Healthy Swaps: Your Thanksgiving Survival Guide

Thanksgiving! The beginning of the official holiday season and a time to reflect back on all that we’re thankful for. Another year in the books. Trials and triumphs, failures and successes, family, friends. But it’s also traditionally about the food. Loads of food! All different kinds of food! And we want to sample it all…and lots of it, because after all, it IS a special occasion. This season can be an easy time to completely derail from your nutrition plan and your exercise plan, but it doesn’t have to be. This is why now is the time to begin your game plan.

When your day begins and you hit the ground running and baking, etc., let’s talk about some healthy ways to kick the day off. You may do your big meal at lunch or you may do it at dinner. The key to success in any health and fitness journey is to plan ahead. It’s no different on this day, which is why this post isn’t showing up the night before Thanksgiving! If you know you will indulge some on Thanksgiving (I know I will!), then you’ve got to have an action plan in place.

My day will start no differently on Thanksgiving than it will any other day. I will have the same breakfast smoothie that I have every other day. (I am very much a creature of habit first thing in the morning.) It’s a really healthy way for me to start my day, and it makes me feel good that I’ve done something good for my body.

What are some other ways you can stay on track this day? You’ve probably heard this said before too, but drink lots of water. We sometimes mistake thirst for hunger. We will feel less hungry and eat less if we have a glass of water just before we eat as well. Give it a try. And, while the grazing begins before your meal with the array of appetizers like cheese balls and crackers, cream cheese dips with hearty breads, perhaps your contribution could be a veggie tray or a fruit platter. These are always a hit, and it’s a great way to start filling your belly with some whole food goodness. These are all things we’ve heard before but worth repeating. Reminders help us to stay focused on those long-term goals.

We can still enjoy Thanksgiving and it’s bounties without a total backslide. Wouldn’t it be helpful to have some sort of Thanksgiving Survival Guide? Nothing complicated, just some alternatives to some popular foods on our table to something a bit healthier. We don’t want to feel completely deprived during this holiday, but at the same time, we don’t want to wake up full of regret and self-loathing either. Let’s talk about ways to treat ourselves by some easy Thanksgiving Day swaps! Below are five traditional Thanksgiving dishes that we can consider swapping for a healthier option this year!

1) Green bean casserole

freddie-collins-424635-unsplash — Photo by Freddie Collins on Unsplash

Mmmmm, green bean casserole. This seems to be a holiday staple in many households. I don’t hate it, but I do prefer just old-fashioned green beans, so I don’t find this to be a huge weakness, but if this is your kryptonite, consider switching to just the green beans and passing on the casserole loaded with cream of mushroom soup and topped with those crispy French onions. A serving of green bean casserole is around 90 calories, where as steamed green beans (minus any butters and oils) would be closer to 30. On a day like Thanksgiving when you are eating more than usual AND when you are perhaps planning to treat yourself to a little dessert, skip the green bean casserole and go basic with a side of green beans.

2) Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes, although they get a bad rap sometimes, are actually good for us. It’s the extra butters and sour creams, etc. that cause the calories to really rack up. There are a lot of variations, so calorie count can really be all over the board, but a cup of traditional mashed potatoes (milk and butter added) will easily set you over 200 calories and even upwards of 250 calories if you start adding butter and cheeses. A great swap here would be a baked potato or diced, seasoned and roasted potatoes, which are AMAZING. The flavors that you add to the roasted potatoes can be whatever you choose…garlic, onion, pepper and other flavors that can make these your new favorite dish!

3) Turkey – White or dark meat?

chicken close up dish food — Photo by Public Domain Pictures on Pexels.com

This is always the hot question during Thanksgiving. Which is the healthier choice? Really the nutritional differences aren’t huge, but nonetheless, there are some. Calorically speaking, white meat is the winner ounce for ounce and it has zero grams of saturated fat (pre-gravy!). As far as protein goes, they are pretty comparable but for all you dark meat lovers out there, the dark meat in turkey wins in iron content, so there’s that. Again, portion control is going to be big here, because there’s a substantial difference between a 3 ounce portion and 9 ounces pushing your calorie intake just in turkey alone to over 300! Oh, and skip the skin on your bird. It’ll save you as well whether you go white or dark meat.

