Gave Courtney Morrison a ride home and got to see what she comes home too!!!!

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My girls at work!!!!!!

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Making this day great and letting go of some demons!!! Hope u all have a great hump day!!!!

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20 Secrets of Very Fit People

20 Secrets of Very Fit People

Chalene Johnson

Here are a few Turbofied tips. Read these tips, then print and post them so you have them as a daily reminder. Look at exercise as a pleasure and a privilege, not a burden or chore. Think positively about the changes regular exercise will produce. Rather than obsessing about your next meal, get excited about your next workout! Focus on short-term fitness goals with an emphasis on completing daily exercise. Work to take your exercise to new levels of intensity. Make it your goal to do some form of exercise 6 or 7 days a week. If some days you exercise once in the morning and once in the evening, even better! If you're eating right, exercise will fuel your energy level! Create an exercise schedule the day before instead of leaving it to chance or waiting to "find" the time. If the last three Presidents of the United States can make time to work out every day, you can make time too! Enjoy contributing to the health of others by having a partner or friends to exercise with, as well as recruiting others who want to feel better and have more energy. Have a neighbor who's sitting on the porch every morning when you walk by? Ask him or her to join you on your walk! Avoid monotony by taking up new forms of exercising, or using things that keep you motivated and inspired, like new shoes or great music. Invest in the right tools—good shoes, a portable MP3 player or iPod®, fitness equipment, a new series of tapes, etc. Subscribe to fitness magazines to keep focused on health as an overall way of life. Eat well-balanced meals and remember that excess calories, even if they're from food that's fat free and high in protein, will turn to excess weight. No matter what the latest fad diet says, extra calories equal extra weight! Limit caffeine and exposure to even secondhand smoke. Keep a water bottle with you at all times and drink from it often. Water should always be your drink of choice. To kick things up every once in a while, try adding lemon, lime, cucumber, or a few berries to liven up the flavor without adding significant calories. Stick with eating plans you can maintain indefinitely. Remember that no matter how hard you're working out, if you're consuming too many calories, you'll never see the muscles that lie beneath layers of fatty tissue. Keep a daily log of what you're actually eating. This includes every time you grab a handful of chips here or eat the crust of your kid's sandwich there, and ALL of your snacking. Enjoy an occasional (once a week) "unhealthy" treat, but never an unhealthy week or unhealthy vacation. If your diet is unbalanced, take daily vitamin and mineral supplements for total health. Don't compare your body to others'. Instead, work to be your personal best. Move beyond the boundaries of weight loss and into total fitness. Measure success by the way your clothes fit, not some number on a scale. Get adequate amounts of sleep, but remember that people who exercise regularly fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly. Limit alcohol intake to special occasions.

Beachbody Exclusive! - LesMills Pump from Arthur StJames on Vimeo.

The Beachbody Challenge

My first week at it!!!!

Well i started lifting really hard again and working out.  At least five days a week.  Changed my diet up and feeling good.  I started Monday really pushing myself and going harder than ever.  I hired a trainer to push me the way i know i couldn't push myself.  We follow the P90X routine but needed that extra accountability and push.  It has made all the difference. Jill is a great body to have there by my side.  I just moved to KC and so don't have anyone that I can meet there so this is a great way to make an accountability partner.  It wont be forever but like most people when i first start back to working out i don't want to go and if no one is there to make sure i go i might go and if i do who knows how hard i really push myself.  Having that buddy makes all the difference.  Having the right buddy changes the workout completely.  I know its all suppose to be you making yourself dig deeper but at first it is hard to be consistent until you see results.  At least for me.

Mondays workout was so tuff.. I almost lost my cookies.  I hadn't worked that hard for a long time.  Don't remember the last time i killed it like that. My legs were on fire and i wanted to fire Jill.  We worked so hard that my shirt was so wet and i wanted to die but i kept telling myself it was well worth it.  It will all pay off and i will feel better in an hour.  I mean really the workout is only an hour.  But the rewards will last much longer than that.  

Tuesday was a day without Jill and did cardio.  that's my routine.  Mon, wed, Fri Jill and Tues and Thurs. no Jill.  Did a machine that i don't even know the name of but kicks my butt.  It makes it a lot easier to cover the time up and watch tv while i bring it.

Wed was a weak day with Jill.  I hadn't eaten hardly anything and my body was telling me that.  I hit the ground while trying to do a lunge with a 30 pound bar on my shoulder and i could barely do any chair dips and my plank was weak.  we tried and pushed but my body was shutting down.  Realized how important it is to eat and eat well.  

Thurs was another cardio day and felt good.  

Friday wasn't able to meet with Jill 

Today is Saturday and a very good day.  I woke up and made breakfast 2 egg whites and 1 complete egg. 3 silver dollar pancakes with light syrup.  Then an hour later went to the gym and pushed cardio.  wanted to make the lady pump class but they changed the time and it had already started.  Next sat i am on it.  really looking forward to it.  then came home made a protein shake and took fluffer for a walk down a trail that was so beautiful.  It was along a runny creek and in the trees with a big pond.  the weather was crisp and he was loving it.  We walked for an hour and got a good sweat on.  It was a great time.  Little sprinkling.  After the walk we came back had lunch, grilled cheese and carrots with hummus with a vitamin water.  Then i took a shower and took fluffer to the groomers.  He looks so pretty now.  It was his first time.  He was so fluffy when i picked him up.  I cant stop picking him up and kissing him.  Watched a movie while he was getting done.  It was a bad movie.. waste of money!

