Nutella's Permanent Replacement!

If I have said it once, I have said it a million times:

Being healthy does not mean depriving yourself of the foods you love! It's about finding healthy (just as delicious) alternatives! 

Wouldn't you know it, I found a new healthy alternative to a beloved indulgence! Bye-bye Nutella, HELLO Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter! 

Back in the day I wouldn't hesitate to hang out on the couch with a jar of Nutella and eat it with a spoon. Horrible, I know. Since changing over to living the healthy life, I swore off Nutella for good! If you ever read the ingredients of Nutella you will know that the first two ingredients are sugar and vegetable oil. Translation: diabetes and heart attack in a jar. Of course everything in moderation is fine, but there was no moderation when it came to that sweet, sticky, chocolate, heaven. 

While browsing the organic isles of Kroger yesterday I came across little sample packets of different peanut butters and this chocolate hazelnut butter. Now when I see the word HAZELNUT my mind instantly screams Nutella! After reading the ingredients and nutrition info I knew I HAD to try it. For snack, on most days, I have an apple with some Sunbutter but decided to take my handy little sample along for the ride today. 

Friends, my life will never be the same. That little packet held the light to a bright future for us Nutella lovers. Allow me to do a little comparison for you to prove just how wonderful this really is:

                                            Nutella               Justin's CHB

Calories-                               200                       180
Total Fat-                             11g                        15g
Saturated Fat-                     3.5g                       3g
Sodium-                                5mg                      65mg
Total Carbohydrate-           22g                       12g
Dietary Fiber-                      1g                         3g
Sugar-                                   21g                        7g
Protein-                                3g                          4g


NOW, the only issue with Justin's is the sodium content, besides that you cannot argue that it is a whole lot healthier. Also the ingredients speak for themselves: 

Nutella Ingredients: Sugar, vegetable oil, hazelnuts (13%) cocoa powder (7.4%) non-fat milk solids, emulsifier (soy lecithin) flavour (vanillin)

Justin's Ingredients: Dry roasted hazelnuts, dry roasted almonds, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa, organic cocoa butter, palm fruit oil, vanilla, sea salt. 

I am not suggesting this is something you should eat every day, simply that it is a much healthier swap for Nutella. I will occasionally use this in place of my peanut butter for my apples or on top of a rice cake. 

Give it a try and be AMAZED! 

The Dreaded Frozen "healthy meal"

I cannot plead innocent when talking about buying frozen meals (Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, etc) when I've begun a diet in the past. The simplicity of popping an entire meal in the microwave for 2 minutes is appealing to almost anyone, especially when they are campaigned as being "healthy". But what are you really getting from these frozen meals? 

- Portion control? Yes.
- Calorie control? Yes.
And that is where my list ends.

While these two things are very important when you are trying to lose weight, there is also a right and wrong way of doing it. I will say, that yes, a Lean Cuisine is definitely a healthier option compared to going to McDonald's and picking up a Big Mac meal for lunch, that one is a no brainer! BUT, If weight loss and eating healthy balanced meals are something that is important to you I would steer clean of the frozen food isle all together. 

So what's so bad about a frozen meal anyways? For starters, lets talk about preservatives. A preservative is something added to food to keep it "fresh" for longer. A longer shelf life is important especially in supermarkets, without it, they would be tossing food out left and right. The health concerns surrounding so many preservatives are too questionable to determine whether or not they are safe for consumption. A general rule of thumb is: if you can't pronounce it, DO NOT eat it! Also do your research on certain additives, just because they are added into food are considered "safe" doesn't mean they are healthy in the least. 
A few other things these frozen meals are notorious for are processed grains and sodium, two things you want to keep out of your diet whether you seek total health or not. These meals are also NOT gluten free which is just another check on my list of why I avoid them. 

What to do now? If I have said it once, I have said it a zillion times, MEAL PREP. As far as the convenience of microwaving your meals for quick consumption, DING! DING! DING! We have a winner. 
Balanced meals, that are portion controlled and actually healthy for you are all within arms reach if you take your health serious and are willing to put in a little extra time. 

Lets compare cost. Each meal is approximately $3.00. Now I know you can get them on sale sometimes, but that is not a guarantee. For argument sake lets say you plan to eat a Lean Cuisine for lunch Monday through Friday 
5 meals at $3.00 each comes out to be roughly $15.00 
Not bad considering you would spend that in two days at a fast food joint. 

