We don't eat the same?!

I get many questions about nutrition but the one that I get most come from the women that are trying to get their nutrition on track is that they have to deal with feeding a family or husband on that meal plan! The dilemma is how is Mom supposed to eat when she has kids don't eat what you eat and husbands that tend to eat way more than you eat.  Think of it this way, your kids are growing and run everywhere, they don't even comprehend how to walk through the house, they play sports and are jumping up and down in place because its annoying...I mean...fun. Your husband is, well, a man, and typically he's bigger than you, or taller than you and his metabolism is different than yours. Our needs aren't the same as our husbands' needs.

Here's my situation...my husband is a "hard gainer" meaning, he can pack away 5,000-7,000 calories a day and maybe gain a few. He walks around with a 6-pack because he is so naturally lean, it's really just not fair...some may say he's thin, some say lean, whatever it is, the guy needs to eat more than he does. When he gets on a workout kick (which is few and very far between) he needs even more calories since he's burning some.  I blame this on years of high school and college wrestling requiring him to diet down from small to smaller (we're talking 3%-5% bodyfat at best), so now, he can just "forget" to eat (what?! how does that even happen?)

We went on vacation for 6 days and he gained 7 pounds...he weighed at the doctor, same scale same time of day 10 days apart....the man doesn't gain weight on my food for months! Clearly I need to cook with more oil and fats because that's what we ate all week and that's what he needs. Wait, did I mention his fitness goals are to gain weight? that might make more sense...to those of you whose mindset tends towards the losing weight scenarios.

So back to our nutrition issues.... how does a woman eat when she has a hungry man in the house and maybe even some growing little ones to feed to?  We have always been told that "mom is not a short-order cook" but what if you were, for you? Then you can cook what they need and still eat what you need. That is exactly what I tell my nutrition clients whose biggest complaint is that they can't get the small amount of good food they need because they are always cooking and eating what the rest of the family wants.  I have made it through baby weight-loss, competition prep and normal life now by figuring out how to incorporate what THEY eat and what I eat into one quick and easy cooking process.  It is pretty much an "overlap". We all need veggies, check. We all need a protein, check. We don't all need a filler/carb...so I cook everything together that I can and they get more of the filler (quinoa, sweet potato, brown rice, noodles...) and that would be my measured out portion of what I need or I just don't eat it and I make sure I measure or weight out the portion I need of the chicken/fish/ground turkey....

Here is a meal that I cook often:  (what you don't see is the Amie's GF/organic veggie chili I popped in the microwave for 2 mins. In this case the protein of the meal is different because I didn't want bean/veggie chili so I whipped up some scrambled egg whites...an awesome go-to!)

sweet potato puffs and Brussels sprouts
all cooked on the same pan!

caramelized some onion (totally optional)
and scrambled some egg whites while waiting for oven stuff.

Toddler gets this because she loves
sweet potato puffs and we make her eat the rest

Husband gets this massive pile of SP puffs (almost whole bag)
Brussels sprouts, plus chili and onions

I get this, 4 egg whites, enough puffs to satisfy
 and all the Brussels sprouts I want

See, easy-peasy. Just "overlap" your food so you aren't cooking two different meals. Eat the same healthy, lean protein (and if not then whip up some egg whites for your self, they go with everything!). It is perfectly fine to be a short-order cook if you are doing for your own benefit and health. It won't feel as bad either since you are doing something for yourself. You're eating healthier, smaller portions, keeping food cooking to a minimum and keeping cleaning low because you are using all the same pans.

I will do this with everything...I may have some more suggestions in a few days so keep checking here and Facebook for more meal ideas!

Happy, Healthy Day Friends!

New Year, New food mmmm...

So January is over and I am now asking about the resolutions you've made for 2014....why now? Because it's about now that you are probably moving on from them :)  Resolutions, goals, personal fixes, do-overs,...whatever you call them I want you to think about them as Superbowl Sunday approaches us this weekend!