Home now and relaxing listening to the rain and cleaning house and doing some work on the computer.  Caught up on some tv shows i have been waiting to watch.

Overall a great and productive day!  Tomorrow is football day!!!!!!!!!!!!

spending with some friends!!!!

Recipe: Zucchini Bread

Recipe: Zucchini Bread

Applesauce and walnuts give this the warm nuttiness of a fruit bread, while zucchini brings veggie goodness. Try making it in mini-loaf pans in a toaster oven if summer still has you not wanting to heat up your whole kitchen with the big oven.

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 6 egg whites
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup white or raw sugar (or substitute 1/3 cup honey and reduce applesauce to 1/4 cup)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
• 1-1/4 cups whole wheat (whole-meal) flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1-1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2-1/2 cups shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350° F (325° if you're substituting honey). Lightly coat two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans (or 5 mini-loaf pans) with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine egg whites, canola oil, applesauce, sugar or honey, and vanilla. Using an electric mixer, beat the mixture on low speed until thick and foamy. In a small bowl, stir flours together. Set 1/2 cup of flour mixture aside. Add baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon to flour mixture in small bowl and stir together, then add to egg white mixture. Using electric mixer on medium speed, beat until well blended. Add zucchini and walnuts and stir with wooden spoon until combined. Adjust consistency of the batter with reserved 1/2 cup flour, adding 1 tablespoon at a time. Batter should be thick, not runny.
Pour 1/2 of batter into each prepared pan. Bake about 50 minutes (35 to 40 minutes for mini-loaf size), until a toothpick inserted into center of each loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and let finish cooling on rack. Each loaf will yield 9 1-inch slices, or 18 servings.
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 50 minutes

Nutritional Information (per serving)
Calories	Protein	Fiber	Carbs	Fat Total	Saturated Fat
146	4 grams	2 grams	20 grams	6 grams	< 1 gram

Summer Cocktails

Summer Cocktails: How to Enjoy the Party without Looking Like a Flotation Device

By Stephanie S. Saunders Why do we spend all year doing P90X^® or Slim in 6^® to look good on the beach, only to sabotage ourselves with high-calorie summer cocktails? Mostly because it's fun and social, and the alcohol make us feel a little less self-conscious about being scantily clad.
Thanks to the dozens of different diet crazes out there, we're all abundantly aware of carbs, protein, and fat, and we all have different opinions on which is the most evil. But we shouldn't forget that alcohol has calories too—7 per gram, more than carbs or protein and almost as much as fat. So what does this mean for you? It means that it's a challenge to burn off alcohol, especially when it's mixed with yummy, sugary ingredients.



The most obvious solution is abstinence, but what fun would that be? Since we can't remove the alcohol from these popular summer drink recipes without calling them "mocktails," let's find other ways to remove the excess calories instead. Here are six summer cocktail recipes, tailored to make them more waist-friendly.

1. White wine/light beer/champagne. These all seem like fairly obvious "light" drink choices and don't require recipes, but they're worth mentioning. White wine has about 100 calories in a 4-ounce serving, and it's delightfully refreshing on a summer day, especially if you add some club soda to make it into a spritzer. Beer comes in very light versions now, some of which have fewer than 70 calories. And not only is champagne fantastic with brunch, but it also only has around 100 calories per serving. With any of these, just be sure to measure your amounts so you don't end up overdoing it (and/or ending up with a splitting headache afterwards).
2. Margarita. Your biggest caloric enemy in the margarita is the prepackaged margarita mix. There are "light" versions available, but their taste is less than extraordinary. Here's another option that'll cut your calories in half without sacrificing flavor.
   
   Ingredients:
   • Juice of 1-1/2 limes
   • 3 oz. water
   • 1/2 tsp. stevia (or other no-calorie sugar substitute)
   • 2 oz. tequila
   • 1.5 oz. triple sec
   • Ice
   • Salt (to taste)
   Mix lime juice, water, and stevia together until stevia is dissolved. Add tequila and triple sec, then either pour over ice or put in blender with ice. Add salt to taste. Sip while looking amazing in your swimsuit, pretending you're on a beach in Mexico.
   
   Calories before: 435
   Calories now: 180
3. Cosmopolitan. The sneaky trickster here is regular cranberry juice cocktail, which should be called "sugar with cranberry flavoring." This light version uses only one type of alcohol, which drastically cuts your calorie count.
   
   Ingredients:
   • 3 oz. low-calorie cranberry juice drink
   • 1 oz. raspberry vodka
   • Squeeze of lime
   • Lime twist, as garnish
   Pour ingredients over ice and shake. Strain ice cubes and pour into martini glass. Look stylish and thin at the same time.
   
