All You Can Feed On

Personal Chef To Go and the Glycemic Index

The Glycemic Index (GI) is a popular and excellent tool for assisting you in determining which foods are best to eat or avoid for managing glucose (blood sugar) levels or for weight loss. As a Type 2 Diabetic focused on weight-loss, I refer to the Glycemic Index often. Think of it as a popularity contest for carbohydrates. Good carbs are more popular, while bad carbs don’t have many friends. The GI is literally a ranking system for carbohydrates on a scale from 0-100, according to how much they raise blood sugar levels after eating.

Foods with a high glycemic index (100 being the highest) are rapidly digested and absorbed. These types of foods are known to mark fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Low GI foods are generally slow to digest and are not absorbed as quickly. They produce gradual rises in blood sugar and insulin levels—they also have proven health benefits too. Low glycemic foods help with glucose levels and weight control because good carbs help control and delay hunger so you feel fuller, longer.

Generally, a low GI diet will push you toward healthy foods for consistent glucose levels and weight-loss. You’re going to want to eat more whole-grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meats and proteins.

Here are a few glycemic index examples to put things in perspective.

• High: 70 and up. Examples in this category include instant and long-grain white rice, certain kinds of brown rice, plain white bread, most potatoes, and watermelon, to name just a few. These are foods you’d want to stay away from, or eat only sparingly and earlier in the day.

• Medium: 56 to 69. Examples include sweet corn, bananas, raw pineapple, raisins and certain types of ice cream. Foods in this classification should be eaten in moderation. Use your best judgment, though, as falling into an equivalent GI classification does not mean that two foods are equal in nutritional value as well. Case in point – ice cream. More often than not, you should opt for the fruits and vegetables in this classification.

• Low: 55 and under. Examples include raw carrots, peanuts, raw apple, grapefruit, peas, skim milk, kidney beans, lentils, and white spaghetti (boiled).

Can a low GI diet slash your medication costs?

Medication can be extremely expensive and a diet made up of low glycemic index foods can absolutely slash your medication costs.  When you eat better, your body works better—this is based on real science and the unique knowledge that food is medicine.

Don’t know where to start? Let Personal Chef To Go help!

At Personal Chef To Go, the glycemic index is one of many tools that we use to ensure that our entrees are perfectly suited for healthy weight loss. That’s because, almost by default, a low glycemic index diet will include more fresh fruits and vegetables, more fiber, more dairy and more lean protein—all foods that offer essential nutrients, and are more likely to be lower in calories in the first place.

If you’re one of those people who cringe at the idea of having to count calories or track what you’re eating, Personal Chef To Go’s meal plans will be extremely beneficial to you. Our chefs work together to make sure that every bite of delicious food that we deliver follows this proven approach for healthier eating.

Let us assist you in reaching your goals!

For these reasons, we encourage you to give us a try (if you haven’t already) if even for just a few short weeks and here are two easy ways to do it:

Ordering our Dinner Only service (5 meals) is a great way to try us out for a week, and it’s just $69.50 (shipping or delivery costs are calculated separately based on your location). Use coupon code "IntroA" and get an additional 10% off your initial order. We'll even take $10 dollars off each meal delivery if you decide on an Autoship order after your first order.

If you're in the the Richmond, Virginia area, you can pop in to our kitchen in Mechanicsville, Monday through Friday, 10 AM to 6PM and pick up a Grab n' Go meal or two to try out. Right now when you buy any 2 entrees you'll receive $2 off any salad! The offerings change weekly so there's always something healthy and delicious to choose from!

The great thing about our low GI menus is that you do not have to wait until you reach your weight-loss goals to start seeing results. The vast majority of our Autoship subscription members see weight loss results quickly, and have reported being able to reduce blood pressure and diabetes medications. Some have even able to come off of them entirely and are able to maintain healthier weight and a healthier lifestyle with one of our  Personal Chef To Go meal plan services!