One of my many goals I set for myself was to add more recipes. I used to do it a lot so I'm going to post more recipes and workouts per blog. The recipes will be gluten free and mostly dairy free so I hope I can help those of you who are just finding out you need to be either one, or both, of those. It's rough when trying to change how you eat/cook so if I can help I will certainly try. Eating healthy is pretty much the only way we eat in our house, not because we try so hard but mostly because that's the stuff I like, and I cook so it ends up that way. We do like to splurge but our splurges tend to be Thai or sushi which are not the worst we could choose.

Here's the deal though. I'm not a chef, not even a wonderful cook. But I love to eat and I hate to shop soooo that means that I've become really good at figuring out how to put together meals with whatever is in the cabinet and they usually end up tasty, if I do say so myself.  I also have a few rules when it comes to recipes that I use. Due to my laziness most recipes will have 6 ingredients or less and about 5 steps or less (most will include one step that says "put all ingredients in a bowl and stir" :) ) So if you want easy and fast...I'm your girl...wait, I mean...you'll like my food suggestions.

Here's a great one for the Superbowl:

Peanut butter balls...

we did this regularly as a kid, it may even be the first recipe i memorized. It is great for the sweet tooth but will fill you up.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup peanut butter (an all natural PB is recommended — the only ingredient necessary is crushed peanuts)
1 cup honey
3 cups rolled oats (oatmeal)
1 cup dried fruit (we like crasins in our house but mini dark chocolate or rasins would do)
unsweetened coconut

DIRECTIONS

Mix the first four ingredients together thoroughly. Form them into balls (makes about 10-12 depending on size) then roll them in the crushed nuts, granola cereal, or unsweetened coconut. Serve or refrigerate.

Nutrition Info:

Recipe yields four dozen quarter-sized balls.

Nutritional information per serving: 100 calories; 5 g fat; 0 mg cholesterol; 12.2 g carbohydrates; 2.8 g protein; 4.4 mg sodium; 1.5 g fiber; 7.1 g sugar

Super Workout:
10 "field goal" Crunch- Lay on back with arms and legs stretched out and raise shoulders up while lifting legs and hold for 2 counts.
10 supermans- (reverse of elongated crunch) Lay on belly and raise legs and arms, hold for 2 count and lower
10 out and in ab crunches
20 touchdowns- stand with feet apart take left hand and as you side step to the right you touch left hand to the right foot. Then side jump/step to the left and bend to touch right hand to left foot. Alternating sides.
10 Squat sidekicks each leg - squat and then kick leg to the side kind of like a roundhouse kick.
10 Switch lunge jumps
15 Single leg squat each side
10 run-downs...20 high knee run in place and drop down for a pushup then repeat
15 tricep dips.

Repeat this 1 to 5 times before the game starts then at least once at the end....so you don't snack too much!

Gluten-free meals for the day

Going gluten-free has been an interesting change for us. (Please see Gluten-free living page to see why we must eat this way). I am half Italian so carbs are a MUST in my life and as a fitness professional I understand that carbs are a necessary fuel for the body. Peanut butter on whole grain toast was my go-to for a pre-workout snack, whole wheat pasta with scrambled eggs and spinach topped with balsalmic vinegar was our quick but healthy dinner. I would never advise anyone to eat gluten-free unless they are sensetive to gluten, are breastfeeding a baby that is or are living with someone who is and you are supporting them. Whole grains are integral to a healthy diet- unless it makes you unhealthy that is.
Here is what we may eat on any given day:
Breakfast:
      -oatmeal with banana or blueberries
Snack:
      -apple and peanut butter
Lunch:
      -stir fry tofu with veggies
Snack:
      -flavored rice cakes and yogurt
Dinner:
      -stuffed bell pepper (ground turkey/cheese)
      -quinoa

Our favorite after dinner snack recipe...
Greek yogurt covered blueberries!

Fresh blueberries
Honey flavored greek yogurt
toothpicks

How to:   skewer berry, roll around in yogurt, put it on wax paper and repeat for remaining berries. Place wax paper in the freezer for about an hour and enjoy