   Calories before: 413
   Calories now: 98
4. Tipsy Arnold Palmer. Sweetened bottled versions of lemonade and iced tea can be pretty loaded with sugar. However, if you brew your own iced tea and squeeze your own lemons, then add a bit of sugar substitute and 2 ounces of vodka, you can make a really tasty cocktail that doesn't have so many calories. Or the light Minute Maid^® version and some diet iced tea will work for the domestically challenged.
   
   Ingredients:
   • Juice of 1 lemon and 3 oz. water (or 3 oz. diet lemonade)
   • 2 teabags steeped in 3 oz. boiling water and cooled (or 3 oz. diet iced tea)
   • 1/2 tsp. stevia (optional; omit if using commercially prepared diet beverages)
   • 2 oz. vodka
   • Sprig of mint (optional)
   • Ice
   Mix first three ingredients. Add vodka and pour over ice. Stir. Garnish with mint (if desired). Enjoy. Just don't try to play golf after two of these.
   
   Calories before: 156
   Calories now: 71
5. Strawberry daiquiri. Nothing says "vacation!" like a drink that a little umbrella will stand up in. Yet again, sugar is the culprit we're trying to cut out. Try this version for a vacation flashback that'll be reminiscent of the good times (not of ordering seconds on dessert).
   
   Ingredients:
   • 1/2 cup sliced strawberries
   • 1 Tbsp. lime juice
   • 1.5 oz. light rum
   • Stevia or other sweetener (to taste, depending on sweetness of strawberries)
   • Ice
   Throw it all in a blender and let the good times begin. Please don't have so many you try to drink the umbrella.
   
   Calories before: 299
   Calories now: 118
6. Piña colada. Made correctly, a piña colada is the taste of summer. If not made correctly, it tastes like suntan lotion in a glass. This recipe replaces sugar and cream with fruit and skim milk.
   
   Ingredients:
   • 1 8-oz. can chunk pineapple (with juice)
   • 1/2 tsp. stevia (or other artificial sweetener)
   • 1 tsp. coconut extract
   • 1 cup nonfat (skim) milk
   • 1 cup ice cubes
   Place ingredients in blender and blend well, then garnish with a small plastic monkey, and (mentally, at least) escape to the Caribbean.
   
   Calories before: 297
   Calories now: 146

And there you have it. A handle on your summer cocktails, without adding to your love handles. Now put on your swimsuit and let the rest of the summer be the party it was meant to be!

Is Fro-Yo a No-No? 5 Healthy Frozen Alternatives!

Is Fro-Yo a No-No? 5 Healthy Frozen Alternatives!

By Joe Wilkes Most neighborhoods in Los Angeles—and the rest of the country—seem to have a frozen yogurt shop. Pinkberry^®, Red Mango^®, Kiwiberry, Céfiore^®, you name it—they're in strip malls, shopping centers, office complexes—even airports, hotels, and casinos. Frozen yogurt is touted as being low in calories and having lots of healthy flora for your intestinal health. So what's the deal: Is frozen yogurt good for you—or too good to be true?

The history of frozen yogurt

Dannon^® made the first frozen yogurt in the 1970s. It was sold in supermarkets as a frozen treat on a stick—usually a variation of Dannon's tart berry yogurt, but coated with chocolate or carob. Later, companies like TCBY^® (The Country's Best Yogurt) began processing yogurt in soft-serve ice cream machines, adding artificial flavorings, along with sugar or artificial sweeteners, in an effort to duplicate popular ice cream flavors. They also offered toppings like chocolate chips, M&M's^®, and crushed candy bars. Supermarket brands like Häagen-Dazs^® and Ben & Jerry's^® also began adding frozen yogurt flavors to their ice cream lines in the 1980s.
In 2005, Pinkberry opened its first store in Los Angeles, and the chain quickly grew to more than 50 stores, spawning hosts of imitators. Many say Pinkberry is a knockoff of the Korean chain Red Mango, but whoever imitated whom, Red Mango has benefited from Pinkberry's opening up the American market to this new/retro style of yogurt. Pinkberry yogurt is a back-to-basics formulation, similar to what Dannon peddled in the 1970s. Pinkberry yogurt is more tart than the sweeter TCBY-style soft-serve yogurt, and is usually offered in just a few flavors (currently original, chocolate, salted caramel, coconut, mango, pomegranate, and watermelon). These gourmet yogurt shops offer mainly fresh fruit toppings, as well as some less nutritious ones, and they all claim the health benefits of the high levels of favorable bacteria in their yogurts, like Lactobacillus and L. acidophilus.

Is it healthy?

