Tips & Tricks to a Healthier YOU!
It’s so simple, but hard to always remember. Food Feeds Us. So I am here to share a few of my favorite tips and tricks to a healthier YOU!!
Companies will try to sell you exercise and workout gimmicks all day long, but ask any trainer or professional athlete and they will tell you that 95% of your success in your health and fitness is determined by WHAT YOU EAT!
Last month, we shared the Top 3 Ways to Clean Up Your Diet (read it here). Today, I am sharing a few more Fit Foodie tips and if you want to dive deeper into taking the next step towards a healthier lifestyle, grab your copy of The Clean Eating Handbook: 31 Essential Rules for Health, Wellness, and a Fabulously Fit Life, available on www.eatcleaner.com. Now remember, practice makes perfect, so continue reading and put these tips into practice each day for a month, until you feel like you have established a good routine and formed a habit.
So….are you ready? Here are some tips & tricks to a HEALTHIER YOU!!!
1. SWAP IN VEGGIES FOR FAT
If you are looking for a way to lower fat and up the antioxidant quotient in your meals, turn to produce.
HOW TO DO IT:
Beets, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and fruit purees can cut or replace fat in many dishes, including baked goods.
Don’t believe me???
Take a look at my Recipe Rehab-Winning Chocolate Cupcakes, made with ZERO BUTTER. Yep, you read that right, delicious chocolate cupcakes with just beets and cauliflower (and a few other ingredients :))
HERE’S A TIP: Swap in pureed produce CUP FOR CUP and experiment with flavors. You can also use produce as a substitute for eggs – about 1/4 cup for every whole egg.
HERE’S ANOTHER TRICK: Cauliflower can add body to frosting, while butternut squash and pumpkin are great compliments to spiced cakes and cookies. These purees also make a great creamy filling for desserts like cannoli and sweet ravioli.
2. DENY THE FRY!!!
Did you ever notice how something big happens between the departure of baby foods and most children’s menus? The color fades from a plate like a person about to faint. From a palette of red, orange, green, purple, and blue, we introduce white to brown food that gets deep fried, bathed in sugar or salt and takes over our plates.
French fries, doughnuts, and those other deep fried delights you’ve been munching on are not only soaking in grease, they can lower the pH levels in your body and induce acidity, bringing on a variety of unsavory side effects like acid reflux, gastrointestinal disorders, and other chronic diseases.
HERE’S A TIP: Spray sliced sweet potato wedges and chips with nonstick cooking spray or bake in the oven until crisp; use fresh garlic and oregano, spicy chili powder or cinnamon to boost the flavor.
HERE’S ANOTHER TRICK: Use a dehydrator to make perfect potato, kale, and banana chips with very little oil and without the high heat, which destroys valuable enzymes.
For more tips, tricks, and non-fry recipes…CHECK OUT THE BOOK!
3. FOREGO THE SALAD SABOTEURS
A good quality salad is a great meal and a mainstay of a Fit Foodie because it’s a terrific way to load up on those nutrient dense greens and create the necessary macronutrient balance. BUT, if you are ordering the restaurant version, a lot of add-ons can put your dish into the same calorie, sodium and fat zone of a double cheeseburger with fries.
HERE’S A TIP: Forego the fatty dressings, fried wontons, cheese, and croutons and focus on the main stars of the dish: fresh veggies, lean protein, and high quality essential fats, like sunflower seeds and nuts.
HERE’S ANOTHER TRICK: Make your own simple salad dressings with good quality oils, like extra virgin olive oil or nut oil, a flavorful vinegar like balsamic, apple cider, rice wine or red/white wine and spices.
Growing up, we would mix in tahini, a paste made from crush sesame seeds, with olive oil, cumin, and a little sea salt for a Middle Easter inspired dressing – amazing on sliced tomatoes & cucumber!
What to keep in stock at home to make your salad sing:
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- Good Quality Oils: extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, walnut oil, sesame oil, coconut oil
- Flavorful Vinegars: balsamic, rice wine, white wine, red wine, apple cider, natural fruit flavored
- Low Sodium Condiments: dijon or whole grain mustard, wasabi, tamarin, horseradish, nonfat Greek yogurt, sesame tahini, vegan mayo and hummus
- Herbs & Citrus: cilantro, basil, parsley, lime, lemon, orange, grapefruit, black pepper, cayenne, dry mustard
- Lean Protein: chicken or turkey breast, ground turkey or chicken, grilled chicken or pork tenderloin, organic tofu or tempeh, beans, lentils, wild caught salmon, tuna, shrimp, scallops
- Nuts & Seeds: walnuts, almonds, cashews, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, black and white sesame seeds, flax, chia, hemp
These are some tips and tricks to healthier you!!! I hope you use them to your advantage and have success!!!
Remember this: sound nutrition is the key. You can look and feel better than you have in your entire life in 31 days by following my 31 Fit Foodie Filosophies.
How do I know this? Because they have transformed thousands of lives, including mine…
