My interview :)

Losing it on their own: Rachael Kosobucki - www.phillyburbs.com: Biggest Loser Blog: Rachael Kosobucki doesn't need a scale to measure her weight-loss success. Her 7-year-old son is a much better gauge.

Mayo!!

Mayo!!

Mayonnaise is one of the more commonly used condiments.  It's rich, creamy, fatty, and delicious.  With this wonderful condiment we get a plethora of uses , from potato salads to tuna salad, to wonderfully yummy BLT's.  Unfortunatly it isn't on our list of healthy foods to eat.  High in calories and fat it is a condiment staple that is usually pushed to the side and left to yurn for.  Well not anymore!!


I have found these wonderful mayo's and if you haven't discovered them for yourself yet you need to.  They actually are something I have been keeping in the house regularly for over a year now and not until recently have I discovered that they are wonderfully low in calories.  The two that I frequent (pictured) are 40 calories for 1 tablespoon.  Well I have learned that I typically don't need a full tablespoon on my sandwiches (usually 1 tsp).  Anyways, the flavors are great and they have so many uses!  I use mine on sandwiches of course, last night I used the chipotle to make a chicken, jicama, and onion salad that I wrapped up with lettuce and tomato; YUM! (sorry no pic)  There are many others like I used the chipotle on fish tacos; just a little bit.  The possibilities are many.


Kraft offers quite a few flavors, they are as follows:

• horseradish dijon
• chipotle
• hot & spicy
• garlic &  herb
• steakhouse
• twist of lime

I recently purchased the twist of lime thinking yummy on fish tacos or taco salad!

All things are good in moderation, so why not put a kick of low-cal flavor on your food??

Here is the website for the mayo's, but beware...evil things lurk here...keep your taste buds in check please :)

Kraft Mayo

Salads...

Salads

During the summertime we tend to steer towards light, crisp, and fresh meals to help us deal with the heat. Salads are such a great vessel for all things summer and healthy.

The salad in the picture above has a mix of greens underneath including turnip greens, arugula, spring greens, and more.  It has piled on top of it carrots, turkey, tomatoes, broccoli, blue cheese, cucumbers, bacon, and green onions.  I topped it off with a new salad dressing i discovered by the refrigerated dressings.  It's a blue cheese yogurt salad dressing made with Kefir yogurt. Mmmmmm.....It was a delicious salad.

Salads can hold so many wonderful things, from various cheeses to dried fruits, to fresh fruits and meats.  They are a great way to get in fruits and vegetables as well as you're greens.  But I give a word of caution, salads are not always a healthy choice, especially while eating out.  Through this adventure I have been to countless restaurants and discovered a lot of the salads I come across have more calories in them than said restaurants burgers.  I get so flabbergasted when I see a salad is over 1500 calories.  

So if you are out and about and fixin to order a salad pay attention to the ingredients and especially the type of dressing your going to order, look up the nutritional information if you can.  

At home it is important to plan your salad ahead of time and grab those measuring cups because it is so easy to overload on the calories.

Some of my favorite combinations are:

Strawberries with chicken walnuts and blue cheese with balsamic

Fresh pears with blue cheese and balsamic

Chef salads with egg ham/turkey and lots of veggies

Tuna with tomato and olives with Onions

The options are endless!!  

Yoga...

Yesterday I took my very first yoga class.  Not gonna lie, I hated it!  It was hard and kinda dorky.  That being said I will give it another chance when I can. (Usually doesn't fit into my schedule)
I can see it's benefits completely, flexibility, stretching, and stress relief.  I just don't know if its for me.
When you try a class I encourage you to give it more than one chance; kind of like trying a new wine or beer for the first time.  You take a drink and you feel unsure about it, but then you take another sip and its better, you can recognize and taste the subtle flavors in it.
I believe its the same way with a new exercise or class, or even food for that matter!  If you try a class and you don't like it or your not sure please give it a second or third chance before you cancel it out completely (assuming its not over your ability level), you may find that after a couple of times you have an easier time doing it allowing you to enjoy it more.

Don't be a "shoveler"...

Everyone eats in their own way.  You could look through a restaurant at any given time and not see two people eating their food in the same way, it's one of those, " depends on how you were raised" kinda things.

So that being said, I would like to put down a couple tips or tricks that I have come up with on my own, whether they work or not, who knows!?

So I am a "shoveler", meaning I use my eating utensil as a shovel and pile it in like Garfield and his lasagna.  While trying to figure out how to make the food on my plate last longer I discovered that if i eat like a "European"  I tend to eat slower.  You know they hold their fork in their left hands and its upside down.  I know not everything can be eaten like this but if I do it when i can it works well, so give it a try.