Yogurt is generally healthy. It has calcium, is low in calories and fat, and contains cultures that are helpful in maintaining intestinal health. A small serving of original Pinkberry (1.5 servings, as figured on their nutritional information page—a "large" is considered to be 3.8 servings!) contains about 150 calories, 4.5 grams of protein, no fat, and about 15 percent of your daily value of calcium. The fresh fruit toppings are unsweetened and add only 10 to 35 calories per scoop. So, generally speaking, Pinkberry yogurt makes for a reasonably healthy snack. Old-school TCBY has a few more calories, but is not dissimilar to Pinkberry in its nutritional makeup. However, keep in mind that most of these calories come from added sugar, so they're more likely to turn into stored fat in your body if you don't burn them off. While its calcium content is also fairly decent, you'll get nearly twice as much calcium from regular unfrozen yogurt than you'll get from the frozen kind. Regular yogurt also contains more protein.
Things really go off track, however, when it comes to toppings other than fresh fruit. If you're going down to the gourmet yogurt joint, crumbling a candy bar or two on your yogurt, and adding a dollop of syrup to boot, it's pretty hard to claim you're "eating light." Obviously, this is also true if you're going to the supermarket and getting a pint of Ben & Jerry's fro-yo with chunks of cookie dough or brownies swirled in. You'd think common sense would kick in here, but most of us have somehow fooled ourselves into thinking that toppings don't count, when in fact the number of empty calories they contain is usually much higher than the calorie total for the actual yogurt. And when you get your yogurt in a cone instead of a cup, you're adding even more empty calories to your dessert or snack—120 calories for a typical waffle cone.
In short, frozen yogurt isn't terrible for your diet, but it isn't a miracle food either. It's a much better option than ice cream (which has high levels of saturated fat), but yogurt doesn't necessarily have less sugar. It's also better than cookies, cake, or candy, but it can't hold a candle to fresh fruit as a food that can satisfy your sweet tooth while helping to make you healthy at the same time. Simply put, it's better for your figure and your pocketbook just to have a bowl of fresh fruit mixed with your favorite plain unfrozen yogurt.
However, if you just can't get past your craving for a frosty delight, try one of these 5 healthy frozen treats!

1. Frozen fruit. Even people with no cooking experience can manage this one, because there's no cooking involved! Just pop some fresh grapes, strawberries, bananas, etc., into the freezer for a bit, then pop them in your mouth. This is an option that's particularly good for parents, because kids who turn up their noses at fresh fruit in a bowl will often appreciate it in this delightful "new" frozen form.
2. Fancy ice cubes. Try pouring your favorite fruit juice into an ice cube tray and inserting toothpicks when the cubes start to get slushy enough to allow the toothpicks to stand up. (Or if you're rushing out, just lean 'em at an angle; it'll still work.) You've made your own healthy miniature frozen pops! For bartenders, these can make a great addition to beverages. Try a glass of seltzer water with some frozen lemon juice cubes on a hot summer day. It'll make you forget about lemonade.
3. Speaking of bartending . . . This tip's for adults only. Here's a professional bartenders' secret—they usually add extra sugar in frozen drinks. Why? It tastes better and it makes you thirstier! More sugar = more thirst = more drinks (= more sugar you've consumed without realizing it). You get the idea. When making your own margaritas or daiquiris on a hot summer day, skip the store-bought mixers and make your own from fresh juice, using as little sugar as you can stand. Also, add extra ice to the blender. You'll be able to make your drink last a lot longer and do a lot less damage to your diet.
4. Make your own sorbet. This is a little more on the gourmet side. But if you're willing to invest a little money (in an ice cream/sorbet maker) and a little time, you can make delicious ice creams and sorbets from fresh fruit and keep out a lot of the artificial colors and flavors—and the obscene amounts of added sugar—many store brands contain.
5. Make your own frozen yogurt. If a dish of fresh fruit and regular plain yogurt is better for you than the soft-serve kind sold in yogurt stands, why not switch it up? Blend frozen fruit—berries, peaches, or any other favorites—with some plain yogurt in the blender. (Or you can use a hand blender or mixer.) If you absolutely can't live without it, you can add a little sugar (or honey, or agave nectar), but if you reduce the amount a little every time you make it, pretty soon you'll have weaned yourself off the excess sweet stuff. Before you know it, fruit and yogurt will be enough of a treat, and you won't even miss those crushed Oreos!

Tony Horton Tip!!!!

So you bought P90X® off the tube and you're all pumped up to kick some butt. Do you remember that shift in ENERGY the day you picked up the phone and started dialing? Any number of thoughts could've been racing through your mind at the time—fear, doubt, excitement, hope, anticipation. You name it.







Then the videos arrived.






Some of you ripped them open, read all the material, and got started that day. Some of you looked at the box as if it were filled with anthrax—keeping it sealed and placed on a shelf for some future investigation.






You're all at different stages of the program: newbies, start-agains, and even round fivers. I'd like to reveal four key components for success with P90X, and quite possibly other aspects of your life.






Have you ever noticed some days just flow? Even on days when you have tons of things to do, you seem to have all the ENERGY in the world to handle anything. Yet other days feel like you live on Saturn. The weight of the world feels 10 times normal.






It comes down to the amount of ENERGY you have on any given day. Your ENERGY always dictates your REALITY. When you're filled with ENERGY, you're sharp, ready, enthusiastic, and willing. When you're pooped . . . forget about it! Organizing a sock drawer feels like climbing Mt. Everest.






