Strawberry Banana Breakfast Bananza

• 3/4 cup non fat plain Greek style yogurt – I just posted about my new yogurt find last week! CLICK HERE to read about Liberte 0% Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch
• 2 ounces chopped Banana
• 2 ounces sliced strawberries

Serve and Enjoy!

*It’s like dessert for breakfast but healthy and full of calcium and protein! It’s got everything you need to start your day off right.

* Nutritional Information

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It’s not food – I can tell you that much!

I recently stumbled upon Women’s Heath’s:  Food Additive Glossary. It pretty scary but I think that everyone should have a close look at this article. It will definitely effect your decision at the grocery store on your next trip!

http://eatthis.womenshealthmag.com/blog/food-additive-glossary

Feel free to write in with thoughts!

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The article talks about four reasons we may act on our impulses and not always our best interests.

They are :

1. Hunger
2. Anger
3. Loneliness
4. Tiredness

I think if we could just for a second before we start to over-eat (and I know how hard it is to capture that second), ask ourselves these four questions:

Am I Hungry ? Am I Angry? Am I Lonely ? Am I Tired?

If we know the right answer we may just be able to feed our body what it really needs. And sometimes when our bodies are hungry – it’s not necessarily for food.

To read the article CLICK HERE .

* Fridays’ Steps – 6423

* Monday’s Steps – 8923

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“We went to Cheesecake Factory tonight for dinner and in NY (we are in Albany, half way) they now have to print all calorie info on all menus.  CRAZY!!!!!!!!!  Things were like 2000, some 2400 for one dish.  Most everything was over 1000 even the salads.  It was really eye opening.  I opted for one of the “Weight Management Salad” which had 400-something calories with the low fat dressing.  It had chicken, blue cheese crumbles, pecans and pears – endives, lettuce, greens.  It was delish!!!

I could not believe how many calories everything had.  It made me veeeeeerrrrrry conscious of what to pick which is a good thing. Joel has ordered the burrito grande many times - 1900 calories!!  OK, it’s big but he can mostly eat 80 percent of it.  All the cheesecakes had about 1000 calories for a slice.  The kids meal grilled cheese and fries had over 800 calories and the chicken fingers/fries had 1000 and this is a KIDS meal.  CRAZY!!!!!”

Let me know what you think about the newly implemented N.Y laws and if you think they would be beneficial where you live.

P.S- My cousin is still in shock over the menu.

P.P.S – Wednesday’s Steps – 10,025 (Phew! Went for a 20 minute walk at 7.30 to get them all in! )

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• I love it because it has 20 grams of protein in it! Most yogurts have 2 to 6 grams. This is sure to help keep you feeling full and satisfied whether you eat it as a snack or include it in a yummy breakfast.
• I also love it because low fat dairy is great for weight loss! Recent studies suggest that dairy products help eliminate fat from your body!
• Not to mention that protein takes more time and is harder for your body to digest then carbohydrates or fat! What does that mean?
• 1. You burn more calories working to digest protein then you do fat or carbohydrates.
• 2. Because it takes more time to digest, you stay full longer.
• And of course, this product has 150mg of calcium, that’s 15% of your recommended daily intake.

Liberte now makes a Greek Style Yogurt that is rich, thick and creamy and a pretty close (although not a prefect) match to my favorite Fage .

Here are the stats for 175ml (3/4 cup):

Check back in! I’m going to post one of my favorite Greek Yogurt breakfast recipes !

* Monday’s Steps – 10,197! Whoot!

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Now, I’ve got no time- at least it seems that way! So I pulled out the old pedometer to see how may steps I was getting and how hard it would be for me to reach a daily goal of 10,000.

Day One

I strapped on my pedometer as soon as I was dressed for work (even though I was walking around the house a bit more) those steps still count! ( I may just have to put it by my bedside table and strap it on as soon as the alarm goes off to help get in those steps! Seriously! )

I walk to the subway in the morning which is really a stone’s throw away from my house and then from the subway to work (again, really close).

During the day I tried to get up from my desk as much as I could to get water, go to the bathroom, talk to a co-worker (instead of calling down the hall).

I got home and was at 4352 steps. A far cry from my 10,000! Thankfully I had to go grocery shopping and thankfully it was DAY ONE of my challenge and I REALLY wanted to hit my target.

