Category Archives: PFOODIE
FOOD – DIET TIPS – RECIPES – NUTRITION
Learn how simple diet tips and key nutritional information can help you reach your goals. Get ideas for healthy snacks and meals, as well as learn how to fuel your body – and not just FEED it!
Fit Fajita Breakfast
If you have followed me for any length of time, you probably know how much I love Mexican food – and breakfast is no exception. Since I love fajitas, I decided to trade flour tortillas for egg whites and it was a hit!
Grilled Filling:
Steak fajita meat
Fajita Seasoning
1/2 Onion
1 Green Pepper
1 Cup Corn
Lime Juice (2-3 limes)
Salt
Trade the Tortilla for Eggs!
Egg Whites
Low Fat Shredded Cheese
Cold Topping #1:
Fresh Diced Tomatoes
Diced Onion
Diced Small Sweet Peppers
Diced Pickled Jalapeno Peppers
Fresh Minced Garlic
Tablespoon of Apple Cidar Vinegar
Lime Juice (one lime)
Salt
Cold Topping #2
1 Avocado
Low Fat Sour Cream
Sour Cream
Pour egg whites in frying pan, prepared with Pam. Add Fajita mix with a small sprinkle of low-fat Cheddar Cheese and fold. Top with Cold Topping and serve with a few sliced Avocado and a dollop of sour cream.
Have a favorite breakfast recipe? Share it with us below!
Like this:
Work Like a DOG Because You are Eat Like a PIG?
ADDICTED
We’ve all met people who seem addicted to fitness. They live at the gym and workout really hard, but maybe they aren’t so much addicted to exercise as much as something else altogether.
ARE YOU A WORKAHOLIC
Think of it like a workaholic. Some people are literally slaves to work, but it’s not because they love working so much. It’s because they are slaves to their debtors. So, they get as much overtime as they can, take odd jobs, and work like crazy to balance overspending.
Many people aren’t afraid of work, they are afraid of missing out. They don’t want to part with the luxuries in life – cars, clothes, dining out, going out on the town, etc. So they work hard to maintain those things, even if they are bad for us.
QUIT WORKING OVERTIME
Maybe you need to stop eating like a pig so you don’t have to work like a dog. Yes, it’s harsh, but it’s honest. We can’t continue to rely on exercise to keep getting us out of trouble. It’s time you truly address the real problem: eating. It’s time to cut back, because what you are missing out on is much more valuable than your favorite food.
Are You Addicted?
Even if the true addiction is to food, it can result in exercise addiction too.
Rate yourself as honestly as you can below with the following checklist from Active.com:
- I have missed important social obligations and family events in order to exercise.
- I have given up other interests, including time with friends, in order to make more time to work out.
- Missing a workout makes me irritable and depressed
- I only feel content when I am exercising or within the hour after exercising.
- I like exercise better than sex, good food, or a movie — in fact there’s almost nothing I’d rather do.
- I work out even if I’m sick, injured, or exhausted. I’ll feel better when I get moving anyway.
- In addition to my regular schedule, I’ll exercise more if I find extra time.
- Family and friends have told me I’m too involved in exercise.
- I have a history (or a family history) of anxiety or depression.
Although some of these feelings are natural, and even healthy. Feeling good because of exercise is a good thing, but feeling good at the expense of harming relationships or your body, maybe a warning sign you are off balance.
If you can get a better grip on your food, you may not feel so obligated to workout as much. You won’t feel so guilty if you skip a workout, and you will feel more confident and healthy because you’re eating healthy – not just erasing your bad food.
Look deep within and find the real root of the problem, and take your fitness to a whole new healthy level.
Photo Credits:
Sweaty guy: metronews.ca
Cartoon: Illustration by Aaron Taylor, Site: UtahValleyBusinessq.com
Girl in the fridge: 40 years of faulty wiring
Balancing Act: metafitsolutions.com
Like this:
The Healthy Salty Snack You Can Afford to Eat
If you’re like me, and crave salty snacks, then you are always happy to discover something healthy to feed your craving. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of salty healthy snacks available beside popcorn, so imagine my sheer joy the first time I tried edamame (boiled or steamed soy beans in the pod).
My first edamame experience was at a local asian restaurant, Bangkok. After they came out, I remember thinking “what do I do with that? Do I eat the whole thing or am I supposed to pop the beans out?” Yes, Steve and I were edamame tards. After gnawing on the whole thing for a bit, shell and all, it didn’t take long to discover the stiff stems were not very chewable. We quickly figured it out and they became a part of our regular diet.