So what causes these shifts? The big four are:






1.Food and supplementation. I know, I know. Here I go again. Hold on to your hats! There's no way on God's earth you can maintain a consistent level of ENERGY and enthusiasm for this 90-day program by eating the same old crap. You must . . . you have to . . . you need to make "The Change." Adequate ENERGY levels only come from eating the right food the right way at the right time of day. If you don't know what that means, then you haven't read the material and you're doing this program the wrong way.






You are what you eat! If you eat the same old tired food that put you in this mess in the first place, then that's just what you'll get—tired and old before your time. You know what to do, so do it! It's not Atkins™ or Slim-Fast® or fast food or soft drinks or fried food or candy bars or doughnuts or liquid diets or any panoply of misleading ways of consuming food. Get your mind right about what goes in your mouth or continue to live in the land of the wannabes!






2.Sleep. This probably seems like the most obvious and simple of the four. But it's often the most abused. Recent statistics have shown that the leading cause of traffic accidents in this country is NOT alcohol but sleep deprivation. If we don't have enough ENERGY to stay awake while driving a car, how will we have enough ENERGY for a 6-day-a-week workout program?






We aren't sleeping enough hours at night, and when we do, we're often filled with so much mind chatter that we don't get the proper rest we need. My Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary defines "sleep" as follows: "the natural periodic suspension of consciousness during which the powers of the body are restored." In Taoist philosophy, there's the yin (not ying) and the yang. These are opposing ENERGIES that create balance. P90X is yang ENERGY. Sleep and rest are yin ENERGY. There must be proper balance between vim and vigor (yang) and inward calm (yin). If you don't get enough sleep and rest, your body will not receive the proper restoration it needs to complete or succeed with this program, or anything else in life for that matter.






3.Stress management. Do you realize that if you took the fear, worry, and anxiety out of every "stressful" situation in your life, the end result of that situation would still occur? You can panic and freak out all you want, but time will still pass and the end of that moment will still happen, whether you freak out or not. So why not choose something different? When do fear, worry, and anxiety ever really help a situation?






So what is stress? It's the inability to move through a situation logically, peacefully, positively, productively, and gracefully. It takes a lot of ENERGY to be stressed out. Being stressed out can severely affect how well you'll sleep at night. Stress is when you assess blame and don't take responsibility. "I'm stressed out because of______, and that's why I can't______." Don't let stress be your scapegoat.






There's a story about 10 people in line at a bank. Three armed robbers come flying in, screaming and yelling and pointing guns. They terrorize everyone and steal all their money. The moral of the story is that all 10 people will be affected by that experience in 10 different ways. The two extremes go from one having a wild story to tell at work the next day to another being severely traumatized for the rest of his or her life. Where would you fall in that spectrum?






There's a saying that goes . . . there are three kinds of business: God's business—things that happen in this world that are out of my control; their business—the choices other people make based on their life experiences so far; and my business—the choices I make that shape my life. If I focus on what I have to do to make my life the best it can be and NOT focus on God's and everyone else's business, then I will have less stress, which in turn will give me the ENERGY to live the life I've always wanted.






Don't waste your time on gossip, ridicule, envy, self-pity, anger, guilt, arrogance, need, impatience, regret, manipulation, jealousy, fear, worry, and anxiety, because they'll zap your ENERGY and cause you stress!






Choose understanding, truth, clarity, patience, devotion, gratitude, vulnerability, acceptance, wisdom, hope, forgiveness, empathy, discipline, perseverance, community, and peace. Because if you do, you will gladly kiss stress goodbye and say hello to all the ENERGY you'll need.






4.Purpose. Purpose is the driving force to get you from here to there. If you don't have purpose, all the best food, supplementation, sleep, and stress-free days won't help you one bit. You have to have a powerful burning desire to want it.






My dictionary tells me that "purpose" is "seeking resolution"—searching for answers to solve a problem, an intention. This all goes to the core of "the why." Why do I want to spend the next 90 days turning my life upside down, maybe even for the second or third time, or more?






You are looking for resolution. You are searching for answers to help solve this problem. And most importantly, you must be clear about your intention. No one ever does anything just for the heck of it. There's always some intention behind everything we do. Different kinds of behavior have different levels of intention and purpose. Eating fast food and leaving the videos on the shelf are on one level. Following the program the way it was designed is on another.






I know I've said this before, but if your intention and purpose are based exclusively on aesthetics, then you miss the whole point of P90X. If your intention and purpose are based on good health, quality of life, athleticism, flexibility, strength, and cardiovascular endurance, then you're doing P90X for all the right reasons. If your intention and purpose are based on lifestyle, then you will have plenty of ENERGY to succeed with and complete P90X. You will also have the ENERGY to be everything you always knew you could be.






May the Energy Revolution begin!






Peace,


Tony H.

Healthy Pea Soup

Ever wonder why you rarely see fresh peas in the produce section of your supermarket? That's because the harvest season for fresh peas is exceptionally short, which is why they're usually found either frozen or canned. But if you hurry now, you can get fresh shelling peas from your local farmers' market before the season ends. Here's a delicious summer recipe for fresh pea soup.