By the end of the grocery shop and walking here and there around the house I managed to squeeze out 11,234 steps! Sweet!  I don’t however think everyday will be this magical. But I can say this, just a 30 minute walk with my husband (bonding time!!!) would have for sure done the trick.

I’ll try to keep you posted with my numbers. It would help if there was anyone else out there that wanted to take on this challenge with me! Get yourself a pedometer and start sending me those numbers! It can be a fun game if you’ve got someone to compete with.

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I posted about these fantastic fiber finds months and months ago – but they were only available in the States at that time. We’ll I’ve got great news, Gnu Bars are now available in Canada!! I recently found them at Noah’s Health Food Store!

CLICK HERE to find out what my favorite flavors are and to read about all the healthy reasons I love this product!

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But let’s think about this for a second or two. Are you going to have a better time if you eat badly or opt not to?

Scenario One - You go out with a “friend’. You both dig into the bread together, order an appetizer, mains, dessert and share a bottle of wine.

GREAT NIGHT! So fun! You chatted away about all sorts of stuff and felt like you really connected. You do however leave feeling stuffed and a little mad at yourself for going overboard. Whatever. You go to bed. You wake up kinda feeling stuffed still and now you are officially mad at yourself for eating too much. Whether it effects you for the whole day, half the day or an hour. You still spend at least some time beating yourself up. And if your trying to lose weight or your trying to maintain – your really pissed at yourself becuase all the work you did during the week to stay healthy (and it was not fun and games) was just blown to smithereens on this one FUN night.

Scenario Two – You go out with a “friend’. She digs into the bread, you opt not to. Is is hard, Yup. But you do it.

She may try to pull you into her “I feel guilt for eating this bread without you…have a piece” trap.  Do you fall for it? Not a chance.

She wants to split a bottle – you just want one glass. You order a clear broth soup or salad as an appetizer she orders fried calamari. You order fish with vegetables for dinner she orders pasta in a cream sauce. She BEGS you to share dessert with her  (another I-feel-guilty-doing-this-alone trap) you tell her how stuffed you are (even if it’s a lie) and order a decaf coffee or tea.

GREAT NIGHT! So fun! You guys chatted away about all sorts of stuff and felt like you really connected. You leave feeling great! So proud of yourself for keeping it healthy, staying on track and having had such a fun night with your friend.  You go to bed. You wake up feeling refreshed. You put whatever you want on from your closet because you don’t feel bloated or stuff from last night. You keep on trucking with whatever your goals may be!

What are you missing out on by not pigging out?

• Being mad at yourself
• Being disappointing in yourself
• Not liking the number you see on the scale
• Not fitting into your pants.

Now which one sounds more fun to you?

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Chopped Chicken Curry Salad with Fruit Chutney

• 3 ounces chopped white meat chicken ( I used Rotisserie)
• 2 Tbsp Plain Non Fat Greek Yogurt ( If you can’t find Greek – just look for non fat plain)
• 1/2 tsp Curry Powder
• Dash of Cinnamon
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 15 Raisins
• 3 tsp Fruit Chutney (You can use apricot or peach Jam – I found a all natural Peach Chutney that had turmeric in it)
• 3 Corn Thins

1. Combine chopped chicken, yogurt, spices and raisins.
2. Spread 1 tsp of Chutney on each Corn Thin.
3. Divide Chicken Salad into three and place onto of chutney.
4. Enjoy!

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How do I manage to get myself to a gym on those really hard days? It’s pretty simple – I pretty much force myself! The benefits outweigh anything I can come up with so it’s kinda a no brain-er. But a no brain-er that needs some serious convincing by my inner voice!

Here are a few thoughts I tell myself during my time of need:

• I don’t think about the during, I imagine the finish.
• I remind myself how good I will feel after I’m done.
• I remind myself how quick it will be (even though it may not feel that way during). *If it’s really ‘one of those days’ I only commit to 20 minutes. If I get a burst and I workout longer- Bonus for me.
• I compare how I will feel at the end of what I could be doing to how I will feel at the end of a workout. Workout (MOST OF THE TIME) wins.

The bottom line is this: EVERYONE has a hard time motivating themselves. EVEN ME! So next time you’re contemplating going to the gym versus sitting in front of your t.v don’t think of the work it takes to ‘run the race” think of how great you’ll feel at the finish line!

My advice – give yourself a pep talk. We all need a good one every now and again or we would never get anything that’s not so fun done!

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