't recover from a few weeks of abuse in a matter of days. Your body is waiting for a CONSISTENT set of instructions (like lose fat and burn the food I consume) in order to react and change. This type of cycling fails to provide the consistent direction to lose fat and many times, one will just go back to old habits and believe that eating right "didn't work". HOWEVER- some people do really well with this approach. They enjoy the treat and move on. In this group of people what usually happens is that over time, their preferences change and their idea of good food slowly shifts to what is healthy also

THE APPROACH I PREFER PERSONALLY
I know this will come up so I'm fessing up now. When I first started changing the way I ate to produce the body I wanted, I favored approach #2. That's why I can quickly switch up unhealthy recipes. I had formed a strong habit of eating rich, spicy, and sweet food and wasn't ready or willing to go for the other approaches. After lusing approach #2 to lose 30 pounds to get to a weight I liked, I started wanting MORE? Sound familiar?

Ibegan to research and ask people who looked like I wanted to look (fitness modelesque) what and how they ate and I discovered that my diet was too high in starch and sugar and too low in protein for the look I wanted and to get any more progress, I'd need to change.

My next step was approach #3- with "planned indulgence". By the way, I survived on approach #2 for YEARS before changing so this may be a process and not happen overnight. To be honest, approach #3 was a struggle for a while. I quickly learned that my "cheat day" turned into a "cheat weekend or week" and I was stuck in a nasty, ugly cycle where I worked really hard in the gym, ate really clean all week, blew it on the weekend and STAYED THE SAME...ARGH! I wasn't willing to keep spinning my wheels and decided that a mix of approach #2 and #3 worked best for me. I ate clean all week and my "planned indulgences" were healthier versions of my former treat foods. This worked MUCH better and afforded me more fat loss and body shaping progress.

Finally, after success with creating a lean athletic look, I decided I wanted to try my hand at figure competitions (like bodybuilding but softer) and fitness modeling. In order to get in that type of superior shape, I needed to commit to approach #1- THAT'S RIGHT NO CHEATS! for a period of time (12-16 weeks) to prepare for competition and photo shoots. My body fat changed from 19-20% to 8% in a matter of 12 weeks while eating 6-7 times per day... talk about supercharged metabolism but there were NO CHEATS AT ALL! After going through that process, my preferences changed tremendously. After 12 weeks without greasy, fatty foods, and no sugar whatsoever, I'm able to successfully follow approach #3. So you see this process can go full circle and take years however, you can get lean, healthy, and energetic and enjoy good food!

Boot Camp Nutrition for Women - Eat Your Fruit & Veggies

So you joined boot camp and you are running, sweating, jumping, and lifting with the best women out there. Congrats! Now it's time to move on to a nutrition discussion on the proper way to fuel yourself to see fat loss results, have lots of energy, and have the stamina to get through your workouts.

Even if you are a nutritional "beginner" and your idea of eating healthy is peeling the skin off of the fried chicken, there is one changes that you should make IMMEDIATELY to optimize your energy- EAT YOUR FRUIT & VEGGIES!

Fruit and vegetables have important vitamins and minerals. In addition, they have some phytonutrients and antioxidants that you can't get anywhere else. These important nutrients help your body to function at an optimal level.

In addition, these two types of foods are full of water and fiber. The combination helps you to stay fuller longer and to get full on less calories. This benefit makes it easier to stick to moderate portions when eating and can help you avoid the mid-afternoon temptation to eat junk (candy bars & chips).

So make it your personal mission today to enjoy 2 servings of fruit and at least 5 servings of vegetables. It's easier than you may think.

KEEP READING TO SEE HOW YOU CAN EASILY GET ALL OF YOUR VEGETABLE SERVINGS AND 1/2 OF YOUR FRUIT SERVINGS IN DINNER ALONE!

FOR A SUPER EASY WAY TO GET IN LOTS OF VEGGIES (AND SOME FRUIT), TRY ONE OF MY FAVORITE SALADS:

2 cups mixed greens
1 cup of raw spinach
1/2 cup cubed cucumbers
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 sliced apple
2T dried cranberries
5 olive
1/4 sliced avocado
1T olive oil
2T balsamic vinegar
3-4 ounces of chicken or turkey breast
salt to taste

This little salad is a whopping 5 servings of vegetables and 1 serving of fruit. See how easy that was?

Healthy Eating for Fitness and Fat Loss in Coppell and Valley Ranch

Have you failed to reach your fitness goals because of your eating habits?

Do you think getting fitness results means always eating at home and staying out of all restaurants?

Do you struggle with knowing exactly where to eat and what to eat for your best fitness and fat loss results?

YOU DON'T HAVE TO STRUGGLE ANYMORE!

I am launching my Coppell / Valley Ranch Healthy Restaurant review to help you feel empowered to enjoy dining out with friends and restaurant time with the family without sabotaging your fitness and fat loss results. If you are tired of feeling confused and helpless when trying to make healthy choices when you eat out, check back at the blog to find out all about the healthy eating gems that I've found right in your back yard.

I already have the first few reviews lined up but I want to help you eat confidently at the restaurants you enjoy. So post your comments on my blog by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of this message and tell me which restaurants you'd like me to review.

Remember check back soon. Our first review will be posted in a few days.