They are easy to cook too. I buy the bag of frozen edamame and steam them (which can be done traditionally or in a microwave oven for 5 minutes). Then I sprinkle soy sauce, and/or salt, on them and begin snacking!! Today I cooked them and then threw them in my cooler for the beach. They were an awesome cold snack too.
The greatest part of this salty wonder is they are truly healthy. Most people are just happy to find snacks that are just “not unhealthy”, but edamame is as healthy as it is tasty. Half a bag of edamame is only 150 calories – and a very equal balance of calories I might add! 12.5gms of protein, 6gms of fat, 11gms of carbohydrates and 5gms of fiber. Look at the graph to the left. You can see that edamame gets 31-36% of the calories from each substrate.
Another thing I like about edamame in the shell, is it takes work to get the bean out. Not that it is a big job, because it’s not a bother at all. However, it slows down how fast we typically eat snacks. I enjoy the taste more and the entire snack takes longer to eat than many other similar snacks. Any snack that can slow us down from inhaling it is a good snack!
So, instead of reaching for a bag of chips, next time you are craving something salty to snack on, go steam up some beans!
Like this:
2 for 1 Chicken Fajita Meal
What does a girl do when she can’t eat chips and salsa? She has the next best thing – she makes a healthy Mexican meal!
I love all the flavors Mexican food offers so cook a lot of different Mexican dishes. Last night I was in the mood for fajitas. Since I had several people request recipes after posting it on Twitter and facebook, I’m sharing my meal(s) with you.
2 for 1: 1 recipe for 2 different meals
Fajita Meat:
Fresh Sliced Chicken or Tyson Pre-Cooked Fajita Chicken Strips (fast fix)
Two Bell Peppers (one green, one red)
One Onion
Badia Fajita Seasoning (to taste)
Lime juice, 3-4 limes or 1/4 cup of Lime Juice (depending on your taste)
Salt to taste if needed
Grilled Mexican Corn:
Today’s Harvest Frozen Corn (all natural, no preservatives)
Lots of Fresh Cilantro
Lime juice, 1-2 limes depending on size/taste
5 Diced small red and orange sweet peppers
One Tablespoon low-fat Hellman’s Mayo (optional)
Salt
Mix above ingredients and grill to cook in a pan or on the grill
Rice:
Vigo Yellow Rice
Start the rice first, since it takes 25 minutes to cook, then start grilling the fajita mixture and the corn. The whole meal can be prepared in about 30 minutes.
1 Set of Ingredients, 2 Different Meals
MEAL #1: The No Tortilla Fajita Meal
Serve fajita meat and top with shredded lettuce, a dollop of low-fat sour cream and La Mexican salsa (in the produce section), with sides. (shredded cheese optional)
MEAL #2: Salad Bowl:
Layer #1: Rice
Layer #2: Sour cream
Layer #3: Fajita meat
Layer #4: Salad toppings – Shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, diced onion, jalapenos, salsa and sliced avocado.
DIET TIPS: Save calories by keeping rice portions small. Remember, avocados are healthy but high in fat and calories so be careful on the amount you eat. 2 tablespoons of low-fat sour cream is only 40 calories and that’s a LOT of calories compared to 159 calories in a half of an avocado, which most people will use as one serving. We always skip the cheese. I don’t really taste it and it’s not worth the extra calories in our house. Finally, La Mexican fresh salsa is really low in calories (only 10 calories per 2 tablespoons) so enjoy!
Like this:
DIET: 7 Ways to Cheat Smart
Back in the day, when Steve used to go off his diet he would say he was “taking the gloves off” – meaning, no more rules. In sports like boxing and hockey, taking the gloves off means they are about to throw down. No rules, no ref, anything goes.
Well, that’s how Steve and I used to cheat – we’d take the gloves off. However, over the years our eating has changed drastically. Although we totally still cheat on our diet here and there, even cheating is done in moderation.
Vacation or Diet Vacation?
I think too many people “take the gloves off” like we used to – especially when on vacation. They go on vacation and they don’t even try to eat healthy. On the contrary, people often cram as much crappy stuff in their body while on vacation “just because they are on vacation” – as if they’d never get the chance to cheat again.