Why wait to see results, when you can begin today?

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What We Need to Know About Glucose. ~ Lisa Richards

The Glycemic Index: What's the Big Deal?

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Benefits Of A Low Glycemic Approach To Eating

Make Meal Planning Easy

One of the best investments in our future is to feed our kids right. The next best investment—feed yourself right. Understanding how eating choices affect health, quality of life and future is analogous to financial planners' simple view of investing—contribute now and you'll reap the benefits long term. 

Our "fast food" and hectic lifestyle supports eating on the go but they do not support health. A recent national magazine brought this point to heart. Americans are collectively more than 5 billion pounds overweight with nearly 70% of our population overweight or obese.

Eating for health does not mean driving up to a fast-food window, eating your brown bag meal within minutes, gulping it down while driving and talking on your cell phone, hoping you'll make it to the kids' game on time. Sound familiar? What it does mean is taking the time to plan, prepare, and savor the benefits of your knowledge and investment, and focus on food and the act of eating as a fundamental aspect of well-being. 

Planning healthy meals involves a few basic rules that everyone in the family should learn. Considerations should include the amount of time available for meal planning and preparation, family likes and dislikes, and choosing from a variety of foods to meet you and your family's nutritional needs.

The first step in providing healthy meals for you and your family is making the process simple and easy. The days of reading through cookbooks for fresh meal ideas or experimenting with new recipes are foreign to most of us—we are just too busy. The focus should be on the balance and variety of proper nutrients that will support our busy and stressful lifestyles and promote optimal health. This is where we can help!

You can choose from a number of healthy and delicious meal plans to suit your needs  Eat   like a pampered celebrity at surprisingly reasonable prices with heart healthy meals delivered weekly to your door!  

• Family Favorites. Each week our chefs create a delicious four entree menu complete with one to two side dishes and whole grain rolls to compliment the main course. Kid-tested and Mom Approved, each weekly menu is always delivered fresh and never frozen and ready in minutes. Who says there is no time to sit down to a great family dinner at home?

• Couples On The Go. You can make time for relaxed, gourmet dining at home every night of the week. Plus there is no extensive shopping for groceries that often gets thrown out after they spoil, (yuck) or piles of dirty dishes to clean up.

• Busy Singles. Sometimes there just isn't enough time to eat well at home. That's why we created this plan with you in mind. You can relax after a hard day and refuel your body with the finest and freshest meals available. Your busy singles plan keeps you well fed with minimal effort and time. You demand the best and we deliver it without wasting a minute of your precious time.

• Lunch and Dinner. Each week we prepare another guilt- free gourmet menu that features three hot lunch entrees, and two composed salads, plus five dinner entrees from our Busy Singles menu. Let our chef’s pamper you with affordable, heart-healthy, lunches and dinners during your busy work week and you’ll wonder how you managed before without us!

• Dinner Only. Perfect as a sampler or when you only need a few nights of pampering. Five individually packaged dinners consisting of a single serving of the five weekly entrees from the Couples on the Go menu are included in this package.

Meal planning doesn't have to be overwhelming and something foreign to us or our children. Learning and teaching our children the role food plays in our health, is one of the greatest contributions you can make in their investment for health.

Let Personal Chef To Go be your meal planner and investor in the health of your family!

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Hundreds Are Choosing Healthy Living

Since the launch of Personal Chef To Go in 2003, many of you have chosen  a healthier lifestyle, and have decided to take the initiative of changing your lives for the better.

We're thrilled with the feedback we’ve heard from all the people who are deciding to choose healthy living. It motivates us to continue our mission to helping people change their lives by making healthier choices.

Here is a recap of just some of the feedback we’ve received of people who are choosing a smart and healthy lifestyle.

