How to Spruce up your Chicken or Tuna Salad

If you're in a whole "New Year New You" weight loss craze right now and are in a frenzy looking for light and tasty meals (or even if you're not; I'm not), this is one of them.  For some reason, I always see dieting people eating chicken or tuna salad, and not really enjoying it.

First of all, if you're trying to lose weight, watch how much mayo you use.  Everything else is on point for a healthy lifestyle.

Second, I use this same recipe for both my chicken and tuna salad with the exception of the boiled eggs.  Those generally only go in my tuna, but don't taste bad in the chicken.  Also, I do not have a problem with celery per se, but I do have a problem with it in things.  It is one of those weird texture things, and I can only eat it alone or with a nut butter.  Off topic.

Anyhow, this particular day I made chicken salad.  I took inspiration for this recipe from my friend after the first time I had chicken salad at her house, and I am never going back to the old ways.

What you'll need:

• 2 large (12.5oz for chicken; 9oz for tuna) cans of chicken or tuna (packed in water), drained
• 1 medium apple, diced
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup natural sliced almonds
• 2 T mayo or Miracle Whip
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 stalk celery, diced (optional)
• 2 boiled eggs, diced (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

You can also sprinkle in some parsley and basil if you're feeling froggy, but I did not do that this time.

What to do:

In a medium size bowl, toss diced apple in lemon juice to completely coat and set aside to soak.  This will hinder the oxidation process and prevent your apples from turning an ugly brown color.  Also, you get a fresh lemon flavor in your salad.

In a separate bowl, finely shred your meat with two forks (seriously, why did I never think to do this??).  Add mayo and spices and stir until all of the meat coated with mayo.

Remove apple from lemon juice (or keep the juice if you want some added citrus flavor in your salad) and add to chicken/tuna along with the almonds, celery, and eggs.  Stir until you have a nice even mixture.

Serve with crackers, on a sandwich, or just eat it out of the bowl with a fork.

Enjoy!

Makes about 4 servings.

Black Bean and Sweet Potato (Vegan) Chili

I recently went through a weird period in my food life where all I could seem to put in my body was crap foods.  For about two straight weeks I was eating all the wrong things, feeling sluggish, and my weight was fluctuating more than usual.  My solution was to make it through an entire week of eating only vegan meals.  I figured it would be a good cleanse as well as a project that would get me back on track with my normal eating routine.

During this week I discovered some tasty foods that I plan on making again and again as well as some foods I will never ever ever make again.  It was a learning experience, and I managed to actually lose about 3lbs. One of my favorite meals I made was vegan chili.  The recipe I used as a guideline can be found here, but of course I could never follow a recipe exactly, so I'm posting the way I made mine.  It was so freaking delicious I will never make ground beef chili again.

I believe I have a homemade chili recipe on here somewhere.  As you might be able to tell from that, I like to make sweet chili.  I always make sweet cornbread and crumble it into my chili.  This vegan chili is already sweet, and it has way less calories than regular chili.  Not only do you not get the calories and fat from the ground beef, you also don't have to add any cornbread.  The sweet potatoes, corn, and carrots give it the exact same flavor as regular chili with sweet cornbread crumbled in.  And it's just as filling! You absolutely cannot go wrong with this recipe.

What you'll need:

• 1 small onion, chopped (or half of a medium to large onion)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced (I actually got really lucky and found a head of garlic with GIANT cloves, so I only needed one)
• 1 green bell pepper, diced and deseeded
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1 tbs chili powder
• (1) 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1 large carrot or 10-12 baby carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 3/4 - 2 cups frozen corn (or one can drained)
• (3) 15.25oz cans black beans, drained but not rinsed
• 1/2 small jar of salsa (I used Tostito's Restaurant Style)
• (1) 14oz can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
• salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

Heat oil in the bottom of a large pot over medium heat.  Add onions and cook about 3 minutes.  Add bell pepper and continue to saute for another 4 minutes, or until pepper is soft.  Add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds until fragrant.  Add cumin and chili pepper and saute for another 2 minutes.

Add crushed tomatoes and mix together.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir them all together in the pot.  Bring the chili to a boil.  Reduce heat and let simmer covered on medium-low heat for about 30 minutes, and then uncovered for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes and carrots are cooked all the way through.

Serves about 6-8.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 1 hr 10 minutes
Total time: 1 hr 20 minutes

15 Ways to Burn Extra Calories without Changing your Daily Routine

You're already eating healthy, but you're having trouble finding time to work out between work, kids, and maintaining your househould (if you're doing this last one, then you're already doing better than me).  Well, believe it or not, there are small ways that you can burn extra calories without having to find time to do them.  Yes, you can burn calories without changing your daily routine.