Now, if you made a trip to your local supermarket and bought: chicken breasts, a fresh veggie, and a grain like brown rice or quinoa you would spend:
Fresh Chicken- $5.00-6.00 (3 breasts which is plenty for 5 meals) 
Quinoa- 6.99 (this can be used at least 3-4 times because you only need a cup for 5 meals) 
Fresh broccoli- $.99-1.50 (need 2 heads for 5 meals) 
Sticking to the high end of the prices you are looking at about $16.00 which includes the full price of a bag of quinoa which again you only need a cup at a time when prepping. 
$16.00 for fresh food at lunch, or $15.00 for processed limited nutrition junk. Again you will have to do a little cooking but if you have to choose between: 

A Lean Cuisine with processed mystery meat

Or a home cooked meal that you know all of the ingredients, that is properly balanced
and is 10 times more nutritious. 

Are you willing to put the time in? For me, well, that goes without saying! 

The Dreaded Dinner Binge!

THIS.

I have to LOL at this ecard. We have ALL been there, right? So careful during the day, watch what we are putting in our mouths and counting calories...then it's time for dinner. 

You get home from work after a long, tiring day, your significant other is also home and the dinner argument begins. After battling back and forth about who should cook and what to even make you say FORGET IT lets just get take out! It's easy, quick, and allows you to carry on with your evening without lifting a single spoon in the kitchen. 

Don't get me wrong, you could be good and get some salads with light dressing and grilled chicken, but most of the time you snag some Chinese or hit up your favorite Mexican joint. All of that hard work goes down the drain! Just then, you realize you still have half a pint of Ben & Jerry's from last week in the freezer and since you already blew your diet on dinner, mind as well polish that ice cream off! And so the spiral continues. 

This is where I raise a glass to meal prepping. When all you have to do is warm up dinner, there is no fighting or headache trying to not only stay on track with eating, but keeping yourself form going into starvation mode then turning yourself into a human vacuum. 

With this being said, I will be working on my Meal Prepping 101: Beginners Guide this upcoming week in order to help those of you out who have been asking for some guidance in that area! 

Don't fall victim to the dinner binge! You have worked so hard, KEEP IT UP! Or, just go to bed ;) haha!

Stop Wishing & Wanting. START DOING!

^THIS^

I don't think you would believe me if I told you how many times I have heard these excuses from people when it comes to committing to a healthy lifestyle. 

If you notice, as the percentile of success raises, we go from negative on the left to positive on the right. Success comes from POSITIVE thoughts! If you tell yourself you can do something, you absolutely can. Believe in yourself and you will be amazed at what you can accomplish. 

If you have ever thought about and/or considered starting a workout routine and eating healthy there is that spark in you to actually make it happen. The only way you can distinguish it would to be to TALK YOURSELF OUT OF IT and why would you? 

IF YOU "WANT TO" COMMIT TO WORKING OUT AND EATING RIGHT, YOU ARE ALREADY 40% THERE!! ALMOST HALF WAY! 

Let me get you up to 80% and let you know that YOU CAN do it, I believe in you! Now lets make it happen! 

P90x3 Has Stolen My Heart!

With every new Beachbody workout I try, I fall even more in love! The best thing about each one is they are all so uniquely different but are each designed to give you amazing results. 

Some are short and intense, fun and dancy, and others offer such variety from day to day you wouldn't believe it's all from the same program! 

I have recently fell in LOVE with the new P90x3 workout by Tony Horton. Not only has this program stolen my heart but so has Tony <3 haha! This program ranges from cardio, to strength training, to yoga and pilates, then back around to MMX type workouts. You couldn't ask for a better variety in a 90 day program. 

I have always loved doing yoga and cannot explain how thrilled I am that this is incorporated into my weekly routine. Yoga is mind, body, and soul. The ultimate trio that improves balance, reduces stress, builds muscle and improves flexibility to lessen the chance of injury. Not to mention FUN! 

30 minute workouts that are all so enjoyable, time is up before you know it! I think the reason I love P90x3 so much is because Tony Horton knows how to motivate and keep you laughing throughout the whole thing. When an instructor knows how to make a workout fun, you look forward to whats coming next instead of dreading it. 