"Chef Gene Castelluccio & Chef Blair Grossman, two formally trained award winning chefs, have collaborated to bring FRESH, healthy meals to the front doors across the U.S. We can now enjoy their many wonderful recipes – all prepared & ready to just heat up. They are delivered fresh (not frozen), and each meal is labeled with complete nutritional info. Choose from different weekly services. You receive an entire week of fresh (guaranteed) meals. Each week the menus change. Even gluten-free meals! About $14/meal including the shipping- that is less than our local deli, and this food is really delicious." -Food411.com

"I heard about Personal Chef To Go from a friend and decided to give it a try. The quality and taste of the food was excellent and the portions were generous. We have ordered the family style option to feed our family of four and have been more than satisfied. There is no better feeling than to open the refrigerator and see the neatly stacked boxes of gourmet food waiting for me to heat for the week. On several occasions I have given PCTG meals to friends that are in need of a little TLC-a friend that just has a baby and another grieving from the loss of a loved one. They said it was just what they needed at the time. I would recommend it to anyone! I have used other local food delivery services and PCTG blows them away in terms of taste, quality, creativity and portion size." -Sarah Gobble 

"We have been enjoying Personal Chef To Go meals for the past several years. The meals are wonderfully flavored and appropriately portioned. We lead a busy life with three active teenagers. Unfortunately, that means several evenings a week that we can't all eat together. It is very convenient to have an excellent variety of professionally prepared meals available at any time. In fact, we have frozen the meals to enjoy at a later date." -Erik Roper

"I am a working woman who is not always up for cooking dinner when I get home - however that doesn't mean my husband and I aren't up for enjoying a good meal after a long, hard day. We absolutely refuse to eat fast food. And we don't have the time or money to dine out every night. Besides that, good nutrition is very important to us. We try to be careful about what we eat, looking for fresh & healthy ingredients (without forgoing good flavor).

Personal Chef To Go is the perfect solution; the menu is absolutely 5 star in our book! The food is cooked fresh, flavored delicately in a way that is sure to please, and delivered right to our door. PCTG takes pride in creating meals that are low in fat yet high in flavor, and to our amazement, the cost of a weeks worth of meals is unbelievably reasonable! Dinnertime used to be dreaded; now it is anticipated! Thank you!!!"-Two Very Happy Customers     

If you want to choose health, and gain some fantastic rewards in the process, please visit our website, our blog,  on Twitter or on Facebook and join Personal Chef To Go in it's commitment to healthy living!

Too Hot To Cook

Heat dome, heat wave, heat attack — we don't care what you call it — it is just way too hot! Yes, the heat has wrapped its sticky fingers around us, but food can be a relief as well as a chore in the heat. It's hard to get up the willpower to walk into the kitchen on a hot summer day. Just preheating an oven can feel like you're upping the temperature in the house by 10 degrees.

The key to surviving cooking in the summer is simple: Just Don’t!

It sounds obvious, but it's easy to forget in the midst of a hot, sticky day. You probably can't go out to eat at an air conditioned restaurant seven nights a week, but you can still fill yourself with tasty grub.

Let Personal Chef to Go do your cooking for you! We prepare healthy, delicious gourmet meals for everyone. Whether you’re single, a couple or you have a family we have a meal service perfect for you! Here are a few suggestions:

Busy Singles

When it’s hot and your schedule is full, there just isn't enough time to eat well at home. That's why we created this plan with you in mind. Your busy singles plan keeps you well fed with minimal effort and time. You demand the best and we deliver it without wasting a minute of your precious time.

Couples On The Go

You can make time for relaxed, gourmet dining at home during your busy summer. There’s no extensive shopping for groceries that are often tossed out or composted after they spoil, or piles of dirty dishes to clean up. Relax after a full day and refuel your body with the finest and freshest meals available.

Family Favorites

Kid-Tested and Mom-Approved for summers packed with play dates, day camp, swimming lessons and day trips out with the kids. Each weekly menu is delivered right to your door and because it’s always fresh and never frozen, its ready in minutes. Each week our chefs create a delicious four entree menu complete with one to two side dishes to compliment the main course, including fresh whole grain rolls. Who says there is no time to sit down to a great family dinner at home during the summer?

