Paleo Pumpkin Spice Protein Muffins (no sugar added)

I am not a pumpkin pie kind of person, and would have said I don't like pumpkin.  But I do like fall squashes and I decided to give these a try and I'm so glad I did.  These muffins are yummy.  I've adopted them from one of my favorite blogs which I recommend highly.  The original recipe called for maple syrup as a sweetener, but this would add whopping 70 grams of carbs to my total recipe and no fiber.  I've also heard how great and low glycemic coconut nectar is, and I tried that originally and they were good, but that also added a ton of carbs to my recipe.   Instead I used unsweetened apple sauce which only adds 10grams to the entire recipe.  If you want them a bit sweeter you can a little bit of stevia extract.  I also added protein powder, because I personally never eat carbs without protein.   My modified version, including the optional chocolate chips, give you a nice breakfast meal replacement or a mid-morning snack.  It was a lovely thing to have this morning with my cup of coffee.  

Adapted from: Detoxinista.com

Makes 12 large muffins

Nutrition Information per large muffin (including the choc chips): 197 calories, 11g total carbs - 3g fiber = 9 net carbs, 9 grams of protein.

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  15 - 20mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond butter (store-bought or homemade)
• ½ cup pumpkin puree (you can find this canned at whole foods)
• 2 whole eggs
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice*
• ⅓ cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 2 scoops sun warrior protein blend vanilla protein powder
• Optional: ⅓ cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350F, and line a standard muffin pan or mini muffin tins with paper muffin cups.
2. In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix until a smooth batter is formed, folding in the chocolate chips last, if desired.
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350F, until the centers are firm and starting to crack.
4. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

*Note: You can make your own Pumpkin Pie Spice by using 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, and ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg instead.   

Edamame Corn Sesame Appetizer

This is a recipe that I just had at someone's house for an appetizer party and it was great.  Thought I'd share it here for you to enjoy as well.  It's from the Yeahthatveganshit blog.

 INGREDIENTS:
Dressing:

• 2 T. toasted sesame oil
• 1 T. rice vinegar (or any vinegar works fine)
• 2 t. tamari or soy sauce

Appetizer:

• 2 c. frozen, shelled edamame
• 1 c. fresh corn (1 or 2 ear, depending on the size) or partially frozen corn
• 2 T. toasted sesame seeds
• Endive
• Generous pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS

Bring a a big pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, whisk all the dressing ingredients in a medium-size mixing bowl.

Boil the edamame for 3 minutes. Add the corn and boil for another 2 minutes. Drain into a colander and run under cold water until cool enough to touch. Add the edamame and corn to the dressing and toss to combine. Add the sesame seeds and toss again. Salt to taste. Cover and chill at least 15 minutes.

Place salad into separated endive cups and serve on a platter.

Broccoli Soup (Clean and Dairy Free)

Inspired from Gordon Ramsey, this broccoli soup is so easy and fast.  The last time I attempted to make broccoli soup was a couple years ago, where I badly burnt myself and had brocolli soup splattered across the entire kitchen.  Follow instructions carefully to avoid this from happening.

Ingredients:
Water
Salt
2 bunches of broccoli
Walnuts (optional)
Goat Cheese (optional)

Time to prepare: 5 minutes
Time to cook:  5 minutes

- Put pot of water to boil, high enough to put all the broccoli into.
- Cut broccoli right at the base of the florets (this recipe does not use the stems)
- When water is boiling, season water with plenty of salt
- Add broccoli
- Add more salt on top of the broccoli
- Cover and let boil 4 to 4 1/2 minutes until broccoli is tender

Drain broccoli into colander that is over another pot, or scoop broccoli out into colander.  This is important.  We are going to use the broth made in cooking for the soup.




Put as much broccoli as will fit into the Vitamix. Using the broth that was made when cooking the broccoli, add enough water to fill half the Vitamix.



Start with blender on low speed and pulse up and down a few times to slowly and carefully (remember exploding broccoli soup problem) break up the florets and mix in the broth.  When mixed, slowly raise level up to 10, then flip to high to blend into a smooth puree.  Taste soup and add additional salt to taste.  I added a LOT of salt, this is not a low sodium soup (but it is fat free, vegan, paleo, full of fiber, etc. etc.).