Sure, you should be able to have some yummy meals and treats on vacation – I’m not suggesting you have to “diet”. What I’m saying is you should still practice self-control and balance. Whether it’s trying to still maintain healthy portions or mixing in healthy meals with cheat meals, eating just to eat shouldn’t be an option.
Our Dumb Rules (AKA: Lame Excuses)
We humans make some of the dumbest diet rules. We have certain occasions we “allow” ourselves to “take the gloves off”. We cheat when we celebrate. We cheat when we go out of town. We cheat when it’s a Holiday. We cheat on the weekends. We cheat when we’ve had a hard day. Honestly, sometimes we cheat our way through a whole week because of circumstances. And if that wasn’t bad enough, we continue to cheat after several days of cheating, because we’ve been so bad. Really? Is that an excuse? I’ll be bad today just because I was so bad yesterday? Yep, that’s how some of us think and act. How stupid is that?!
Going Over the Limit
We do the very same thing when with spending, especially on vacation. We buy things just to buy things. After blowing it one day, we often blow even more money (and debt) the next day – and many times it’s on stupid stuff. I mean, do you really think you’ll hang that ridiculous Mexican sombrero in your house? Probably not, but you sure will be paying for it, along with all the other junk “that you had to have”, for a lot longer than it took to buy ut. The same goes with diet. You may not be playing by they rules, but the rules still apply – and, believe me, you WILL pay.
7 Ways to Cheat Smart & Win the Fat Fight
You can splurge, taste, play and feel good to – IF you learn to cheat smart. Here are a few ways to enjoy great cuisine without losing your fight with fat.
1.) Only eat what you love. How many times have you eaten something just because it’s in front of you? How many times have you cleaned your plate and the meal wasn’t even that good? Save your cheat calories for only foods you absolutely love.
2.) Make good choices and healthy tradeoffs. Think about what you like the most. Do you want the appetizer more, or the dessert more? Instead of having every course offered, narrow down the choices to what’s most important to you.
3.) Divide your cheat meal up by cutting high-calorie foods in half. If you want to totally splurge on your favorite high calorie dish, don’t overeat too. You can enjoy that deep fried dish, or pasta swimming in alfredo, but save calories by not eating it all in one siting to avoid more calories stored as fat. The good news is you get to have your favorite meal twice!
4.) Choose one: over-eating or over-calorieing. I know, it’s not a word! What I mean is, if your idea of splurging is overeating, then eat healthy. If your idea is eating a high calorie cheat meal, then eat less of unhealthy meals.
5. Plan to cheat. One of the best things you can do is plan your cheat meals out. If you are jonesing for your favorite cheat meal for dinner, eat healthy during the day or do an extra cardio. Save calories on other snacks and meals to allow more room to cheat.
6. Eat for fuel. Remember, what you eat today is how you will feel tomorrow. So, if you’re planning to hit the beach and you want to look good in your bikini, or you want a ton of energy on vacation, you may want to eat how you want to feel – and plan your cheat meals around that. My sister learned this the hard way when we went to Busch Gardens after eating pancakes. Steve and I had a ton energy and she crashed after only 2 hours of being at the park. If you want to feel good, you may want to choose your biggest cheat day for the last day of your trip.
7. Cheating can be depressing. I don’t know about you, but I want to be happy on vacation. Cheating can really mess with your head. You can mentally feel fat and ugly, causing bad mood swings and emotions. If you want to feel confident and comfortable, limiting crappy meals can make you a much happier camper.
Subscribe fore more tips and motivation!
Photo of Bonnie Pfiester by Misty Lundeen
Like this:
You Can’t Compete with What You Eat
You may be working out harder than you have to.
Are you investing hours of your day trying to burn off what you aren’t willing to cut out of your diet? I think many people are spending a unnecessary amount of time and energy doing fat-melting workouts simply because they aren’t willing to control what they eat. As Steve says, “You can’t compete with what you eat” so let me save you a lot of time, energy and frustration.
Unless you just have all the time in the world to run off every calorie you consume, there is no reason for that much cardio. Practice a little self-discipline and lighten your work load. Otherwise, you are going to find yourself completely discouraged, and worn out, from punishing your body for what your mouth keeps doing.