So there’s no need to panic, when there’s so much to do and so little time to do it and you start to see the phrase "back-to-school" get bandied about (seriously guys, already?). Personal Chef to Go is here help with no mess, no stress and almost zero time in the kitchen. Even better there’s no standing around the grill in the heat. It's still summer, let's celebrate!

We’d love to hear how you celebrate summer with Personal Chef to Go? Tell us!

Portion Control Made Easy With Personal Chef To Go

We live in a super-size society. Fast food portions have grown two to five times their original size in the last 20 years and our own homemade meals aren’t far behind. A result of these larger portions is that obesity rates are on the rise. 

Americans are now so conditioned to eating large amounts that most cannot recognize appropriate portions anymore. Brian Wansink, PH.D. illustrates this issue in a study detailed in his book, Mindless Eating. Wansink’s “bottomless soup bowl experiment” looked at what diners would do if their bowl never became empty. During a dining scenario, unsuspecting diners had bowls that used hidden tubing and a clever knowledge of physics to stay partially full. The results of the study showed that diners with a bottomless bowl unknowingly ate 78% more than those with the standard bowl! 

Similarly, a study by the American Institute for Cancer Research revealed that 78% of Americans think that the kind of food they choose is more important in managing their weight than the volume of food they consume. Consequently, many trendy diet plans gain popularity because of their policy to allow you to eat limitless amounts of certain types of foods while cutting out others completely; however, most health experts recommend eating smaller portions of a wider variety of foods rather than eliminating foods when dieting. 

Confused about portion sizes yourself? Keep these examples of realistic food portions in your mind’s eye to help you choose appropriately:  

• One serving of milk, yogurt or pudding (1 cup) is about the size of a small fist. 
• One serving of meat, chicken or fish (3 ounces) is the size of a deck of cards or your palm (not including the fingers). 
  
• One serving of pasta, rice, oatmeal, potatoes or cooked vegetables (1/2 cup) is about the size of  a hockey puck or one cupped hand. 
  
• One serving of cheese (1 ounce) is the size of the end of your thumb. 
  
• One serving of butter, oil or margarine (1 teaspoon) is about the size of a stamp or the tip of your pinky. 
  
• One serving of salad dressing (2 tablespoons) is about the size of a standard ice cube.s
• One serving of raw vegetables (1 cup) is about the size of a baseball or two hands cupped together.
• Two teaspoons of regular mayonnaise are about the same size as two dice and equal one fat serving, or about 45 calories.
• One small apple is about the same size as a tennis ball and equals one fruit serving, or about 60 calories. The same is true for a medium orange, which is also the size of a tennis ball and about 60 calories.
• One and a half to 2 ounces of low-fat hard cheddar cheese are about the same size as three to four dice and equal one protein/dairy serving, or about 110 calories.

 Restaurants have begun to recognize the appeal that portion control has for consumers; for example, one popular restaurant chain launched a new meal portion size option that is two thirds the size of their original servings. There are other easy ways to indulge in delicious foods without scrutinizing your plate, too. Pre-portioned entrées such as the fresh and healthy offerings from Personal Chef To Go are a perfect solution! 

Since many people feel that they don’t have the time to measure out proper portions, Personal Chef To Go’s delicious and nutritious meal plans have been designed to take the guesswork out of choosing the appropriate portions. Our perfectly portioned variety of freshly prepared food can help to train your eyes and stomach to learn what true servings sizes should be. 

Besides being easy, the Personal Chef To Go philosophy works! A University of Illinois study found that women who followed a 1,365-calorie diet in which they ate two packaged entrées a day shed about 5 pounds more in 8 weeks than those who were instructed to follow a diet (with the same number of calories) based on the food pyramid. 