Gordon Ramsey served it in a bowl with a few walnuts on the bottom, and two thin slices of goat cheese, then poured the soup on top.  I tried it with a few walnuts mixed in and it was really yummy.  

Sweet Potato Brownies (Paleo, gluten free, dairy free, egg-free)

Well, I had so much fun making and eating the first set of paleo brownies that I posted about, I decided to try another. This one used sweet potato instead of zucchini and I have to admit these brownies were amazing. You could not tell they had no refined sugar, or egg, or flour... they were just yummy rich, decadent and gooey brownies. When you refrigerate these brownies they are even better - like eating some really great fudge.

I served these for family and they loved them.  If you don't like rich chocolate deserts (is there really anyone out there who doesn't?), this is not for you.
 
Ingredients:
1 cup almond flour 1/3 cup almond butter (you could use coconut butter as well)
1/2 cup of almond butter for topping.
1/3 cup raw cocao powder
1TB flax meal
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 TB vanilla
1 cup cooked sweet potato
 ½ cup coconut milk (or more... I use the canned type) 
 ¼ cup melted coconut oil
1/3 cup coconut nectar (you could use stevia instead - just play with the amount for the correct sweetness)
  
I always try and use the microwave for melting everything. For those averse to microwaves, you can do this in a small pan. 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease 8×8 pan with coconut oil.
3. Melt the almond butter and coconut oil.
4. Put all dry ingredients together in a medium size bowl and stir.
5. Add wet ingredients including melted coconut oil/almond butter.
6. Mix all ingredients until well mixed.
7. Put into greased pan.
8. Swirl softened topping almond butter into a pattern on top of the batter using a spoon and knife. The recipe I adapted this from said "Add almond butter or nut butter (needs to be soft) topping by using a spoon to create 4 parallel lines. Use a butter knife to marble or swirl the almond butter by running knife perpendicular one way and then the other way back across the brownies."
9. Bake at 350 deg for 30 min or until a knife comes out clean.

Why we need to give up sugar

Created by: www.OnlineNursingPrograms.com

Barbecued Salmon

This is one of my all time favorite salmon recipes.  It's so incredible tasty, and never fails me or company.  It's definitely one that impresses.  My cousin Christina turned me onto it, so a big thanks to her.

Barbecued Salmon

From:  Gourmet, April 1996

Makes/Servers:  6

2 tbsp	chili powder
1 tbsp	salt
1 tbsp	sugar (replace this with 1/4 tsp powdered Stevia or coconut crystals)
1 tbsp	onion powder
1 tbsp	garlic powder
1 tsp	ground cumin
1/8 tsp	cayenne pepper, or to taste
6	salmon filet, 6-ounces each
1/2 cup	tomato vegetable juice
2 tbsp	balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup	olive oil
1 pint	grape tomatoes, sliced into small wedges
1/2 lb	mesclun mix

In a small bowl, stir together the first set of ingredients to create the spice mixture.  Reserve 1-1/2 tsp of the spice mixture for the vinaigrette.

Divide remaining spice mixture among the salmon pieces, rubbing into fish, and arrange fish in one layer in a shallow dish.  Chill fish, covered, for 2 hours.

 In a bowl, whisk together tomato vegetable juice, vinegar, and reserved spice mixture.  Add oil in a stream, whisking until emulsified.

Grill fish until just cooked through, about 5-7 minutes on each side.

While fish is cooking, in a bowl toss tomato and mesclun with enough vinaigrette to coat lightly and divide among 6 plates.    I also served this with Jillian Michael's Body Revolution Spinach with tomato salad, which I'll post later.

Divide salmon pieces among plates and pour remaining vinaigrette over each serving.

Week 3 of Jillian Michael's Body Revolution Complete

I've completed Jillian Michael's 3 weeks now, and I have to say I am pleasantly surprised.  My muscles are sore from the new workouts this week, and sore is good when you're into being in shape and staying in shape.  Your muscles won't change and develop if you keep doing the same thing over and over, so through muscle confusion you surprise your muscles and keep them developing.