It’s not always the meals we choose, but the extras. Instead of eating 1/2 a bagel we eat a whole bagel. Instead of having a coffee, we have a fancy latte. We treat ourselves with “one small thing” that takes a not-so-small amount of time to erase. Unfortunately, it’s all the extra that makes us extra large. If you can control the extras, you can control your waistline – and not have to do the extra work to erase your mistakes.
Here’s the reality behind what it takes to erase extra calories:
1 Tall Salted Caramel Latte = 1 Hour Power Walk
1 Side of Chili’s Cole Slaw = 1 Hour of Yoga
Side of Ranch Dressing at Subway = 3 Mile Jog
1 McDonald’s Medium French Fries = One Hour of Zumba
Dairy Queen Dipped Chocolate Cone = 1 Hour of Kickboxing
1 Boston Market Broccoli & Cheese Soup = 1 Hour on the Elliptical
Duncan Donuts Mocha Coffee with Cream = 1 Hour on the Treadmill at 4mph
1 Slice of Little Caesars’ Deep Dish Pepperoni Pizza = 1 Hour of Aerobics Class
1 Panera Everything Bagel with Light Veggie Cream Cheese = 1 Hour of High Impact Aerobics
1 Steak & Shake Medium Cookies & Cream Shake = 1 Hour of Boot Camp AND 1 Hour Power Walking
Chili’s Bottomless Tostada Chips & Salsa = 1 Hour Running at 6mph (10-minute miles) AND 1 Hour of Aerobics
Like this:
6 Tips to Combat Diet Sabotage
How to Destroy a Diet in 2 Hours: So, you are dieting and you do good aaaaaaall day long, only to blow every salad, protein shake and healthy snack down the drain in the last 2 hours of the day. Sound familiar?
Sip-n-Chip
Why is it we feel the need to snack at night? Will our life really come unraveled if we don’t have a grip on a chip and a drink to sip? Honestly, Steve and I are amazed how much of a struggle this is – and I believe it destroys a lot of very healthy diets.
I eat squeaky clean all day long, only to blow it with popcorn, pretzels or nuts. I always have good intensions, but I always eat more than I should in the end. Could it be worse? Sure it could, but is it preventing me from getting rid of that last bit of fat? Of course it is!
Here are some of the lies we feed ourselves so we can feed ourselves.
LIES:
1. I’ve eaten so good today, I can afford it.
2. At least they are healthy snacks.
3. It’s probably not that many calories.
4. I’ll just have a few.
5. I can run it off in the morning.
TRUTH:
1. You’ve eaten so good today, that’s exactly why you should skip it! Protect your hard work!
2. You can get fat on healthy foods too. Extra calories are extra calories.
3. It’s probably a lot more calories than you want to admit.
4. You never have just a few. You will have “just a little more” and “just a little more” until you’ve eaten too much or you’ve eaten the entire thing!
5. If you are trying to lose weight, you should be running off stuff you’ve already eaten, not more stuff.
6 TIPS TO COMBAT LATE-NIGHT SABOTAGE
1. Plan to be disciplines. Decide BEFORE you get a snack-attack what you can and can’t eat.
2. Avoid alcohol, because not only is that MORE calories but it makes you stupid! The relaxation you feel from a glass of wine is just enough to make you “relaxed” about your diet – and before you know it, you want some cheese with that wine.
3. Stick to prepackaged foods if you have a problem with stopping, like 100 calorie popcorn or jello pudding.
4. Make room for 200 calories of snacks at night so you don’t completely deprive yourself. When you countcalories, you are much more in tune with your body and your food choices. Be creative – try something new like sliced cucumbers with vinegar, salt & pepper or sliced strawberries over a cup of frozen fat free Cool Whip. The thinner the slices, the longer the snack lasts.
5. Have a protein shake. If you are craving sweets, a protein shake can be tasty and super satisfying – plus it helps muscle repair overnight. I like Designer Whey protein powder because it tastes great and is low in calories.
6. Just say no to snacks and yes to your goals. It wouldn’t kill you to just sip on water instead. Sometimes it’s best to not even start snacking – because you may not stop!
Cool Cucumber Salad, by McCormick:
2 cups thinly sliced cucumbers (4 small or 2 large cucumbers)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar (STEVIA)
1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Dill Weed
1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Black Pepper, Coarse Ground
Pinch McCormick® Red Pepper, Ground
See full recipe & instructions.