Let portion control help you achieve your healthy lifestyle goals by considering these additional tips:

• Choose a variety of foods from all of the sections of the Food Guide. For example, the Personal Chef To Go, Healthy Baked Chicken Parmesan when partnered with one cup of fresh berries topped with yogurt, provides servings of Meats and Beans, Fruits, Vegtables, Grains and Milk.

• Read labels – often nutrient facts labels are based on a smaller portion than expected, especially for snacks. Measure out the recommended serving into small bags to grab when you have the munchies in order to prevent overindulging by mistake.

• Use smaller scoops or serving spoons and a smaller dinner plate. An appropriate portion will look much larger and heartier on a smaller plate.

It may take some practice to become a better judge of serving sizes and portions, especially as you put entire meals together. But the more you practice visualizing the cues, the more control you'll have over portion sizes. Controlling portion sizes also means controlling calories — and that's key to achieving weight-loss goals, if you have them, and smart and healthy weight management.

Personal Chef To Go Helps You DASH

A recent ranking of diets by U.S. News & World Report gives top honors for best overall diet to the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet.

Originally developed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to lower blood pressure, the diet plan is available free online. 

The DASH diet tied with The Biggest Loser diet as the best diet plan to prevent and manage diabetes. The DASH diet was also named best diet for healthy eating.

The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) eating plan isn't hard to follow and Personal Chef To Go makes it super easy!  

Experts  ranked top diets in seven categories, including weight loss,diabetes, heart-healthy, commercial, easiest to follow, plant-based, and healthy eating and Personal Chef To Go meets all seven categories. Here's how:

• Eating Personal Chef To Go meals is easy
• Our menus are great for short-term weight loss
• Our menus support long-term weight loss and mangement
• Personal Chef To Go menus are nutritionally complete
• Our menus are safe for all ages
• Personal Chef To Go aids in Diabetes prevention and management
• Our meals also assist in Heart disease prevention and management

Below you'll find guidelines of food the diet recommends you eat, along with the number of servings per day. (These servings are based on a 2,000-calorie diet, but you may need to consume more or less than 2,000 calories a day, depending on your activity level. Check with your doctor, or use a calorie calculator for an estimate of your daily calorie needs.)

• Grains (7–8 daily servings): Consume seven to eight servings of primarily whole-grain products. Look for the word "whole" — don't assume that any brown-colored "wheat" bread is a great choice. Read further and check the Nutrition Facts label, the list of ingredients, and the fiber content. Look for whole-wheat flour or another whole-grain flour as the first ingredient. Also, seek grain products with 2 or more grams of fiber per serving. Venture out of your comfort zone and try brown and wild rice, barley, bulgur, quinoa, or whole-wheat couscous as your grains.

  Examples of one serving of grains include 1 slice of bread, 1 cup of dry cereal, or 1/2 cup cooked cereal, rice, or pasta.

• Fruits (4–5 daily servings): Eat four to five servings of fruits every day. Find new ways to add more fruit to your meals: Top salads with sliced strawberries or apples; add raisins or blueberries to oatmeal. Make fruit your daily go-to choice for snacking, too.

  A serving of fruit may be 1 small to medium fruit, 10 grapes, 1/2 grapefruit, a small banana, or 2 tablespoons of raisins.

• Vegetables (4–5 daily servings): Try to eat four to five veggie servings daily. If you think eating that many vegetables every day is difficult, try adding more vegetables to sandwiches: spinach leaves, green peppers, sliced tomatoes, and sprouts are all excellent sandwich toppers. If you're tired of the bland taste of boiled vegetables, give grilling a chance. Grill zucchini, Portobello mushrooms, eggplant, peppers, and Vidalia onions to really turn up the volume on vegetable flavor.

  A serving of vegetables comprises 1 cup of raw veggies or 1/2 cup cooked.

• Lowfat or nonfat dairy (2–3 daily servings): You need two to three servings of lowfat or nonfat dairy. Limit your milk to skim or 1-percent, and primarily eat lowfat yogurt and cheese.