I love that the workouts are only 30 minutes, but in general I have to say that 30 minutes for me just isn't enough for the calorie burn that keeps me energized all day.  I'm finding I'm burning between 300-400 calories a workout, which is certainly great, but I prefer to burn more than 500.  So I have started to add a little extra cardio in on the weight and cardio days to give myself a little more burn.  I suppose it's unfair for me to use week 3 as my week to judge if 30 minutes is enough, primarily because I was on vacation and decided to indulge in wine and sugary deserts.  Not only did I gain 5 pounds, but I felt gross, so I'm now back to my low sugar happy eating habits.  It's the only thing that works for me to make me feel good and keep my weight at bay.

This morning instead of doing the Jillian cardio DVD, I decided to go for a run.  The run was great.  I did almost five miles, but for the last mile I did intervals of walking and running since my legs were revolting against me.  I absolutely hate running - it's painful, but I LOVE the feeling I get afterwards.  You can tell from the look on my face in this photo that I was in the last 1/4 mile and hurting but happy to be done.    Here's what I did on my run:

Warmup running slow: 9 Minutes
Run fast: 4 minutes, Run slow: 4 minutes
Run fast 3.5 minutes, Run slow 3.5 minutes
Run fast 3 minutes, Run slow 3 minutes
Run fast 2.5 minutes, Run slow 2.5 minutes
Run fast 2 minutes, Run slow 2 minutes
Run fast 1.5 minutes, walk 1.5 minutes
Run 1 minute, walk 1 minute until I got home
Total: :53 minutes
Calories Burned: 907
Stretch (very important!!)


I'll be baking some more Paleo treats this week, trying to make things that don't impact my blood sugar but make me feel satisfied, and I'm looking forward to sharing them here.

Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here's another recipe from Delightedmomma.com.  I'm starting to LOVE her recipes, and so far we're two for two, and totally worth sharing.   These were yummy, and didn't make my blood sugar go soaring through the roof and craving for more and more.  I kind of thought they tasted like chocolate chip macaroons, but my husband didn't agree.   He did like them though, and was thrilled that he could eat them without a lot of guilt.



Source: Delightedmomma.com  
Servings: 27 cookies
Nutrition per cookie: 95 calories, 4 net grams carbs, 3 grams of protein.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of coconut flour (you can find this at almost any health food store)
• 1/2 cup of coconut oil
• 3 tbs of  Organic Coconut Nectar (Delighted momma used raw honey)
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp of sea salt
• 1/2 cup of shredded unsweetened coconut
• 3/4 cups of gluten free chocolate chips (if you can not find gluten free you can use regular)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Melt the honey and coconut oil together in the microwave for about 15 seconds.
3. In a large bowl mix together the coconut oil, raw honey, eggs, vanilla extract and sea salt.
4. Stir in the coconut flour, shredded coconut and chocolate chips.
5. Line and baking sheet with parchment paper and roll out little tbs size balls of cookie dough. Place on the baking sheet and gently press down so they look pretty once baked :)
6. Bake for 12-15 or until golden brown.

Paleo Zucchini Brownies

I just got back from 6 days of being away and indulging in real sugary garbage.  Not only did it make me pack on an extra five pounds, which will be off within a week, but it made me feel just overall gross.  It did get me thinking to figure out some great recipes for healthy deserts or treats.  One of my virtual workout friends recommended some Paleo Brownies from delightedmomma.com.  So I gave it a whirl and they came out pretty good.  Here's the recipe:

Source: Delightedmomma.com
Servings: 9 Brownies
Nutrition per brownie: 260 calories, 14 net grams carbs, 8 grams of protein.


Ingredients:

• 1 cup of almond butter. You can make your own if you want to save a few bucks.
• 1 1/2 cup of grated or chopped zucchini. I used a peeler to make the zucchini really thin and then chopped it up into really small pieces.
• 1/3 cup of raw honey
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp of nutmeg (I made these again without this and it was MUCH better)
• 1 cup of dark chocolate chips. I used gluten free chocolate chips. (2nd time I made these I melted the chips and mixed them into the batter - amazing!!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix everything together.
3. Pour into a greased 9x9 baking pan.
4. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.

These brownies are delicious, but there was something in the taste I didn't love.  I think it might be the nutmeg and I'm considering taking out the nutmeg the next time.  I also wonder if it might be amazing made with cocao powder mixed with 1/2 cup of chips instead of only the chips.  You can see from the picture that the chips sunk to the bottom instead of melting throughout.  But don't get me wrong, these are satisfying to the palate, and my now gluten free and low carb husband thought they were yummy.