4) Sweet Potato casserole

Oh, my goodness, the sweetness of sweet potatoes covered in brown sugar and oh so many marshmallows. This really is more like a dessert than a side, right?! Consider swapping the side of sweet potato casserole for a baked sweet potato. If you do this right and bake it long in the oven, it is sweet all on it’s own and will melt in your mouth. Plus, a plain baked sweet potato is around 100 calories where the sweet potato casserole (depending on the recipe you use) can double or even TRIPLE that for a half cup serving! The baked sweet potato is, hands down, one of my favorite sides any day of the week. You can even sprinkle a little cinnamon on it even and some toasted pecans for a little added flare.

5) Pecan pie

MY kryptonite during the holiday season. I love pecan pie. I was surprised to learn that for a pie titled “pecan”, there are surprisingly few pecans! Luckily, I also love a good pumpkin pie, and this is a good swap for your sweet tooth instead of the pecan pie and will save you (again, largely depending on the recipe used), upwards of 100 calories!

What are some foods that are always on your Thanksgiving table? Are there some that you can’t resist? With a little thought and a plan in place, you can have an amazing holiday without completely wrecking those goals you’re working so hard toward. Thanksgiving comes but once a year, so enjoy it, and make plans to stay on course finishing your 2018 strong!

Here’s to YOUR health!

Crunchy Harvest Kale Salad

Are you bored with what seem like the same meals week after week? Maybe it’s because we tend to fix what we know and just don’t have the time or the energy to learn a bunch of new stuff. Maybe it’s because we know a few easy recipes and those tend to be our go-tos. Or maybe it’s just that we eat what we grew up eating. Whatever the reason may be, if you feel like it’s time for a change….a healthier change, then let’s chat for a moment about what that may look like for you. If you are like most people out there, you could certainly increase your intake of real whole foods and less of the processed junk. I can always see ways to make improvements in my own nutrition as well. Change isn’t always easy especially if it’s a way of life we have always known. But just because it may be a challenge doesn’t mean that it can’t be well within your reach. And you will likely find that once you adopt a new healthy lifestyle, you’ll love the changes you have made to your diet!

What are real whole foods? We’re talking about stuff that isn’t coming out of a box. These are foods that don’t have a long list of unpronounceable ingredients. This is the stuff we want to gravitate towards, right? But you already knew that, didn’t you? We all know this but putting it into an action plan that we will actually do on a daily and weekly basis (long-term) is another story. This is why I try to share a recipe here and there that I like and that is super easy to prepare.

This salad is loaded with plenty of greens and also some other toppings that may seem untraditional but will have you looking at salads in a completely different light. It ditches the croutons, cheeses, and thick dressings and instead is a fresh look at a fall salad that is so light and delicious but completely satisfying at the same time.

Here is the ingredient list you’ll need to make my Crunchy Harvest Kale Salad…

1) Kale
2) Romaine Lettuce (or green leaf lettuce)
3) Red onion
4) Fresh mandarin oranges (2)
5) Pomegranate
6) Pecans (toasted)
7) 1 t. Toasted sesame oil
8) 1 t. Dijon mustard
9) 1/2 t. Honey
10) Cayenne pepper (don’t knock it until you try it!)

We don’t need to get too specific on the amounts, because we all have different tastes, but here are the basics… I used about half of one romaine heart and approx two cups chopped kale for one serving. I like more kale than romaine, and I like to chop it really fine. I’ll eat more when my salad is chopped rather than left in larger chunks. This may just be personal preference, so feel free to prepare it however you’ll eat it best!

The red onion just adds a little something to this so I love the extra kick but it doesn’t take much so just sprinkle a little on top and go by your own taste as far as how much you want to include.

Peel the mandarin oranges. Divide one to use the slices in the salad and the other one you’ll squeeze the juice out to use in your dressing.