  To meet your two-to-three-servings goal, drink two 1-cup servings of skim or 1-percent milk daily. Or, as one serving, have a snack of 8 ounces of lowfat Greek yogurt. Eating 1 ounce of lowfat or nonfat cheese also counts as a serving. To cut the fat even more, use lowfat yogurt instead of sour cream in your recipes.

• Lean meats, fish, and poultry (2 or fewer daily servings): Shoot for two or fewer servings of lean meats, fish, and poultry every day, and limit the total to 6 ounces.

  Examples of the recommended foods in this category include fresh chicken breast or legs, fresh turkey breast, loin cuts of beef, sirloin, round steak, extra-lean ground beef, pork loin roast, pork tenderloin, fresh fish, and low-sodium canned tuna.

• Nuts and seeds (4–5 weekly servings): You want four to five servings per week of foods in this category. Yep, that's per week, not per day. Even though nuts and seeds provide good fats (see the upcoming bullet point on healthy fats and oils), they're calorically dense. Try adding small amounts of nuts to your salads or stir-fries to meet your goal of getting four to five servings.

  A serving of nuts is about 1/3 of a cup (make sure they're unsalted) or 2 tablespoons of nut butter (like peanut or almond). A healthy serving size of unsalted seeds, such as sunflower seeds, is 2 tablespoons.

• Healthy fats (2–3 daily servings): Go for two to three servings per day of healthy fats as part of a hypertension diet. Oils with healthy monounsaturated fats include olive, peanut, and canola oils. Soybean oil and corn oil are higher in polyunsaturated fats, which are good for you, too. Some foods that feature healthy fats are avocados, nuts, olives, seeds, vinaigrette salad dressings, spread margarines, natural nut butters, quick breads made with vegetable oil, and recipes that include the healthy oils listed here.

  Check the nutrition facts label to determine the serving size for food products under this umbrella.

• Fats and sweets (2 or fewer daily servings — according to the actual serving size): Limit your servings in the fats and sweets category to less than two servings per day. Make sure you actually read the label of whatever goodie you're indulging in so that you only eat one serving instead of five by accident.

Why You Should Eat Personal Chef To Go

 

All Personal Chef To Go menus are freshly prepared each week with whole and organic  grains, fresh vegetables and hormone and antibiotic free meats, arriving at your door fresh, preservative and chemical free, never frozen, never processed. 

 

All of our menus are heart healthy, low on the glycemic index, low to no gluten and have been evaluated by a cardiac rehab dietician and Bon Secours hospital in Richmond, VA as being low to moderate in sodium.

We offer several meal services to meet your needs with weekly and  bi-weekly  discounts that ship anywhere in the United States! 

If you order by midnight on Mondays, you'll be in for delivery the same week!

Feel Less Tired With Personal Chef To Go

Are you often tired at the end of a busy and demanding work day? You’re not alone and the good news is that there are some things you can switch up in your daily routine to have more energy throughout the day.

Energy-boosting tips

• Get more sleep.
• Remove processed foods from your diet—they’re self-proclaimed energy zappers.
• Drink more water.
• Be active.
• Meditate.
• Try a meal delivery service.

 The possibilities are endless.

Most of these options will take some time management, but some of them are super easy and convenient. Remembering to drink more water can be challenging, but it’s free and takes no time at all. You don’t have to fit it into your schedule and that's a huge bonus.

 A meal delivery service is perfect busy lifestyles. You’ll be able to eat healthy AND save yourself tons of time throughout the day. If you’re focused on a healthier lifestyle, it’s easy to get discouraged because you might think healthy food tastes like cardboard and you don’t have time to cook real, healthy food at home.

 If you’re looking for something fast, delicious and convenient without the hassle of shopping and the grocery store, Personal Chef To Go offers meal delivery service with several meal plan options that can help you successfully lose weight and keep it off for good.