Bonnie’s Strawberries Parfait:
1/2 Cup Frozen Fat Free Cool Whip
6 Thinly sliced strawberries
1 Tablespoon of Grape-Nuts
The frozen cool whip has texture more like ice cream. The thinner the slices of strawberry, the more bites you get. Grape-Nuts just add a bit of crunch to it!! Trade the cool whip for vanilla greek yogurt for more protein and nutrients. Totally yummy!
PHOTOS:
Snacking Photo: Source
Pinocchio Photo: Source
Strawberries Photo: Source
Cucumber Photo: Source
Pretzel Photo: Source
Like this:
Hearty 300 Calorie Bagel Thin Sandwich
Yummy Low-Cal Bagel Thin Sandwich
1 Everything Bagel Thin (100 calories)
1 TBSP Light Veggie Cream Cheese (35 cal)
2 oz favorite meat (100 calories)
1 slice of light cheese (60 calories)
Top with thinly sliced cucumbers, tomato, onion and lettuce (5-10 calories) and a sprinkle balsamic vinegar
Salt & Pepper to taste
Enjoy a very filling lunch for under 300 calories.
Like this:
Extreme Exercise Can’t Beat Extreme Eating
I see tons of people sweating it out at the gym - sometimes twice a day, working so incredibly hard. Why? It’s not because they have some photo shoot or competition. It’s not to get shredded. No, they have this insane dedication to working out because they have no dedication to eating right.
Me? I’m too lazy for that non-sense. I’d rather eat less than workout for 3 hours a day. As I always say, I don’t live to workout. It will always be a push for me to get my workout in. So, I choose to be careful with what I eat so I don’t have to do it any more than necessary.
However, there are many people who don’t mind working it off at all. I actually believe it’s therapy for them – and not really the good kind. Since many of them live at the gym, they know good and well they shouldn’t drink a twelve pack on the weekend and eat whatever the heck they want. So, come Monday it’s punishment time. It’s time to erase their sins.
They don’t get mad, because they know they don’t deserve to get mad. In their mind, they deserve as many brutal workouts as they can squeeze in. The sweatier, the better. The workouts help them to become proud of themselves again. When they know they aren’t proud of how they eat, the can at least be proud of what they do. And even if they hold 40 extra pounds, people around them would never call them lazy – because they work so hard.
Don’t get me wrong. If this is you, you are stronger. You are healthier. You are likely more tone. BUT, think of how amazing you would look and feel if you gave your plate the workout you gave your body.
This yo-yo lifestyle is not healthy. It’s not good for you emotionally and it’s not teaching you how to live healthy long-term. You can’t continue all your life beating your body up day after day because you can’t control your eating. Moderation is key to long-term success. Don’t punish your body for your mouth’s mistakes. The mouth is what needs taming so your body can begin enjoying the reward for once.
Even with extreme workouts, remember, extreme workouts can never erase extreme eating. Food always wins.
pFIT TIP: It takes approximately 10 miles to run off one average size restaurant dinner.
Like this:
Is Your Body a Maxed Out Credit Card?
We have all complained about our credit card bills. Everyone has bought stuff they couldn’t afford at the time - and now it’s time to pay it off. It’s not fun, and many times we aren’t even enjoying the purchase by the time we are paying it off, which stinks even more!
We do the same thing with food. We eat it, whether we can afford it or not, and when it comes time to pay it off we gripe, complain and act like we are the victim. Like being in debt to our eyeballs, we did it to ourselves and it’s time we start manning up, paying it off, and becoming more disciplines.
1. Pay it off (completely). Don’t just pay it down and then rack up the calories again the first chance you get. Pay it off completely. Get to the size you know you should be before you start your “spending” again. Then, if you increase your spending, remember to keep paying it down while the amount is small – never letting your fat account get that high again.
2. Practice more discipline. If you can’t afford it, you really shouldn’t eat it – especially if you know you aren’t willing to pay it off fast. Be honest with yourself. Are you REALLY going to wake up in the morning and run an extra 3 miles to erase the ice cream you’re eating tonight? Remember, when you are losing weight, you are already paying off past mistakes, so any more calories you eat will require ADDITIONAL work to erase.
3. Eat like American Express. The wonderful thing about American Express is you pay it off each month. We should treat eating that way. We should only eat what we are willing to pay off that month. Unfortunately, most people eat like a Visa card – they eat what they want and just do the bare minimum to get by – resulting in carrying a large balance that never gets paid down.
Subscribe to my pFITblog for more tips and encouragement.