1. Park farther away.
Whenever you get to work or the grocery store, park farther away than you normally would, even if it's only by a few parking spaces at first.  Those extra steps add up.  Try working your way up to to moving farther and farther away from the entrance.


2. Return the buggy.
Instead of leaving your grocery basket in the parking spot next to you, return it to a designated buggy corral.  Or, if you're feeling froggy, bring it back into the store.


3. Swing your arms.
The more parts of your body that are working, the more calories you are burning.  Adding a little swing in your step can subtract a few more calories.


4. March while you sit.
This is great if you have a desk job or are a student who spends a lot of time sitting.  Lifting your legs up and down in a marching motion can not only work out your leg muscles, but also help with circulation.


5. Do heel raises while you brush your teeth.
Start off doing 15 every time you brush your teeth.  Increase by one every day (or every other day) until you get to doing 50 standing
heel raises every time you brush your teeth.  This small workout tones all of the muscles in the back of your leg.

Img src: http://www.coastrehab.com/blog/wp-content/images/2011/08/heelraises1.gif

6. Work out your arms while you cook.

While you're waiting for the water to boil or the lasagna to bake, grab a couple of canned goods from your pantry and experiment with different ways of toning your arms.

7. Dance and clean.

Turn up the music, and shake it while you work.

Img src: http://mlblogsjaneheller.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/dancing-woman21.gif?w=327&h=537

8. Prepare your own meal.

Believe it or not, cooking and food preparation burns calories.  Just ask MyFitnessPal.  As an alternative to frozen dinners and fast food, chop up your own veggies.

9. Chew gum.

Yes, this actually burns a small amount of calories.  It also helps you resist the urge to snack.

10. Laugh.

Tell a joke.  Listen to a comedy station on your drive home.  Laughing not only burns calories, it works your ab muscles and helps you unwind after a long day.

11. Leg exercises while watching TV.

Or even when you're reading.  Do this as an alternative to just sitting still will help you burn more calories for the day and tone your legs.

12. Do jumping jacks before every shower.

What are you doing while you're waiting for the water to get hot?  Nothing.  Do some jumping jacks (or push-ups).  No matter how many you do, you're already burning more calories than you were before.

13. Tighten your core.

Every time you think about it, suck in your belly and tighten your abs.  Do it every time you stop at a red light, or every time you hear a commercial on the radio.  Just whenever you think about it, tighten it.

14. Fidget.

This burns more calories that you would think.  You know your friends who have a naturally high metabolism?  Not the ones who work out, but the ones who can eat like crap all the time and still manage to stay thin?  Watch them and see how often they actually sit still.
Tap or wiggle your feet when you sit, roll your chair back and forth, move around.

15. Wear heels.

Anyone who has ever walked a flight of stairs in heels can tell you that that is much more of a workout that climbing stairs in flats.  Wear the highest pair of heels you own (carefully, of course) to vacuum in, to do squats in, or clean the kitchen.

Burning calories does not have to be awful, and you don't have to take extra time out of your day to do any of these things.  No more excuses.

10 Things to Remember when You're Losing Weight

Let's face it.  Losing weight sucks.  I mean... you read all of these motivational posts about how good it feels, and how "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels," and you think, "Bull crap."  Sure, the closer you get to the end result, the better you feel, but that doesn't make the process any more appealing.

I have compiled a list of what you should be reminding yourself frequently throughout your journey.

1. In order to lose weight, you must create a calorie deficit.  That is, you must burn more calories than you consume.  The easiest way to make sure you're doing this is to keep track of everything you put in your mouth.  I've heard people say, "I've tried counting calories; it doesn't work for me."  Maybe because you have to train yourself to see it through.  There are websites and apps that do the counting for you.  MyFitnessPal is my favorite.  They tell you how many calories you should take in a day to lose your desired amount of weight and give you get an estimate of how many calories you burn during certain activities.

You do not have to do this during your entire weight loss journey.  However, I do recommend that you use it every day for at least a month to get an idea of how many calories certain foods have.  I used it for several months, and it helped me be more conscious of what I was putting in my body.  Just because something seems healthy, does not mean you can eat too much of it.  You might wonder why you haven't lost any weight, even after you start eating healthy.  It's all about the math.

2. 80% of your weight loss is in the kitchen, which means that you can lose weight without stepping foot in a gym.  It also means that you cannot afford to eat like crap just because you exercise.  You can use exercise to help you create that deficit, but you still have to eat in order to refuel your body after a hard workout.  You have to find that balance, and be careful not to take in excess calories when refueling.  