Week 2 done, on vacation and Sunday's

I love Sundays, primarily because it's a rest day from exercise, I get to spend quality family time, and just be a little lazy. This week is particularly good because I'm off of work next week. Being off of work doesn't mean off of exercise or eating well - in fact it means even more time to enjoy it all and try new healthy recipes. We are currently visiting Albert's uncle on the North Fork of Long Island and Nancy made us this amazing recipe last night. It was so good it's worth sharing:

CORIANDER CRUSTED TUNA WITH CARAMELIZED ONION
It takes just minutes to sear tuna to a rosy, rare center. The slow cooked onions can be completely cooked ahead and served at room temperature.
Serves 4

For the onions
3 large red onions, peeled and sliced paper thin
2 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 bunch arugula leaves, washed and spin-dried for presentation
Lemon juice and olive oil to dress arugula

For the tuna
1 1/2–2 pounds sushi-quality tuna
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons crushed coriander seeds
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
sea salt to finish, optional

1. Slice the onions thin with a chef’s knife or slice in a food processor with the thin blade in place. Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet, and put in the onions. Cook, stirring the onions to coat in the oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add thyme leaves and stir into onions. Sauté onions slowly over low heat for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring every once in a while until tender and golden. Onions can be prepared up an hour ahead and served at room temperature.
2. Sprinkle arugula leaves with a little coarse salt and olive oil, if desired, and toss to coat. Divide on four plates and set aside.
3. Cut the tuna into four even-sized slices about 1 to 11/4-inches thick. Mix lime juice in a bowl with the coriander seeds, olive oil and salt and pepper, and turn the tuna slices in the mixture to coat. Marinate for 10 minutes before cooking. Heat the skillet dry, drizzle in a little oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Sear the tuna in the hot skillet about 1 1/2 minutes on each side turning with tongs, basting with marinade. Transfer to a cutting board, let rest for a few minutes and cut each piece into 3 to 4 slices. Divide equally and overlap slices over the arugula. Spoon a clump of room temperature caramelized onion over the tuna, Sprinkle with sea salt to finish, if desired, and serve.

I'm ready for week three of Jillian, and psyched that the weight workouts will change to something different. This past week I wasn't so good diet wise, and definitely paying the price today. Yesterday I not only indulged in Hastings on Hudson farmers market fudge tart, totally decadent and worth it, but also in dairy which I am allergic to. So today leaves me bloated and feeling overall gross. That part isn't worth it. What I always preach is how important it is to get right back on the horse, and today I am back on. Armed and ready with healthy food options in my pocket.

Week 1 Jillian Body Revolution Results

Week one of Jillian Michael's revolution complete. The kickstart diet was great, and got me into some new simple meals and snacks I hadn't considered eating as part of my clean eating plan. Had I really stuck to the eating plan exactly for the last two days, as I had for the first 5, I would have been down 3 pounds, but I indulged a bit yesterday and saw 2 pounds on the scale (it will be off tomorrow), so my week one results are 1 pound down, .5 inches from my lower belly, and .5 inches from each thigh. I definitely feel leaner, and my legs feel much tighter. Stay tuned as I continue for the next 83 days.

Here are my thoughts in general:

Diet: Excellent, but hard.  1200 calories isn't a lot for someone used to eating and burning a lot.  But I started to feel lean immediately, and the meals were very satisfying.  The biggest challenge was between breakfast and lunch since I workout early morning and eat breakfast between 6:30 and 7:00.  But once I got to lunch, I was never hungry the rest of the day, until snack time, which tied me over till dinner.  I loved her recipes and it gave me a lot of new and improved eating ideas.

Workouts:  Loved both the cardio and the weights, but I got bored of the cardio very quickly.  I can't really imagine doing the same cardio workout only for an entire month.  Good for me that I have a ton of other workouts I could incorporate, so I did cardio 1, then insanity pure cardio, etc.  I pushed myself to the "bad ass" levels on the workouts, and I felt it.  So far, so good!! 

End Result: I was exhausted but feeling great at the end of the week, and really enjoyed my day of rest on Sunday.  

