Sushi Facts

Sushi used to scare me and I never wanted to try it.  Once I tried it though I have become addicted! I eat sushi at least once a week. It's fun trying different kinds and testing out all the restaurants.

There are many health benefits of sushi. Some are that it is low in fat and high in protein. To me sushi is very filling so you don't need a lot of it for your meal. I usually get two rolls for dinner and one roll for lunch with maybe a small salad.

I always forget about the brown rice option! There is always a dollar or two extra charge, but even if you don't get it with brown rice sushi is still healthier then a million other things you could be eating especially while eating out. Another tip is to always ask for the low sodium soy sauce. It tastes the same as the regular and it's better for you.

This was taken from www.sushiencyclopedia.com and is very interesting:

"It consists of mostly protein, a little less than half the amount of carbohydrates (compared to protein in grams), and beneficial fat to lower your cholesterol. This is a golden ratio of food components when dieting. Bodybuilders use similar ratios of each of these components to drop their body fat. (Yes, they take unsaturated fat pills to melt away fat in difficult areas) Weight gain can result from an imbalance of carbohydrate, protein and unhealthy fat. In many cases, people eat foods that contain too many carbohydrates, and saturated fat compared to protein."

Since I have started to become obsessed with sushi it has helped me with my dieting. It is so tasty yet beneficial to my body so it's a win win! I am eating sushi as we speak...

Healthy Hump Day

I really need to go food shopping and I have been running around a lot lately with little time to prep my daily food intake. Even with the hectic schedule I am managing to do my best with eating! Within the last two months I have lost 10+ pounds. I am happy and proud! I can feel a difference inside and out, seeing a difference is a huge plus too! The motivation I have is priceless and my temptations are so different now than they used to be. I tend to crave healthier foods now.

What I Consumed Today:

Breakfast:  Coffee & a piece of Pumpkin Bread...not the best option, but pumpkin is healthy for you.  Also, Bethenny Frankel is a huge inspiration and lives a healthy lifestyle while also not depriving herself.  Just don't go overboard and it works!

Lunch:  A half of a Veggie Whole Wheat Wrap. Didn't remember to bring something from home so grabbed the healthiest option off the tray at work, food leftover from a meeting.

Exercise:  1 hour of Cardio Mix, including weight lifting and many other exercise tools.

Dinner:  A large Salad with a Morning Star "Chicken" (Tofu) Pattie cut up and mixed in.

Snack:  To Be Determined...but a great snack option is an Apple with some Natural Peanut Butter.

Tomorrow's Goal:  Add more protein to my day and an afternoon snack!  I was super busy at work today which made that hard.

Stuffed Tomato

The recipe calls for:

8 plump tomatoes

2 eggs

1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

2 tbs + 4 tsp grated parmesan cheese

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup corn

1 cup zucchini, diced + 24 thin slices

-- Preheat over to 350 degrees.

-- Cut the tops off the tomatoes, scoop pulp out of the centers, set aside. Discard half of the pulp and remove seeds from the remaining, finely chop.

-- Whisk the eggs and ricotta cheese in a bowl. Stir in onion, basil, 2 tbs parmesan and garlic. Add the corn, diced zucchini and chopped tomato pulp. Stir well.

-- Fill the tomatoes with the mixture to the top of the tomato. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top of the mixture, add zucchini slices and then the tomato top.

-- Bake for 45 minutes. Let it cool for about 10 minutes.

Delicious Baked Sweet Potato

 

The recipe calls for:

1 sweet potato

cooking oil

salt/pepper

garlic powder

spray "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter"

olive oil

 

-- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

-- Spray cooking oil on a baking dish.

-- Thinly slice the potato, but not all the way through.

-- Place the potato into the baking dish and drizzle it with some olive oil.  Spray some butter on the potato as well and then add as much garlic powder as you like and a little salt/pepper.

-- Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.  The top of the potato will be a little crispy.

 

Let it cool for a little and enjoy!  It will melt in your mouth. :)

 

Other options could be like I made the sweet potato slices on the grill, instead of garlic powder, salt and pepper use some sugar substitute and cinnamon.  I wouldn't add the brown sugar until the last ten minutes in the oven to prevent it from burning.

Healthy Food Myth

A lot of people think that eating healthy is so expensive, but really it's not.  You go to a fast food restaurant and it's over $6 for a combo meal and that is just ONE meal.  So fast food being unhealthy isn't the only negative.

In this picture there is a bran/multi-gran muffin, apples, a bag of lettuce/veggies and a sweet potato.  

All this was only $4.85 and it makes up:

1 breakfast

2 snacks

a few lunches or dinner sides (salad)

1 side for dinner