Fitness Friday: Yoga Flow

Check out this Fitness Friday- Yoga Style with Karen sharing and Danielle demonstrating a Yoga Flow series.

Nutrition: LINDSAY, WHAT DO YOU EAT?

I get this question a lot:  Lindsay, what do YOU eat?  I actually love the question, but I stick to two words:  WHOLE FOODS—fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low fat dairy, fatty fish, lean meats/poultry, eggs, healthy oils, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, and minimal processed foods.  Of course it isn’t perfect and I do love my chocolate from time to time, but I can confidently say I stick to an H3 way of eating with some extra calories here and there—1200 calories per day would leave me passed out in my office if I tried to keep that up on a consistent basis.  No one wants that.  Anyways, the following foods and meals are constantly in my meal plan:

1. Pan Seared Salmon with Roasted Brussels Sprouts.  I am constantly making this dinner.  I have finally nailed down the cooking technique of pan searing fish then finishing the cooking in the oven.  As the Brussels sprouts are roasting in the oven, I’m doing my preparation for the salmon.  In regards to meal planning, I’ll make extra salmon and Brussels to incorporate later on in the week.


2. Chicken Salads.  I would bet 3 out of my 7 lunches per week consist of a salad.  I bake 3-4 chicken breasts on a Sunday; meanwhile, I spend time chopping vegetables and adding mixed greens into my salad containers as the chicken is cooking away.  This is when I have to get creative or my salads would get boring after week 2.  Common mix-ins:  cucumber, cherry tomatoes, carrots, blueberries, sunflower seeds, cashews, toasted coconut, leftover roasted vegetables, raisins, cranberries, feta cheese (use a light brand), and various leafy greens.  See picture. 


3. Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Sautéed Spinach.  I love using the grill so I’ll put grill marks onto the pork tenderloin then finish in the oven.  As the pork is cooking through, I add my sweet potatoes to the oven and make sure they are seasoned with a touch of salt, white pepper and garlic powder.  My very last step is sautéing the spinach because it cooks up so fast—makes my life easier since I’ve spent more time on the pork and sweet potatoes.


4. Hashes.  Talk about an easy re-heatable meal.  As seen in the picture, I roasted off extra sweet potatoes and while that was roasting I decided to sauté onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers (seasoned with salt, pepper and thyme).  Once the sweet potatoes were complete I added them to the vegetable mix and let it cool down.  I evenly distribute my “hash” to my containers and add leftover pork tenderloin for a nice lunch or dinner later in the week.  This would also be very vegetarian friendly by incorporating black beans instead of the pork tenderloin.


5. Nuts.  Everyone in the kitchen knows that this is my daily metabomeal.  As long as I portion them out, they are great mid-afternoon and holds me over until dinner.  Added bonus—they add texture to a lot of dishes.  I love making salads or rice pilafs with sliced almonds or chopped pecans to get the crunch.


6. Omelets and Scrambles—the perfect “back-up meal.”  Every now and then I get home later than expected and the thought of waiting an hour for dinner isn’t realistic.  I’ll pull out mushrooms, onions and spinach and let that cook down.  Once cooked, I add some eggs and make a nice scramble.   A touch of parmesan at the end gives me that little bit of saltiness needed.  On the side, I may have a toasted whole wheat English muffin or some fruit.  I love this because I always have these ingredients in the refrigerator.

At the end of the day, I am a home cook—I am not fancy and I am still learning a lot from Chef Karla and Chef Hicham.  They inspire me to try new things, but I know I have to make it realistic at home.  I’ll have a slice of pizza every now and then and there is nothing I love more than an awesome burger, but I know I have the ability to cook so why not DO IT, have some fun and know that it is only benefiting my health as well as creating my own specialties.

Healthy Recipe: ASIAN CHICKEN SALAD

ASIAN CHICKEN SALAD

Ingredients

Chicken Marinade:

1/3 cup Low sodium soy sauce

1/3 cup Brown sugar

1/3 cup Water

2 ½ teaspoons Green Onion, chopped

2 ½ teaspoons Fresh ginger minced

Dressing:

1 ½ tablespoons Sesame oil

1 ½ tablespoons Olive oil

½ tablespoon Fresh ginger

2 ½ tablespoons Sugar

3 tablespoons Rice wine vinegar

3 ½ teaspoons Oyster sauce

½ tablespoon Cilantro

¼ teaspoons Salt

4 teaspoons Water

¼ teaspoon Garlic

1 Roasted poblano, peeled and chopped

Salad:

12 cups Cabbage, shredded

2 cups Red bell peppers, julienned

½ cup Ramen noodles, raw, chopped

2 Chicken breast (4 ounces each)

Method

• Combine all marinade ingredients into a large bowl or Ziploc bag.


• Add the chicken to the marinade, allow to marinade at least 2 hours or overnight.


• Combine all dressing ingredients into a blender. Blend until smooth.


• Bake chicken breast until cooked through, about 14-16 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Allow the chicken to carry over cook to 165 degrees.


• Once the chicken is perfectly cooked, shred it.


• Combine cooked chicken, cabbage and peppers tossed in dressing and top with raw ramen noodles.

Serves: 4

Serving Size: 1 Salad= 3 cups cabbage/1/2 cup bell peppers/2 tablespoons ramen/ 2 ounces chicken/2 ounces dressing

Calories: 371

Fat: 10.5 grams

Protein: 15 grams

Friday Fitness: Grab Your Bike & Go!

