I’m back!
PIN IT!I’m home from Italy! I’ll be updating A LOT this weekend, so keep your eyes peeled for a new Superfood of the week [Italian style, of course] some Eat Skinny Be Skinny recipes, a Fabulous Fit and more! However, I will leave you with a few shots of some of the AMAZING food I had while in Italy! All of their food is fresh, homemade and absolutely delicious. I was in a foodies heaven! [As well as a fitness/health nut heaven due to how much we walked! I lost 5 pounds!]
A Food Tip: 4th of July
Are you diet conscious this Fourth of July but still want to attend the barb-b-ques and summer soirees? Don’t let the hamburger patties and hot dogs scare you away! If the bar-b-que is at your pad, grill up some all turkey dogs and turkey burgers for a less-fat, less-calorie but just as filling meal! If you are going to a pals bar-b-que and all they offer are all beef products, enjoy the hamburger without the bun and cheese and enjoy fresh fruit, jello or a fresh salad instead of the mayo-laden macaroni and cheese or potato salad. Fourth of July is meant to be spent with loved ones and fireworks, not with you focusing on calories and fat grams!
Healthy Fruit Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
- 1 pound seedless green grapes, halved
- 3 bananas, peeled and sliced
- 1 (8 ounce) container strawberry yogurt
Directions
In a large bowl, toss together strawberries, grapes, bananas, and strawberry yogurt. Serve immediately.
Nutritional Information: 81 calories, 0.6 calories
Focus, Fix & Flaunt: Arms
As you all know, I’m getting married in less than 8 months. Well, as I try on dresses, mainly strapless, I can’t help but notice how not up to par my arms are. I know how critical I am of my body, so the last thing I want to do is feel “fat” on my big day or disappointed/disgusted when I look at my wedding photos. So this week, I’m focusing on my arms and am working to get them as toned and sexy as Jessica Biel’s [see above!]. Below are a few of my favorite arm workouts that are incredibly effective in shaping and toning biceps, triceps, shoulders and your chest.
What you’ll need: 2 10-20 pound dumbbells, a chair/step and a yoga mat.
Lunge Press
Photo by fit celeb
1. Grab 2 10-20 pound dumbbells in both hands and start in the lunge position, with your right leg bent behind you.
2. Do one lunge forward, then stand, lifting both arms above your head in a push up motion.
3. Return to lunge position and repeat exercise for 10-12 reps.
Dips
- Sit on a chair or step with legs slightly bent and your feet flat on floor. Place hands on chair/step by thighs and press palms into step to lift butt.
- Next, slide butt off edge and bend elbows to drop hips 3 inches from floor. Straighten arms and slide hips back without sitting down. Do 8-12 reps.
Lateral Raises
1. Standing with feet shoulder-width apart, hold a 10- to 20-pound dumbbell in each hand, arms slightly bent.
2. Slowly raise right and left arms to shoulder height, without locking elbow. Hold for 10-20 seconds. Do 8-12 reps.
Modified T Push Up
Photo courtesy of Fitness Magazine
1. Begin in push up position, slightly modified where your wrists are below shoulders, your abs are tightened and your knees are on the floor.
2. Bring your right arm toward the ceiling, rotating your upper body to the right [Like photo]. Hold this position for up to 5 counts.
3. Return hand to floor and do a push-up, bending elbows to 90 degrees. Return to starting position; repeat on left. Do 8-12 reps.
Dumbbell Push Press
1. Hold a 10- to 20-pound dumbbell in right hand in front of shoulder, palm facing left.
2. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, place left hand on hip, and squat slightly.
3. Straighten legs as you press weight overhead. Return to start; repeat 8-12 times.
For other great arm workouts, visit Fitness Magazine, Shape or Glamour!
Meal Makeover: Lasagna
If you are like the millions of Americans who are watching your weight, chances are that lasagna is not a frequent, dinner staple. Due to it’s high calorie, high fat content and large portion sizes, lasagna can be a dieters nightmare. The average slice of lasagna with beef has 510 calories and 25 grams of fat [44% of your daily allowance!] And let’s be honest, with gooey, cheesy homemade lasagna, it’s nearly impossible to have just one slice.