By no means am I tell you not to exercise!  Please, exercise!  It's good for your heart and tightens your body.  When you lose weight, your body will stay soft if you do not do some sort of toning exercises to compliment your weight loss.  Also, don't forget that toned muscles burn calories when at rest.

3. Carbs do not make you fat!  Excess calories make you fat.  Your body needs carbs for energy, and they should include around half of your diet.  Remember that many foods have carbs, not just bread.  If you're using an app to track your calories, it should also tell you have many essential nutrients you are taking in.  MFP keeps a pie graph for you to see where your calories are going.

All of this considered, mind the oils and butters that you choose to flavor your bread with.  Also, try whole wheat bread as an alternative to white, sugary breads.

4. Fat does not make you fat!  Again, excess calories make you fat.  And while you want to limit the fats you take in (because they do have a higher calorie count), they are not all that awful.  Plus, foods with fat taste much better than foods without fat.

5.  Mind the alcohol.  I went through bottles of Hydroxycut with no success before I realized that I was drinking all of my calories.  I went out with some girlfriends one night and consumed (please, don't judge) five lemon drop martinis.  (I'm not even going to mention the boudin and frito pie I ate afterwards...)  A few days later, I did some math and realized that those drinks were my entire calorie budget for a day.  Now, I at this point, I had already been having 1-3 drinks at least 3 nights a week.  After that, I opted for vodka and water with a few lime slices squeezed in.  Yummy and effective.

6. Men lose easier than women.  As much as it sucks, it's a fact of life.  Something is programmed in our DNA that says we need those extra inches on our hips and thighs.  Something about childbearing and breastfeeding, or some crap.  Well, guess what, Mother Nature?  I'm done bearing children, and I'm done with these thighs.  Deal with it.

Basically, try not to get discouraged when your husband, who is also dieting to make you happy, starts losing much more weight than you.  There's not much you can do about it.  Forget about him and his disappearing mass.

7. Set realistic goals.  Numbers are the devil.  Seriously.  Unless your doctor tells you to lose Xlbs, you probably shouldn't set a number goal.  Hell, you might want to get down to 135, but realize that you look absolutely fab at 140.  Why stress about those 5 pounds if you look awesome?  Or, you might find that you're still not happy when you reach your number goal.  Why would that be so?  Because all it is is a number on a scale.  Not much satisfaction in that.  Try setting goals that are realistic and satisfying.

• "I want to fit in my wedding/ graduation dress."
• "I want to look good in a bikini."
• "I want to wear a certain brand of jeans."
• "My goal is to have abs."
• "I want to eliminate junk food and be healthy inside and out."

These are all realistic and attainable goals.  At one point, my goal was to weigh 125lbs.  It seemed realistic at the time.  There are people taller than me who weigh 115 and are healthy.  I got to 128lbs.  I could not seem to lose those last few pounds, and I was miserable from trying.  I could not eat less without starving, and I could not accept the progress I had already made.  Plus, I had lost most of the mass in my butt, which I was also unhappy with.  I have since decided that being fit is so much more satisfying than being a number on a scale.

8. Do not deprive yourself.  This goes for desserts AND food.  Cravings are completely normal.  Losing weight is about discipline and self control.  However, if you find yourself absolutely needing chocolate, give in a little.  One candy bar is not going to undo all of your progress.  If it makes you feel better, find a way to work it into your calorie budget.  If you deprive yourself of a tasty treat (or food in general), you will make yourself crazy and end up binge eating, which is so much worse than eating one Snicker's bar.

9. Don't forget about the food groups!  In your quest of keeping track of calories, don't forget about nutrition.  Every food group has different things to offer, and you need all of them every day.  You won't get it all right at first.  You have to find the right balance of calories and nutrition through trial and error.  But once you have it down, it will be effortless.

10. Be positive!  Losing weight takes time.  You will not see results immediately, but you will start seeing them soon enough.  You have to wake up in the morning and say, "I got this."  You cannot mope around.  Being mopey makes you sluggish and will probably lead you to start eating your feelings.  If you're having an off day, remind yourself of the progress you have already made and how awesome you are doing!

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Losing weight is not easy.  Changing your lifestyle is not easy.  At times, it can turn into an emotional roller coaster.  Times like that, we need reminders that it is all going to be okay.  You are awesome, and you can do this!

Note: I am not a doctor, nutritionist, or trained fitness expert.  Although, I could be.  I did take a nutrition class.  Anyhow, my blog should not be substituted for professional medical advice.  (But, c'mon.  Really.)