2 lbs. fresh shelling peas (in pods)


4-1/2 cups water


2 bay leaves


4 sprigs fresh thyme


2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil


1 small onion, peeled and minced


1 small carrot, minced


1/2 medium celery stalk, minced


1 tsp. chopped fresh parsley leaves


Salt (to taste)


1 Tbsp. minced chives


Remove peas from pods (you should have about 2-1/4 cups). Place empty pea pods, water, bay leaves, and thyme in large saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer briskly for 15 minutes. Strain through sieve, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Reserve broth and discard solids. (You should have at least 3 cups of broth.)






Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, and parsley and sauté until vegetables soften, about 6 minutes. Add 3 cups broth (reserve any extra to add later if needed) and simmer for 5 minutes to blend flavors. Add peas and cook just until tender, about 3 to 4 minutes.






Puree soup in batches in blender until perfectly smooth, adding extra hot pea broth or hot water to thin if desired. Return to saucepan and add salt to taste. Ladle soup into individual bowls. Garnish with chives and serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.






Preparation Time: 1 hour

Deep Sea Deliciousness: A Guide to Edible Seaweed

Deep Sea Deliciousness: A Guide to Edible Seaweed


By Jeanine Natale

As another sultry summer shimmies into full swing, why don't we take a look at a refreshing, versatile, and wonderfully low-calorie/fat-free food that's sure to add an interesting new dimension to light and healthy eating? Yes, seaweed! You've probably seen drifts of this common sea algae floating in the ocean waves, or in tangled clumps along the beach, but did you know it's actually a delicious, nutritious, and surprisingly popular food? If you've had sushi, miso soup—even salad dressing, pudding, or ice cream—odds are, you've eaten seaweed. Heck, you've probably even brushed your teeth with it.

Naturally high in essential nutrients like iodine, potassium, and magnesium, seaweed is becoming more and more available not only in health food or international stores, but also at your local market, and there are different kinds of seaweed used in all kinds of yummy dishes. It's been a staple in the diets of many coastal cultures from Japan to Scotland for centuries, and now the rest of the world is learning how good it really is for you. Five of the varieties you're most likely to encounter are nori, wakame, kombu, hijiki, and carrageenan, also known as Irish moss.



Contrary to many beliefs, seaweed is not fishy or even overly salty in taste or odor. Some varieties, like carrageenan, are nearly flavorless, and can be a versatile ingredient in many kinds of sweet and savory recipes. Each type of seaweed, whether crunchy, salty, chewy, sweet, crispy, or slippery, has its own nutritional fingerprint, but all varieties of this remarkable sea algae offer the health-conscious eater a fat-free, low-to-no-calorie superbundle of essential vitamins and minerals—most notably iodine.



Iodine is perhaps best known as an ingredient added to table salt (ironically, sea salt does not contain iodine naturally). But because many of us would do well to lower our salt intake, seaweed offers an excellent low-sodium delivery system for iodine. Numerous international studies have shown that iodine plays an important role in regulating the thyroid, which helps to keep your metabolism on an even keel. More importantly, according to a 2007 study by the World Health Organization, iodine deficiency is one of the world's most preventable causes of mental retardation, and seaweed is one of the most accessible and easily digested sources of this essential mineral. Indeed, seaweed is vegan and gluten-free, and it poses much less danger of causing an allergic reaction than fish or shellfish—two other good sources of iodine—might (although you should keep in mind that seafood is often processed in the same facility as both fish and shellfish). Also gaining much worldwide attention is evidence that a diet supplemented with iodine, as well as vitamins B and E, may help in preventing or lessening the effects of fibrocystic breast disease.



Generally, you'll find your different types of seaweeds available as dried sheets, flakes, or leaves, in prepared packages that usually weigh a couple of ounces each. (Single-serving sizes are typically between 1 and 3 grams, depending on the recipe.) After you moisten, steep, or soak your seaweed in water according to package or recipe directions, it's easy to use, and it retains its nutritional value even when cooked. Here's a quick look at how the various seaweeds add up.

Nori. The most recognizable of the seaweeds, nori comes in crunchy, paper-thin black sheets most familiarly used to wrap sushi. Nori can also be sprinkled in flake form as a yummy topping for soups and salads. A 2.5-gram serving of nori supplies 70 percent of the recommended daily allowance* (RDA) of iodine, 10 percent of the RDA of vitamin C, 8 percent of the RDA of vitamin A, and 1 gram each of protein and dietary fiber, along with trace amounts (6 percent of the RDA or less) of potassium, magnesium, riboflavin, and omegas 3, 6, and 9—and each serving has just 10 calories and only 5 milligrams of sodium.

Wakame. Generally eaten in larger amounts, wakame is a versatile seaweed most often featured as bite-sized bits in miso soup or thin slices in a salad. Usually sold as dried black flakes, wakame quickly turns a beautiful jade green color when soaked in warm or hot water, with a soft, slippery, easy-to-chew texture. Wakame will add a bit more sodium to your dish than nori does (28 percent of the RDA or 660 milligrams in a 10-gram serving), but you'll benefit from its more than 100 percent of the RDA of iodine, 30 percent of the RDA of magnesium, 17 percent of the RDA of dietary fiber, 14 percent of the RDA of potassium, 8 percent of the RDA each of vitamin A, iron, and calcium, and trace amounts of riboflavin, thiamin, niacin, phosphorus, and omegas 3, 6, and 9—and it has just 25 calories.