Pomegranates are easy to find right now, but they do take a little time to prep, so this is probably something you’ll want to have ready in advance. Sprinkle however much you like on top. I used about 1/4 c. The part you want are the arils which are the seeds with a little juice sac around them. They are the definition of nature’s candy! AND they are a superfood packed with fiber, protein, potassium, folate and vitamins C and K. Delicious on their own, they are a really sweet addition to this salad (literally!) and are part of the “crunchy” you’re going to love.

Speaking of love, I absolutely love pecans in this salad. I used about 1/4 c. in my salad, so about the same amount of pecans as pomegranate. If pecans aren’t your thing then you can replace with walnuts or slivered almonds if you desire. The pecans, especially when teamed up with the oranges and the pomegranate, remind me of fall. If you have a toaster oven, set it at 350 degrees and toast for just a few minutes. They will burn easily, but you’ll know they are done because you will start to smell that awesome toasty aroma. Just watch them closely.

For the dressing, combine one teaspoon toasted sesame oil with a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and a half teaspoon of honey (the pomegranate and the orange adds a lot of natural sweetness already to this salad, so you don’t need much honey and could even choose to omit if you desire) and the juice from a mandarin orange. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper to complete and your salad world will never be the same.

This salad is comfort food at it’s healthiest. I feel like I’m eating a treat more than health food! It’s the perfect solution to your salad boredom, so I hope you love as much as I do. As I always say, make it your own and if you find ingredients you’ve added that are amazing, feel free to share in the comments so others can try!

Here’s to YOUR health!

Your Grocery List: Making or Breaking Your Goals?

sliced avocado on brown wooden board — Photo by Anete Lusina on Pexels.com

You have probably heard it said that your health is 20 percent in the gym and 80 percent in the kitchen. As a trainer, I would love to tell you that it’s not true and that you can run off your health woes or lift off your sickness…. but I can’t. Obviously, for me to dedicate my life to being a personal trainer, my true passion is in training. At the same time though, I sincerely want my clients (and anyone else who’s life I touch through this blog) to live full, healthy lives! It just can’t be done without a healthy diet.

We really are what we eat. If we consistently put garbage into our bodies, we will see and feel the effects of that. On the other hand, if we feed our bodies with the nutrients it craves, we will feel those affects as well, and it’s awesome.

I certainly have my share of weaknesses when it comes to junk food, but I have to make sure they don’t become habitual. I love sweets especially homemade, and I love to bake, but if I’m consuming chocolate chip cookies more often than the healthy stuff my body needs, then I will feel the ill effects and reap the consequences of my choices.

The great thing is that there are tons of healthy options out there for whatever you are craving! And there are more ways than ever to have healthy recipes only a click away. Check out some healthy meal and snack recipes and even some healthier dessert options on my Pinterest boards. It’s surprising how great food can taste with some real food for ingredients instead of the processed junk we have grown accustomed to. You may find some snack recipes that use pitted dates instead of heaps of sugar, and you may also find that you like it and didn’t realize healthy eating could be so good (and guiltless!).

Let’s chat for a moment about the food you keep at home, because if we have junk in the house, then we will put junk in our mouths. Maybe a quick look at our typical grocery list will help identify easy ways to make some changes. I know that if I buy potato chips, I will definitely eat them. I know that if I have a shopping list and I make the choice to steer clear of the junk and keep healthy items in my house, those are the things that I will eat. For me, I am no different than most people when it comes to preparing healthy meals. I need recipes that don’t require an enormous list of ingredients. I need recipes that taste good and that I won’t get bored with. I need recipes that my family will love. I need recipes that are EASY and QUICK to prepare. Believe it or not, this doesn’t have to be complicated! You just need to explore the things that you like and try to find recipes that are good to your body in addition to your taste buds. Snoop around online, and try a few things that are easy to prep. It’s likely that you’ll realize this wasn’t as hard as you thought it’d be and it’s delicious too! AND, if you’re like me, I need to choose recipes that won’t break the bank either. It CAN be done!