I am ready to start Jillian's kick-start tomorrow.  I'll do all my measurements and weight in the morning, and go from there.  Tonight I grilled two 6oz pieces of salmon and made a nice salad for lunch for tomorrow with 2 cups arugula, 1/4 avocado, 1/4 yellow pepper, sliced cucumber, and tomato.  I also made some homemade hummus (recipe to follow tomorrow) with roasted organic garbanzos and roasted garlic.  My snack for tomorrow is 8 baby carrots, 1 red bell pepper and 1/4 cup of hummus.  Dinner is going to be filet mignon on the grill, and a cup of spinach with some tomato salad.  Sounds good...  here's a pic of my lunch and snack, packed and ready for me to bring to work.

Jillian Michael's Body Revolution

Tomorrow I start Jillian Michael's Body Revolution.  I am really excited about it as everything I've seen seems to indicate some pretty amazing results.  I shopped yesterday for most of the food I need for the 7-day kickstart program, which surprisingly is a diet that it looks like I can follow.  So, wish me luck and I'll post results weekly here.

Laura's Miracle Muffin

This recipe was derived after lots of trial and error from tweaking the Dr. Oz Miracle Muffin.  I've finally gotten it to a place where it's delicious, and worth sharing.  One of the hardest parts of following a low carb, high protein diet, is the breakfasts. Gone are the days where bagels, pancakes and muffins start my day.   Every once in a while I crave something that feels like I'm not eating eggs or a piece of meat, or a protein smoothy.  Here's my latest favorite recipe:

Recipe name: Laura's Miracle Muffin
Number of servings: 1
Ingredients:
1/2 to 1 tsp Ground Cinamon
1 tsp Coconut Oil
1 scoop Vanilla Sun Warrior Vanilla Protein Powder (don't ask me why, but this brand is the best for this muffin)
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 Egg
3 Tbsp Organic Ground Flax Seed.
1/4 cup Almond Breeze - Original Unsweetened Almond Coconut Milk (or whatever kind of milk you want to use)

Total calories per serving: 292
Total carbs: 11 grams
Total fiber: 8 grams
Total net carbs: 3 grams
Total protein: 27 grams

Directions:

1. Heat coconut oil just enough to in a microwaveable cup.  I use a 1 cup silicon measuring cup when I make mine.
2. Beat egg and milk into coconut oil
3. Add all other ingredients and still well
4. Microwave on high for 2 minutes.
5. Enjoy

The Perfect Flank Steak

It's BBQ season and flank steak is one of the easiest things to cook on the grill.  This recipe is the simplest to make and always goes over well with company.

Ingredients:
Flank Steak
1 bottle Soy Vey Very Terriyaki marinade

Directions: Marinate flank steak in Soy Vey for up to 24 hours before cooking.  Cook over med heat until desired temperature.  Enjoy with grilled marinated vegetables, a nice fresh salad, whatever makes you happy.

Les Mills Pump Results

I have to say that Les Mills Pump was probably THE program that completely changed my body.  I'm not sure why, but I think the short HIIT bursts of weight training, with a barbell made a huge difference.  I started Pump on 3/26/2012 and finished it on 6/22/2012.  In the beginning, I combined it with something else - like the elliptical machine, or spinning, but that's only because I was used to doing so much more than the first two weeks offered.  Once it got off and running I have to say I LOVED it.  I was burning between 450 - 700 calories daily and on the walk days I was doing some other form of higher intensity cardio.  What's great about Les Mills Pump, aside from being able to do it at home, is that it's really only three days a week.  The other days are cardio or walking days, that you really can do whatever it is you're passionate about doing, be it running, swimming, cycling, spinning, or even the walking they suggest.

So here were my results.  Realize I don't have a lot of weight to lose, and I started Pump considering myself at goal weight, but people who grew up fat and have been on a diet their entire lives can relate that there's always a few pounds to be shed, regardless of what your weight might be (I don't really believe that statement, but it seems to be reality in my world).

Fat loss in various body parts:

Weight: 4.5 pounds
Waist: 3.5"
Hips: 1.6"
Boobs: 1.5"
Left bicep: 1"
Right bicep: 1"
Lower Belly: 1.5" (this however was much more I am sure, but I didn't start measuring it until much later into the program).