 We cook with the freshest ingredients; meats are antibiotic and hormone free, seafood is wild-caught and vegetables and grains are organic whenever possible. Our menus are naturally low to no Gluten and low on the Glycemic Index. We can accommodate most dietary restrictions so you should have no problem finding something to satisfy your taste buds.

Every bite you take follows this proven approach for healthier eating. All of our menus provide 1,100-1,400 calories daily with 40-50% total caloric intake from lean, adequate protein, 20-25% of calories from healthy fats, and 30-35% from complex carbohydrates, and meet DASH Diet and Weight Watchers Points Plus requirements.

We offer weekly meal plan options for Lunch and Dinner as well as options for Families, Busy Singles and Couples On The Go all delivered fresh, never frozen, right to your door no matter where you live in the United States. With meal plan pricing ranging from $69.50 to $129.50 per week, it only takes a few weeks to start seeing results. You don’t have anything to lose, but the fat!

 Other ways to get that extra energy boost throughout the day

Eliminate processed foods from your diet. These types of food have almost no nutritional value and cannot possibly fuel your body and keep it energized for very long. A diet full of processed foods just leads to you craving more junk food.

Break the cycle and incorporate more fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, lean protein, whole grains and healthy fats into your diet—or try Personal Chef To Go for a week.

It all comes down to knowing your body and taking care of yourself. If you have a busy schedule, it will be harder to get to bed on time, set aside time to meditate or workout—but drinking more water will help you regain your energy levels—and that’s a completely realistic option for you to try.

 If you make this small change, you will see your energy levels steadily increase and your waistline decrease.

Losing weight, time management and food selection are all components of successful weight loss. Depending on your lifestyle, Personal Chef To Go can be a big benefit for yours!

Real Eating Without Hours In The Kitchen

 

By Krishanna Spencer, Contributing Editor

So when you can’t or aren’t able to eat your Personal Chef To Go meals, are you eating real, whole food as often as you’d like?

Like Chef Gene and Blair, I believe it’s best to eat real, fresh, whole food as often as possible.

The good news is, it doesn’t take as much time or energy as might think.

When I was changing my eating habits a few years ago one of the things  that  surprised  me was how I could make healthy,  home cooked meals and snacks in under an hour.

So today I ‘m sharing  7 tips for eating fresh, real, whole food without spending hours in the kitchen:

1. Start teeny.

When I was learning to eat differently one of the biggest things I learned was to set small, achievable goals.

It’s all about making it as easy as possible to make the first step and keep moving forward.

 It was so much easier to start with one night a week and build from there.

Making it achievable also means you’re less likely to end up with a fridge full of vegetables that you’ll feel guilty about tossing when they’ve spoiled.

2. Learn some new tricks.

When you’re just getting into cooking real food for yourself, having a little collection of easy recipes that focus on speedy cooking techniques is half the battle.

If a recipe has an ingredients list as long as your arm, or has instructions like ‘simmer for 30 minutes’ it’s best to save them for weekend cooking when you have loads of time.

Look for simple stir frys, hearty salads or one pot meals. If you’re stuck for inspiration there’s a plethora of recipes on the Web  to get you started.

3. Play with your food.

Avoid getting stuck in a food rut by swapping different ingredients into your favorite speedy meals.

For example, if you normally make a stir fry with tofu and kale, try it instead with bok choy or broccoli. The same goes for seasonings; if you normally use garlic, try ginger or a new spice instead.

4. Skip the peeling.

I’ve never been a big fan of peeling vegetables. It takes ages and you lose the nutrients close to the skin. Now I usually just rinse or scrub and move on to the next step.

You won’t notice the difference with thin skinned vegetables s like carrots or sweet potatoes. Butternut squash or potatoes get roasted, or baked with the skins on around here. It’s also easier to slip cooked skins off but I usually leave them on because they’re delicious and more nutritious.