Old habits die hard. You may be set in your ways. You may be used to eating all your meals out of a box or from the drive thru. But you may have also noticed that your health isn’t what it used to be. You may have noticed that you just don’t feel as good as you used to. And don’t just attribute that feeling to aging. We can all live full and healthy lives without feeling like garbage by the time we hit forty. If you are taking mounds of prescription drugs and just have considered this the new norm and that it’s just part of getting older, think again! Although there is a place for prescription drugs for certain conditions, in general, our bodies are beautifully designed to feel great and to function optimally when we fuel them optimally. Think about this…what are your grocery store staples? If you make a weekly trip to the grocery store, what is always in your cart? What are your must-haves? Part of making a change is to identify what needs changing. If your eating habits are really struggling and you know you need some professional help, perhaps a nutritional expert can help steer you in the right direction if you feel that you need a little push in the beginning. If you’re committed to trying this on your own for now and you really, sincerely want to make some changes, let’s start by changing the way we shop. We have so many options now…more than generations before us ever had! Sounds awesome, doesn’t it? Maybe too many options though? Too much convenience has created a culture of dependence on these things, and maybe it’s all we’ve ever known. Ever hear anyone say to shop the perimeter at the grocery store? There is truth to this! All the fresh stuff is there! All the stuff in boxes tends to lurk about in the middle.

I thought it may help to share with you my grocery list staples. These are items I keep at my house at all times, and I never want to run out of them. Some are weekly, like the stuff that needs to be purchased fresh, and some stuff is occasionally, like seeds I keep on hand for my smoothies. I have never claimed to be perfect, but the key here is to make the junk more of a rare treat than a daily one.

Here are items I NEVER want to run out of at my house:

1) Baby Spinach – This goes in my morning smoothie every day. It’s an easy way for me to get in some greens first thing and I don’t even notice it (other than a slight change in the color of my shake!)

2) Broccoli – Steamed, baked, however you like it, it’s packed with nutrients. Did you know it’s a great source of protein, iron, and calcium?! One of my favorite veggies, I always keep on hand.

3) Walnuts – A great source of omega-3s, I throw these in my smoothie every morning as well.

4) Unsweetened Almond Milk – I keep this in my fridge to use for smoothies and usually have some organic soy milk as well. See the recipe for my 6 Ingredient Pumpkin Smoothie here!

5) Assorted Frozen Vegetables – I use frozen veggies in soups and stews but also like to keep on hand in case I need before my next trip to the store to buy fresh. Some veggies are actually better to buy frozen if they are out of season.

6) Frozen Blueberries – I love fresh blueberries, but I don’t have them on hand most of the time in my fridge, because they are only really tasty when they are in season. They are packed with nutrients that have been shown to have powerful anti-cancer effects.

7) Bananas – I never let a banana go to waste in my house. When they start to turn, I peel them and break them into two or three chunks to put in a freezer bag and save for smoothies.

8) Sweet Potatoes – I love baked sweet potatoes, and when you bake them, they are so sweet, you don’t need to add butter or sugars to them. They are their own dessert!

9) Flax Seeds and Chia Seeds – Just to clarify, these aren’t one and the same, but I’m putting them both here because I like to use them for add-ins in smoothies and other recipes, so I always have on hand. In case you have a hard time finding in your local store, I’m including links here. Premium Gold Organic Whole Flax Seed and BetterBody Foods Organic Chia Seeds can both be found on Amazon, but there are plenty of options out there, so shop around and take your pick!

10) Black Beans and other bean varieties – I use for a side dish or for use in soups.

11) Diced Tomatoes – When they’re not in season and I can’t pick straight from my own garden, I still keep some frozen that I’ve put away or buy canned to use throughout the winter.

12) Lettuce – Green lettuce is really low in calories but contains an abundance of phytonutrients.

13) Eggs – I don’t eat eggs daily, but I do like hard boiled eggs with my lunch on occasion or mashed hard-boiled egg mixed with hummus and served with a whole grain tortilla is a good lunch or snack option.

14) Grass-fed Beef – I grew up eating beef, and I buy this locally. I love using especially in my chili in the fall and winter.

15) Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts – It’s so easy to cook and shred to store for meals throughout the week, or to bake and serve with fresh veggies. Plenty of options, so I keep a stash in the deep freeze as well.