Also we are technically supposed to chew each bite of food 20-30 times, I don't know about you but I know that I don't do this on a regular basis.  It makes sense to do this for a few reasons.  It will allow you to have that flavor and mouth feel in your mouth longer helping you to feel satisfied, it will force you to eat slower because you are taking the time to chew rather than shovel, and it also gives your brain a sufficient amount of time to recognize that its full. Oh and I should mention that it promotes healthier digestion too.

For so long food was only a necessity but now we see it as an experience, so make it just that.  Savor your food, relish in its many tastes and textures.  

I never knew...

So yesterday I talked to my wellness coach at the Y concerning the way I feel about the amount of weight I have been loosing.  I have to be honest that I  have been loosing 1-2 pounds a week and I am not terribly happy about it.  She then preceded to tell me something that I feel totally embarrassed about not knowing...I had no clue that it takes a 3500 calorie deficit to loose 1 pound!!  I had no idea!!  I always knew that it was easier to put on than it was to take it off, now i know why.  Burning 3500 calories takes a lot of effort and a lot of will power.  So it also makes me wonder what these biggest looser contestants are really doing behind the scenes.  I bet they never stop moving.  To loose such big numbers one would have to be running in their sleep! lol

Anyways, so if you step on that scale and get disappointed about that number, don't be.  you have worked hard to loose that pound and it is a huge accomplishment.  

MUSHROOMS!!

WE LOVE MUSHROOMS!!!

Sauteed thyme mushrooms over wilted spinach and arugula on a bed of polenta.

This vegetarian dish came in at 316 calories without the bread.  It was finished off with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and crunchy garlic.  It was something that I came up with myself.

(Funny since Ive quit smoking i am realizing i am spending more time paying attention to the food I'm cooking instead of trying to rush to the next step so i can get outside.)

Anyways mushrooms have recently picked up on the health benefit hype.  Not only are they full of antioxidants they have vitamin D as well.  The mushrooms I used in this dish were regular white button mushrooms.  You can use any mushroom you would like.  I could have used enoki, portabella, oyster, or shitake in this but they didn't appear to be as fresh as the buttons.  

When you buy mushrooms you need to make sure they are bright in their color, no slime or browning.  White buttons can be easily picked out fresh by looking at the connection of the top and the stem.  If the top is still wrapped tightly around the stem and the rest of the mushroom is still a bright white color you have yourself a good package of mushrooms.

This dish was delicious and if you would like the recipe let me know and I will post it!

Workout undergarments...

So I was recently asked what kind of panties I think wouldn't ride up during a workout. I wear two different styles; one being a high cut brief and the other a boy short. I recently wore the boy shorts to a Zumba class and I probably will never do it again. They rode so high....yeah I'm not even going to go there, lol. So this is what I ask, please leave you're comments on what you think works best or what you've heard works best so maybe we can discover the ultimate workout undergarments. Oh, and feel free to leave advice on bras as well!

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming....

I am a water person.  I have always loved being in the water.  My parents tell stories of having to jump in after me cause id run right into the pool.  Although i loved water i never saw it as a vehicle for exercise until recently.  One day I decided to just go into the pool and mess around and relax, I liked it so much i strive to be in the water everyday.  I do laps even though I'm not the best at it, I tread water, and yesterday I took my first water fitness class (water aerobics).
When I first got my membership to the YMCA I would look into the window to the pool and see these classes going on.  They never really sparked any interest due to the fact that almost everyone of the participants had to be over 65.  I just didn't look challenging enough for me.  Then one day I get into the pool and the instructor snags me and tells me she thinks i look fit enough to do her class and I she sees me in the water a lot anyways.  I ultimately promised that I would take her Tuesday class and try it out.  everything I previously thought about these classes are now erased.  I loved it!  It was a great workout and definitely a challenge.  So here is my advice , if you have a water aerobics class available to you, take it.  It will be totally worth your time.
For those of you that have limited mobility such as MS, knee problems, arthritis, etc. I suggest that if you are serious about getting exercise but feel limited to what you can do go find a pool to go to.  Swimming is such a low impact sport and the calorie burn can be phenomenal.
I read an article in a special Health and Fitness issue of All You Magazine but was unable to pull it up on their website to share with you (disappointed).  But I'm going to give you a few hints that I read in the article.

According to this article:

• Swimming at a constant moderate pace can burn more than 400 calories and hour.
• Eat a light carby snack 60-90 minutes before hitting the pool.
• Even though you may not feel the need you still need to drink plenty of water.
• After your swim hydrate with a body oil after your shower, chlorine and chemicals dry out your skin.  Apply your regular lotion afterwards.
• When doing a "freestyle kick" or "flutter kick" with or without the kick board you want to splash as little as possible.
• Make sure you do a cool down after swimming just like you would do for land sports.

Here are a few links to read up on:

How to swim for fitness

How to swim to stay fit

5 Basic Swimming styles


I hope that you can find some calorie burning fun with swimming this summer!  Enjoy!