Kombu. Not quite as visible but essential to many delicious soups or noodle broths, kombu is a seaweed that usually comes in large dried leaves up to a foot long and a few inches wide. Typically, a cook will boil it in soups or stews, then remove it as you would a bay leaf, imparting to a hearty flavor and a decent dose of nutrients. A 3.3-gram serving of kombu has just 5 calories and 4 percent of the RDA of sodium, while also providing more than 100 percent of the RDA for iodine, and trace amounts of magnesium, calcium, potassium, dietary fiber, and omegas 3, 6, and 9.

Hijiki. If you're an avid fan of seaweed salads, the squeaky crunch of twig-like hijiki is already a favorite. Hijiki segments look like little dried black twigs about 1 or 2 inches in length, and soaking them in water will make them expand to about twice their size. Eaten hot or cold, hijiki has a springy, snappy crunch that is quite distinctive. A 2-gram serving of hijiki is calorie-free and supplies you with 20 percent of the RDA of calcium and trace amounts of vitamin B, magnesium, and dietary fiber, along with approximately 50 percent of the RDA of iodine.

Carrageenan. The seaweed you hardly ever see but have probably consumed most often is known as Irish moss, listed as carrageenan on that tub of mocha marshmallow ice cream you've been eyeballing. (Alas, it's not there in sufficient amounts to justify your getting to eat ice cream every day. Harrumph.) Carrageenan is mainly added to prepared foods and other products, including pudding, salad dressing, and toothpaste, to make them thick and smooth. Carrageenan can also be found at any health food store in the form of dried flakes or powder that dissolve completely in liquid, for use as a thickening agent for soups and stews, or to make nutritious teas and broths. A 6-gram serving has only 25 calories, and contains approximately 15 percent of the RDA of both protein and iodine, and trace amounts of vitamins A, C, and B12, as well as calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and sodium.

If you're new to the wide world of edible seaweed, it's fun—and not too expensive—to experiment with this versatile and nutritious food. Most small packages of seaweed cost anywhere from $5.00 to $9.00 for a few ounces, with larger (1-pound) bulk quantities costing anywhere from $25.00 or $30.00 up to $60.00 for rare or extra-fine-quality varieties. (The smaller-sized packages will provide more than enough product for your culinary needs and/or adventures.)



There are more than a few different brands out there, so read the labels carefully and go for any brand that clearly states organic origins and farming methods of the product. Most companies that sell seaweed products offer pristine, high-quality growing conditions and ecologically friendly harvests. Again, seaweeds, by nature, are vegan and gluten-free, and are widely used in raw-food and macrobiotic diets.



Here's one of my favorite salad recipes—perfect for summertime when chilled, and bursting with a crunchy refreshing zing when you add slivers of fresh ginger and a touch of rice wine vinegar!



Wakame and Cucumber Salad



For salad:

2 Tbsp. dry wakame seaweed (soak and drain according to package after measuring)

1/2 cucumber, sliced (scrub peel free of wax and leave on)

1 tsp. grated or slivered fresh ginger



For dressing:



1 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce

1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar

A few drops of agave nectar (or 1/2 tsp. sugar)



Stir dressing ingredients together until well mixed, especially if using granulated sugar. Place all ingredients in bowl and toss with dressing. Chill in tightly covered bowl. Yum! Makes 1 serving.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Crocked Coconut Macaroon Shakeology

Recipe: Crocked Coconut Macaroon Shakeology

At this year's 2011 Beachbody Coach Summit, the Shakeology chefs came out in force with the ultimate recipes they'd developed to shake up their daily Shakeology regimen. In the chocolate category, the winner was Suzy F. She's lost 25 pounds with INSANITY^® and Shakeology, and she actually had to have her dress altered so it wouldn't fall off when she went up to receive her award!

• 1 scoop chocolate Shakeology
• 1 cup coconut water
• 1 tsp. rum extract
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup light coconut milk
• 1 oz. frozen Thai coconut meat
• 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 1/2 cup ice

Place ingredients in blender and blend until thoroughly mixed and creamy. Makes 1 serving.
NOTE: If you're feeling a little "sticker shock" from the calorie count and fat grams, remember that coconut contains some of the healthiest, most heart-smart fat out there. But if you want to reduce the calorie count to 359, just cut the amount of coconut milk, meat, and oil in half.

Say Goodbye to the Food Pyramid!

Say Goodbye to the Food Pyramid!

By Denis Faye In their continued quest to be a relevant source of information regarding the American diet, the USDA retired their food pyramid earlier this month, replacing it with MyPlate, the new, improved—not to mention circular—representation of how they think the general public should eat. The recommendations really didn't change from the 2010 food pyramid revamp, but it's progress nonetheless, I suppose. It may have taken them 19 years, but the government has finally figured out that average Americans tend to eat on round plates, as opposed to triangular ones.