This certainly isn’t an exhaustive list. I just wanted to list a few items to keep it brief. There are other fruits and veggies that are fresher during various seasons so I buy as they are available. And there are some things I NEED to keep in my house more often that I don’t always.

If you have healthy must-haves that you’d like to share, please comment!

The main point in this is that we eat what we have on hand, so if we keep bags of chips and junk in our homes, we are very likely to eat them. If we keep sliced veggies and whole raw fruits on hand, they will be easy to grab and snack on as well. Write your grocery list in advance and make sure it is full of only healthy options, and then stick to it! You can do this!

Here’s to YOUR health!

6 Ingredient Chicken Tacos! (aka: Your New Favorite Lunch!)

We all have busy lives. We often complain that we don’t have time to eat healthy, that it’s easier to grab a sandwich and chips. In reality, it may be that we just don’t plan ahead sometimes. It happens to all of us! For me it helps to have some super easy favorites ready on stand-by for my weekday lunches. Even better if I can prep ahead on the weekend and just assemble at lunch time. It never fails… if I don’t plan ahead, I will grab whatever is quick and convenient which may not be the healthiest choice I could have made had I only taken a little extra time before my week started to prep.

Who doesn’t love tacos? Hands down, one of my favorite meals. And this may very well be your new favorite go-to lunch! Best part? It’s really, really easy and doesn’t require a list of twenty ingredients.

There are six main ingredients to this shopping list with three extra optional items if you choose.

1) 3 or 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2) Soft corn tortilla shells

3) Fresh romaine lettuce

4) Sliced or chopped avocado

5) Tomato (diced)

6) Red onion (diced)

7) Monterey Jack cheese (shredded) (Optional)

8) Plain Greek yogurt (Optional)

9) Seasoning of your choice (Optional)

That’s IT!!! And there isn’t a lot of work required to prep this meal at all, and let’s be honest, that’s what you’re looking for out of this, right?! Here is the prep you need to do on Sunday if your workweek begins on Monday…

Place all your chicken into a small crock pot. Season if you desire with things such as onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, etc. I always just season to taste and tweak from there.

Cook until meat is fully cooked and you can shred down with two forks. (Check cooking times for your crock pot) You can also use a pressure cooker to get this done in WAY less time. And just like that, chicken is ready for the week! You can, at this time, put in individual containers so it’s ready to grab-n-go with you in your lunch.

While your chicken is cooking, rinse and chop your lettuce, avocado, tomato, and red onion. You can put them in separate containers as well. If you would rather, you can hold off on cutting up your avocado since it will likely start turning a little brown. Sometimes I store my tomato and onion together just so I have fewer containers.

Cheese is optional, because this is tasty without it but good with it, so I’ll leave it up to you. Plain Greek yogurt, if you’ve never tried, is an amazing substitute for sour cream and is great on anything you would use sour cream for. Give it a whirl if you love this topping with your tacos!

And that is it! Warm your shells however you like, assemble, and enjoy! It’s a lunch that I never get bored with, and feel free to make it your own. Sometimes I even slice up my onion and combine with sliced green pepper and cook it with the chicken for more of a fajita feel. Use green or red leaf lettuce instead of the romaine lettuce. Depending on the season, you can even add some fresh veggies from your garden, like orange bell pepper or a mild banana pepper, or maybe some fresh jalapeño. Throw in some fresh herbs such as cilantro. There are plenty of ways to vary this up and still keep it healthy.

Remember, I’ll say it over and over, preparation is key when you’re trying to stay on track nutritionally. So, make plans for the week ahead, and have your groceries purchased for the week in advance. You’d be surprised how much time this may actually end up SAVING you once you get started. If there are certain food items that you use consistently, buy several packages and freeze. I tend to do this with frozen veggies, some fruits, and also meat such as chicken breasts. There are plenty of ways to prep for your week without it taking hours in the kitchen. Time is precious, but so is your health, and if you plan ahead for an awesome lunch that you can not only enjoy but feel good about, your body will thank you!

Hope you love this and hope it’s your new favorite easy AND healthy lunch!

Here’s to YOUR health!