Superbowl Swaps

The Superbowl is SUNDAY! While I am very sad the Saints will not be playing, I still love Superbowl Sunday. For many of us it is a great time with our friends and family. And usually it is an ALL day event. Along with the Superbowl comes tons of snacks. Buffalo wings, nachos, dips, cookies, cupcakes, ect. Believe it or not Superbowl Sunday is the 2nd day of the year where the most food is consumed.

Make these easy, yummy swaps for a healthier party! No one will ever notice.

1. When making nachos, chili or any other snack that involves ground beef, switch the beef out for ground turkey. Turkey is 99% lean meat meaning it contains little fat. Cook ground turkey just as you would ground beef (I would recommend adding a little more seasoning then usual.

2. Chips and dip are so addictive! You just keep eating and eating. Before you know it you have cosumed over 700 calories and you aren't even full! Switch your normal tortilla chips for baked chips or a whole grain chip. Try Corazonas Tortilla Chips that have 0.5 grams of plant sterols, which are proven to help lower cholesterol (they come in Lightly Salted, Black Bean & Cheese, and Squeeze of Lime), or skip the corn chips entirely and try a bean-based chip like Beanitos that also comes in fun flavors and is high in fiber. If serving chips just as Doritos and Potoatoe chips switch to all natural brands like PopChips and Tias Chips once you eat this you will never place another "ito" chip in your mouth (Fr"ito" Dor"ito" Tos"ito") Try some of these healthy dip options at Eatingwell.com

3. Cut calories by making your own Chicken Wings. Try this recipe Buffalo Chicken Wings. This recipe contains: For Four wings: 150 calories; 4g fat; 0g carbohydrates; 22g protein; 0g fiber. ONE just ONE wing from Buffalo Wild Wings contains 88 calories; 6g Fat; 3 carbs; and 5g protein. Multiply that times four and you get 352 Calories; 24 g fat; 12 carbs; 20g protein.

4. Swich out the peanuts. While peanuts are good in moderation, we tend to eat more during football games. Peanuts are high in fat and usually REALLY salty. Try this recipe for Spicy Chickpea "Nuts" These are crunchy and so flavorful! People will go crazy!

5. Desserts are so yummy! But they are packed with everything that you DO NOT NEED! Sugar, carbs, fat...EVERYTHING. Here are some healthier dessert options that will still keep your sweet tooth satisfied! 

1. Rocky Road Brownies

2.Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

3.Apple Sqaures

Check out more recipes at Eatingwell.com

6. Try to eat before the game or at half time. If you eat while watching the game you are more likely to consume twice the amount of food. When you eat in front of the T.V your brain has a harder time telling your stomach you are full.

7. Keep all the snacks in the kitchen! The more snacks you have around the table the more likely you are to just eat because it is in front of you.

ENJOY THE GAME!

First Steps to becoming healthy!

Whether you are already living a healthy lifestyle or just starting I feel like I need to start with the basics.

Of course the more you become active and eat healthy the easier it becomes as time goes on.

Here are some of the things that I feel are essential to become healthy. (I will not say lose weight because as I stated before weight does not depict how healthy you are).

A LITTLE H2O!

Water! If you don't drink it you better start! Get used to it learn to love it! It will be your bestfriend! RAW water! Sounds funny huh? Some of you are probably say I hate water it is flavorless so I am going to add this all natural Crystal Light packet. It is only 5 calories, what harm can it do. WAY TO MUCH! Sugar free drinks contain an additive called aspartame (a whole other blog post). Water in it's natural form, reduces bloating, takes the edge off of hunger, and it great for your skin!  Try to drink as much as you can a day. The recommended amount of water is 8 glasses a day but even I find that hard to do. 

STAY AWAY FROM DIET AND ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS!

CATCH SOME ZZZZZ'S

Get at least 8 hours of sleep a night! Please please please! Not only does it make you more energetic, but research has found that if you do not get enough sleep, you are more likely to eat twice as much food the following day. EEEEK that's enough to make me sleep a full 8 hours.

GET OFF YOUR TUSH!

30 minutes that is all that stands between you and your weight loss goal! Walk the dog, jog, take a fitness class! Something to get you moving! Even taking the stairs at work instead of the elevator makes a big difference. Turn off that T.V., grab the kids, and go for a walk! My daily workout consists usually of a morning exercise (about 10 minutes) followed by an evening exercise (20 min) with a higher intensity level! 

PORTION CONTROL
As much as I hate to admit this...most of the time, it's not what you eat it is how much you eat. One oreo or 7 oreos? While I am sure most of you would take the 7, as would I ;) one oreo will not do as much damage as 7. My addiction is ice cream! Chocolate, Vanilla, in a cone, in a cup, soft, frozen any kind but I use to just scoop and scoop into my bowl until my arm was so sore (I used to say my right arm was gonna get bigger than my left from me building "scooping" muscles). Now I stick to 1/2 a cup of frozen yogurt. The bottom line is you are gonna cheat. You are going to want to eat bad every now and then escpecially in the begining, but if you totally ignore the urge for an oreo, you are more likely to binge later on. I actually have gotten to a point where I have eaten so healthy that if something out of the ordinary goes into my body, I will literally make me ill. Once your body is accustomed to healthy food you will not crave the bad food.
EAT ON SMALLER PLATES GET A SMALLER WAIST!





"Happiness lies first of all in health"
George William Curtis