The new graphic features a plate filled with equal portions of veggies and grains, smaller but still substantial portions of fruits and proteins, and a small(ish) serving of dairy. While these portion sizes haven't changed, MyPlate is an improvement on the old recommendations based primarily on the plain, clear language featured front and center on the main page of the Web site, right below the graphic:
Balancing Calories

• Enjoy your food, but eat less.
• Avoid oversized portions.

Foods to Increase

• Make half your plate fruits and vegetables
• Make at least half your grains whole grains.
• Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.

Foods to Reduce

• Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals—and choose the foods with lower numbers.
• Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

For you Beachbody^® types, this is all no-brainer intel, but if you walk down to your local mega-box store and have a look at all the folks pulling elastic-waisted pants off the plus-size racks, you'll see visual evidence that Americans just don't know how to eat. So good for the USDA for using simple, basic language to point out universal truths.

In defense of the USDA

If you spend much time in the food blogosphere, you know that the USDA's latest educational effort has many detractors. Complaints are probably best summed up by the blog Fooducate:
"With all due respect, the USDA should not be the government body dishing out (pun intended) nutrition advice . . . It's not a good idea to have the same organization that promotes agricultural and food production and sales be the one telling us what's healthy to eat."
While this is a valid point, I think we should save the conspiracy theories for Elvis, JFK, and the UFOs. Big Agra might have played a role in making MyPlate closer to McPlate, but I think a far more oppressive special interest group at play here is the American people in general. For example, let's look at the USDA's continued insistence that we need up to 8 servings of grains a day. In truth, while grains are a perfectly acceptable source of carbs, fiber, and other nutrients for 90 percent of the population, they pale nutritionally when compared to vegetables. However, if the government came out and told consumers they'd be better off with more salads and fewer sandwiches, Americans just wouldn't have it. We love our bread, so my guess is that the USDA keeps the grain numbers up in order to keep us from ignoring the recommendations completely. A telling sign of this is the bright red italic, large-font message plastered all over the MyPlate Web site: "Key Consumer Message: Make at least half your grains whole grains."
Half? Really? I haven't had a refined grain in about 2 weeks. There's no need for refined grain in a healthy diet—and I don't think the USDA put this plea in there to appease Big Agra, which profits from grain sales whether consumers eat the bran and husk or not. This "Key Consumer Message" has the distinct ring of a negotiation you have with a 6-year-old when you're trying to get him to eat his broccoli. It was put in there to appease those Americans who refuse to accept that Pop-Tarts^® aren't a complete nutritional source.
Another complaint a lot of people have is the continued importance placed on dairy in the recommendations. I'm prone to agree, but in defense of the USDA, the site does plainly feature the section, "For those who choose not to consume milk products."

Where they screwed up

Warm fuzzies aside, I do think the USDA could have done a few things differently. As I mentioned earlier, their treatment of grains was a little off. Also, their handling of protein leaves a lot to be desired. It assumes that consumers eat meat. While there is an informative section on the vegetarian diet, I'd rather see a more integrated approach to plant-based nutrition. For people who regularly eat meat and just want a few nonmeat protein options, MyPlate offhandedly recommends beans and nuts, and that's about it. In a way, this is decent advice, because combining these two foods with all the grain you're supposed to eat will give you all the amino acids you need to have complete proteins, but a more effective path would have been to create a whole separate nut-and-bean portion equal to the grain portion. With the guaranteed complete proteins this approach would introduce into the user's diet, he or she could reduce the meat protein portion to a healthier level.
Another notable absence from MyPlate is education on healthy fats vs. unhealthy fats, save a vague message stating, "Oils are NOT a food group, but they provide essential nutrients. Therefore, oils are included in USDA food patterns." Given the vast amount of research that indicates the health benefits of good fats, not to mention the fact that some fatty acids are ESSENTIAL to human health, the USDA might want to think about giving fat its own food group. Under this umbrella, they could stress the importance of foods like olive oil, avocados, and, most of all, super-nutritious nuts and seeds.
Some of you might note that I've just suggested adding two additional food groups to MyPlate, thus further complicating an already complex topic to educate people on. I concede that I understand why the USDA sugar-coats (literally!) their nutritional advice, with a little refined flour here and a little ham there, but that doesn't mean they need to dumb down their message. As long as information is presented clearly to them, humans are capable of understanding remarkably complex issues, be they delivered via circle or triangle.
Case in point? The University of Michigan's Healing Foods Pyramid (http://www.med.umich.edu/umim/food-pyramid/index.htm), which offers the nut/bean and fat portion changes I suggested, plus several others, in a concise, understandable way. It breaks down food choices into weekly and daily needs; stresses the importance of hydration; and even includes space for "accompaniments," a euphemism for "junk food."
The USDA could learn a thing or two from these college kids. They should certainly spend a little time on the Healing Foods Pyramid before coming out with their next round of nutritional suggestions. I applaud the USDA for trying to do the right thing by the American public, but maybe it's time to step up the game a little and assume we can handle a little tough nutritional love. Next time, let's spend a little less time worrying about the shape of the plate and a little more time figuring out what should go on it.