I actually get excited to wake up an extra hour earlier than normal to get my workout in to begin my day :) 
Can you say that about your workout routine?? 

I ABSOLUTELY recommend this program to everyone! You will get the results and have a blast doing it! 

Here are a couple of my workout pictures from P90x3! 

Who else is ready for some P90x3!?

UN-stuffed Cabbage Soup!

Phil and I both have Polish blood running through our veins so naturally our food cravings support that.  Stuffed cabbage is definitely at the top of my list, closely followed by pirogies. Since gluten has got me down on my pirogi game, stuffed cabbage has no competition at this point. 
If I could point out one flaw in such an amazing food, it would be the amount of work it takes to get that dang cabbage cut up into small enough pieces so I don't end up with a mouth full of cabbage or saucy fingers from ripping it apart because a knife and fork can never do their job right when it come to cabbage! 
Anyways, the Polish in me was getting the best of my appetite lately so it was stuffed cabbage time. Now if you have ever made stuffed cabbage you know it can sometimes be a lengthly process. Cook the meat, make the sauce, steam the cabbage, roll, roll, ROLL and about 30 toothpicks later let it all cook together. Dare I say it? AINT NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT! 
Ahh soup, my favorite winter food. A fact about soup is you can make pretty much any food into a soup. It's (usually) quicker to prepare and you only need ONE POT. 

So here we go folks, un-stuffed cabbage soup!

Here is what you will need: 

Hey look my Shakeology snuck in the back..sneaky. 

1 tablespoon coconut oil (not pictured) 

1 medium white onion

1 1/2 - 2 pounds ground beef..or ground turkey, but umm no ;) not with stuffed cabbage!

3-4 cloves garlic

2 15oz cans diced tomatoes (undrained) 

1 15oz can tomato sauce 

1 head of chopped cabbage 

1/2 cup white rice 

2-3 cups water or beef stock (you'll know if you need or want it)

And a big 'ole stock pot!

Let's get cookin'! 

1. Heat stock pot with the tablespoon of oil on medium heat. Meanwhile, chop your onion and toss it in when the pot is hot enough. Let them sizzle for a few minutes so they can soak up most of the oil. 

2. Add the beef! Chop it all up and let it cook until all the pink is gone. 

3. After all my meat was cooked I whipped out a ladle and drained a little over half of the grease from the bottom of the pan. You might be saying FLAVOR, I say barf. I'm at least gonna TRY and keep it kinda healthy. Just push the meat to one side and tip the pot to the other side until it pools and scoop away. 

4. Add the diced tomatoes, and the tomato sauce along with at least an extra cup or two of water or stock. 

5. Now for the chopped cabbage. Add it all! It may seem like a lot but as it cooks down you'll be glad you did. 

6. Don't forget the rice! 1/2 cup is PLENTY. 

7. Stir and let cook on medium heat for about 25-30 minutes. After that I left mine on the stove at medium low heat for at least another hour to let it all stew together. I then moved it to low heat and let it hang out until Phil got home ;) then NOM!

Oh hello beautiful. 

A nice big bowl was in order. YUMM!

Enjoy with some rye bread unless gluten hates you as much as it hates me then, DON'T. Truthfully you don't even need it! ENJOY FRIENDS!! 

What Are You Waiting For!?

Monday February 10th my new challenge group starts! Full commitment for 30 days doing T25. If you have ever thought about trying this workout, now is the time! Only 25 minutes a day 5 days a week!

I will build a team of individuals who are ready to take their fitness seriously and together we will motivate and work hard to reach our fitness goals. If you are really ready to shed the pounds before bikini season begins, order yourself a challenge pack with not only T25 but a 30 day supply of Shakeology to give you an extra boost. By ordering together you will save over $90.00! Shakeology will help fight cravings and load you up with the vitamins and nutrients you will need to get you through the workouts.

Fitness tips, recipes, motivation and support for a solid 30 days, and YOU NEVER HAVE TO LEAVE YOUR HOUSE.

Get ready to push yourself and share in this journey with people as dedicated as you are. What exactly are you waiting for? Here is your chance, take it! Let’s get healthy together in only 25 minutes a day! 

Email me for more info! Lcraddock07@gmail.com