We at H3  truly enjoy the sport of biking – especially time of year.  With more than 80 miles of trails and 12 miles of flat beaches, Hilton Head Island is the perfect place to enjoy the outdoors—and go for a bike ride.

As the spring weather is finally upon us, we challenge you to pull your bike out of the garage (if you haven’t already), lace up your sneakers and go for a bike ride! If biking is already a part of your fitness routine, spice it up by trying one of these ideas:

• Create your own SPIN session by using one of our H3Daily interval workouts on your bike


• Grab some friends and go on a nature bike tour—it’s a great opportunity to learn even more about where you live


• If possible, bike to work—it’s not only a great built-in workout at the beginning and end of your day, but it’s good for the environment

Announing New Executive Chef Hicham Elmadi

 



Chef Hicham has previously led fine-dining restaurants in Spain, Italy, France and most recently Atlanta, Georgia.  His arrival at Hilton Head Health marks an expanded commitment to healthy, natural food from locally sourced, sustainable ingredients.  H3 is thrilled to have Chef Hicham with us.  The following link is an in-depth description of his culinary background.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/02/prweb11600345.htm

Is Sleep Deprivation Weighing You Down?

One of my earlier blog posts was recently referenced. It was entitled The Weight of Sleep Deprivation and provided some insight into the relationship between sleep deprivation and weight gain. It also provided some excellent resources for those you want to take some steps to improve the quality of your sleep. The resources are still current, and after seeing how the evidence continues to accumulate strengthening that association, you may want check out that post again.

As mentioned in the previous post, two hormones that influence appetite, leptin and ghrelin, are very much influenced by sleep deprivation. The quick review is that we want our leptin level appropriately high because leptin suppresses appetite, and we want our ghrelin low because it stimulates appetite. A University of Chicago study found that participants who slept only 4 hours for 2 nights had an 18% decrease in leptin and a 28% increase in ghrelin—resulting in a 45% increase in appetite, in particular for high refined and calorie dense foods.

Two studies presented at Sleep 2012: Associated Professional Sleep Societies 36^th Annual Meeting, suggest sleep deprivation selectively and significantly impairs brain activity in the frontal lobe, a region critical for controlling behavior and making complex decisions such as what and how much to eat.

Not only would you gain weight as a result of the extra caloric intake, a study at Wake Forest University suggests that sleep deprived people gain more of the risky belly fat.

Common sense says this but Obesity Source at the Harvard School of Public Health reports that people who are sleep deprived are more tired during the day and less likely to participate in physically active activities. They also spend more time watching TV and pursuing other sedentary activities. As one of my favorite quotes from James Loehr says...

Let’s stop for a moment and review. Studies now show that people who are sleep deprived have significantly increased cravings for high calorie foods, have impaired activity in very part of the brain that might help them resist those craving, if they over eat, more fat is stored as dangerous belly (visceral) fat; and as a result being tired or exhausted, the last thing you feel like doing is exercising or preparing a healthy meal for that matter.

It should, therefore, that a study presented at the American Heart Association’s 2012 Scientific Session found that sleep deprivation had a tremendous impact on caloric intake. Researchers studied 17 healthy, young men and women for eight nights, with half of the participants sleeping normally and half sleeping only two thirds their normal time. Participants ate as much as they wanted. The sleep deprived group consumed an average of 550 additional calories a day. That’s right, 550 calories a day! Another study published in the journal Obesity Reviews, found that compared to those who got 7-9 hours of sleep nightly, those getting 6 hours were 27% more likely to become obese—and those getting 5 hours or less were 78% more likely to become obese.

It is time to acknowledge that sleep is not a luxury, but an essential component of a healthy, weight maintaining lifestyle.

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Healthy Recipe: Moroccan Couscous

[caption id="attachment_11065" align="alignright" width="400"] Moroccan Couscous[/caption]

INGREDIENTS:

 

1 Tablespoon  Vegetable Oil
½ each Onion, diced

1 each Roma tomato, seeds in, diced

Pinch  Saffron

½ Teaspoon Tumeric

½ Teaspoon Ginger, ground

½ Teaspoon Black pepper, ground

To Taste Salt

4 Cups Water or Stock

¼ Cup Carrot, diced

¼ Cup Turnip, diced

¼ Cup Butternut Squash, diced

¼ Cup Zucchini, diced

¼ Cup  Yellow Squash, diced

¼ Cup Garbanzo beans

¼ Cup Peas

½ Cup Couscous

PREPARATION:

• Collect all ingredients. On medium, heat oil.


• Sauté vegetable oil, onion, roma tomatoes, saffron, turmeric, ginger, black pepper, and salt on low for 10 minutes.


• Add water for stock, boil for 20 minutes.


• Add carrots and turnips, cook for 5 minutes.


• Add butternut squash, cook for 5 more minutes.


• Add the rest of the vegetables and cook until all are tender.


• Drain, reserve broth and vegetables, and keep warm.


• Mix the couscous with the broth, covering ¼ inch above. Cover with plastic and let set for 15 minutes.


• Fluff cous cous with fork. Plate and place the vegetables on top. Add extra broth if needed.

 

Servings:   2

Serving size:  1/2 cup

Calories:   180