Well, as a die-hard fan of all Italian food, I can’t fathom a life without a slice of lasagna. So instead of gorging myself on the high-calorie, high-fat variety, I found a lighter variety that has half the fat, is 150 calories lighter and has 19 more grams of protein per serving than the regular kind! So Italian lovers rejoice, you can have your lasagna, this time without the side of guilt or self loathing!
Low-fat Turkey Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey breast
- 1/4 cup chopped onions
- Olive oil spray
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 (26-ounce) bottle fat-free pasta sauce
- 3 cups of shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- 2 cups of fat-free ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese [of the store bought variety]
- 1/2 cup egg whites
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- Sprinkle of ground black pepper and sea salt
- Sprinkle of red pepper
- 9 uncooked whole-wheat lasagna noodles
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Spray cooking spray in a skillet. Cook the turkey and onions on medium heat until browned. Add the water and pasta sauce and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce the hit to simmer the mixture for 10 minutes. Take off heat and set aside.
- Put the lasagna noodles in a pot of boiling water. Boil with a dash of salt until noodles are done, al dente.
- Combine the mozzarella cheese, the ricotta, the parmasean and the eggwhites in a medium bowl until ingreidents are well mixed.
- Spray the spray on a bottom of a 13 x 9 glass baking dish. Arrange 3 noodles on the bottom. Spread 1 cup turkey mixture on top of the noodles. Arrange 3 noodles over turkey mixture then top with 1 1/2 cups turkey mixture. Spread half of cheese mixture over turkey mixture. Repeat layers, ending with the remaining turkey mixture. Sprinkle a dash of Parmesan and mozzarella over the sauce.
- Cover and bake at 350° for 1 hour. Let lasagna stand 10 minutes before serving.
Nutritional Information: 380 calories, 10 gm. fat, 39 grams of protein
Claire
Tags:Eat Skinny, healthy lasagna recipe, low fat dinner, Meal Makeover, meal makeover italian, turkey lasagna
Nutrition in the News: The 'fat' tax
Cartoon courtesy of Top News
I think this cartoon sums up our childhood obesity epidemic perfectly. Children are eating worse now than ever and sadly, some parents are feeding into the problem [literally and figuratively] due to low budgets, no time to cook and the ease of fast food. However, the epidemic that affects 1 out of every 3 children now is no longer being overlooked or forgotten. Thanks to Michelle Obama, the school lunch reform and now the proposed “fat” tax, America’s leaders are taking a hard stand against obesity and are focusing on those who need the help most, children. And they are taking drastic measures, such as proposing a tax on pizza, soda and other fatty foods.
63% of American adults are considered overweight or obese.
So what does this “fat tax” mean, really? It is a proposed 18% tax on soda and pizza that studies have shown could help Americans lose up to 5 additional pounds per year. The obesity epidemic costs the United States an estimated $147 billion dollars a year in health care costs. This cost and the stats could be what drove these policy makers and politicians to propose such a drastic tax. The real question that comes to mind is, could a tax really impact a person’s eating habits and prevent them from buying soda or pizza?
That question was answered, kind of, by a study done by Kiyah Duffey and her team of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [as cited in Reuters]. The study involved the analysis of the diets of young adults and adults from 1985-2006. According to her results, a 10% increase in the cost of food was linked with a 7 percent drop in calories consumed from soda and a whopping 12% decrease in calories consumed by pizza. They took the new proposed tax, 18%, and plugged that in, getting the result that Americans would cut their intake by 56 calories a day, leading to an almost 5 pound weight loss in a year.
My thoughts on this tax are highly favorable. Studies have shown a link between a higher cost and less consumption with soda and pizza already, which is a trend that will certainly continue if a tax of 18% is placed on these foods. In our, still somewhat unstable, economy, a giant increase in cost of food will cause people to choose other options. I also see this only benefiting the school lunch debate. If this tax is passed, the schools who are buying soda for lunch rooms and vending machines will be faced with a higher cost, and with many school’s budgets already at an all time low, this could lead them to forgo serving soda at all. If these foods are not provided at schools, children have a much less chance of eating them overall. I think this tax could really help progress our efforts to reducing obesity nationwide by taxing the foods that are making us ‘fat.’