So, my review of Les Mills Pump is that it's amazing.  I've been working out, and working out hard for a really long time, so to see this level of results is really impressive. I am much leaner, my core is stronger, and my muscles are longer, leaner and more cut.  They are not big and offensive, or man-like. I've gotten compliments on my arms from people I know, and from total strangers (I was particularly psyched when the teller at the bank asked me if I worked out because my arms looked amazing.

So, I give Les Mills Pump 5 stars!!

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

My husband's niece found this recipe on elanaspantry.com and made it for us. She used 6 eggs instead of 10. 1/2 of coconut nectar instead of Agave. The coconut nectar you can pick up at whole foods. This is a gluten free, dairy free chocolate cake (nut free too), with a thick, yummy vegan chocolate frosting.


Chocolate Cake
¾ cup coconut flour, sifted

• ¼ cup cacao powder
• 1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 10 eggs  (we used only 6)
• 1 cup grapeseed oil
• 1 ½ cups agave nectar (or 1/2 c. coconut nectar)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon orange zest

1. In a small bowl combine flour, cacao, salt and baking soda
2. In a large bowl using an electric hand blender, blend eggs, oil, agave nectar, vanilla and orange zest
3. Add dry ingredients into large bowl and continue to blend
4. Oil (2) 9-inch cake pans and dust with coconut flour
5. Pour batter into pans and bake at 325° for 35-40 minutes
6. Remove from oven, allow to cool completely then remove from pans
7. Frost and serve

Serves 12

Vegan Chocolate Frosting

• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• ½ cup grapeseed oil
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• pinch celtic sea salt

1. In a small saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate and grapeseed oil
2. Stir in agave, vanilla and salt
3. Place frosting in freezer for 15 minutes to cool
4. Remove from freezer and whip frosting with a hand blender until it is thick and fluffy
5. Frost over cake
6. Serve

Tania's Chocolate

This is from Dr. Tania Dempsy (www.armonkmed.com), who realizes that every once in a while we do need some chocolate:

1/2 cup cacao butter melted- (do not let it boil- melt gently on the stove)
1 cup raw cacao powder
stevia drops to taste (probably around 1-2 tsp)
1 tsp vanilla extract.

Mix together. put in molds and freeze until it hardens.  Then pop out of molds and keep in fridge or freezer (or at room temperature because the cacoa butter really keeps well at room temperature)

Healthy Garbanzo Guacamole

This recipe thanks to my sister in law Nancy.  I've made it several times and it always goes quickly.

Ingredients:
1 Avocado
1 Can organic garbanzo beans
salt and pepper to taste
Lemon to taste
little bit of olive oil

Directions: Mix all ingredients together.  Enjoy with gluten free ships or just by itself on a plate with a fork. Great as an appetizer or a side dish

This week my challenge is about maintaining my fitness and diet goals while on vacation.  I'm on day 7 and so far so good.  Every day I've burned between 500 and 1000 calories doing the elliptical machine and Les Mills Pump and Burn workout.

My secret for staying entertained on the elliptical machine is to watch a tv series on my iPad while I'm working out.  When I am home, I do things other than the elliptical like an at home Spinervals class or and Insanity Asylum workout for my cardio, and I mix in the elliptical too.  But while away I am at the mercy of the gym facility - this particular one has a great elliptical machine.  I started watching Damages, and am hooked - and the great news is that each episode is between 45-55 minutes so I am motivated to stay on the machine for the full time.  Then I do Pump afterwards.  I'm loving Pump, by the way.

Les Mills Pump - Day 13

I'm totally psyched to be doing Pump. It's a nice change of pace and I love love the barbells. I've also been doing a lot more cardio. Today I did :60 minutes of cardio on the elliptical machine while watching Damages, which by the way I am already enjoying a lot.

After the cardio I did Pump and Burn and know its going to be a great remaining 77 days of this program. I burned over 1000 calories today! Yay me.

I've also been really watching my carbs, ever since my valentines day madness where I apparently ate enough sugar in chocolate and Necco hearts to throw my adrenals and thyroid out of whack. Really??? So since a few days later, let's say I've been diligent about eating 55 net grams of carbs or less a day. It's working!! Starting to feel in control, and better, and have lost at least 5 pounds. My doctor, Tania Dempsy, is right - this really is the way I need to eat regularly.