5. Try it raw.

I’m hardly a raw foods enthusiast, but I do try to include some raw vegetables and fruits in my diet every day. Not only is this great for absorbing extra enzymes and heat-sensitive vitamins, it’s also much quicker and easier than cooking or steaming.

For example, it takes a fraction of the time to finely slice a bunch of broccoli and toss it in a dressing than it takes to steam it.

Think about finely slicing or grating vegetables and serving them raw. Some of my favorites are raw broccoli, cauliflower and carrots in place of steamed rice with curries or stir frys. I also love finely sliced cabbage or bok choy in salads– which adds  great crunch and color.

6. Use what you have.

The ‘real food police’ aren’t going to arrest you because you haven’t prepared everything yourself from scratch. So don’t be afraid to use pre-prepared vegetables when it works for you.

I’m a big fan of things like pre-washed salad leaves and scrubbed potatoes. I usually don’t like paying extra for pre-chopped vegetables, but if it makes sense for you, go for it.

You can also try convenient ingredients as a flavor highlight or sauce.  Things like healthy, commercial hummus, pesto, salsa, soy sauce, or curry pastes are good choices.

7. Keep it easy.

I once asked a nutritionist friend her thoughts about frozen vegetables. She said that freezing is probably the best method for preserving vegetables without losing much of the nutrition. In fact, frozen vegetables picked at their best will often have more nutrients than fresh’ vegetables past their prime.

Frozen vegetables make life easier if your schedule is busy because they will sit in the freezer waiting for you. They also save loads of prep time. Compare the time it takes to shell a giant bowl of peas with the time it takes to open the bag and pour them into a pot.

Frozen peas, onion and mirepoix are pantry essentials in our kitchen but you can also consider things like frozen spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, or even a frozen Chinese vegetable mix ready to stir fry in your wok.

Easy peasy!

9 Great Activities For Weight Loss & Healthy Lifestyles

There’s no getting around the fact that if you have a healthy lifestyle or are working to lose weight safely and permanently, you need to eat healthy food and get plenty of exercise.

Exercising burns calories and builds muscle, which is essential for increasing your metabolism so that you can burn even more calories and lose more weight.

So by dusting off those workout clothes and picking just one of these nine great activities for weight loss you can get started today on your path to a slimmer, healthier you.

 

1. Walking

Walking is an ideal exercise for weight loss: It doesn’t require any equipment, other than a decent pair of walking shoes, and you don’t need a gym membership to do it. It’s a low-impact exercise, which means it won’t blow out your knees or cause other stress injuries that can leave you on the sidelines for weeks or even months.

For those with certain health issues, including obesity and heart disease, walking is an effective, low-intensity weight-loss activity that can lead to better overall health, as well as better mental wellbeing.

Depending on how much you weigh, walking at a pace of four miles per hour will burn between 5 and 8 calories every minute, or between 225 and 360 calories for a 45-minute walk. At this pace, walking 45 minutes a day most days, you can lose up to a pound a week without changing any other habits.

 

2. Kettlebell

Kettlebells are cast iron balls fitted with a single handle. Unlike traditional handheld weights, the weight of the kettlebell isn’t evenly distributed, which means that your body has to work to stabilize you and counterbalance the weight of the ball.

Kettlebells provide for a hard-core workout that not only burns up to 400 calories in a mere 20 minutes, but also strengthens your core, improves balance and posture and targets all of the major muscle groups, as well as the stabilizing muscles.

Because kettlebell exercises involve the whole body, a kettlebell workout will rev up your metabolism to help your body burn fat faster, and it’ll get your heart pumping so that you get an aerobic workout as well. In fact, 20-minute kettlebell workout is similar to a six-mile run in terms of cardiovascular benefits and calories burned.

 

3. Swimming

Vigorous swimming can burn anywhere from 400 to 700 calories an hour. All types of swimming are effective for helping you shed pounds, from a front crawl to a breast stroke or even the dog paddle.

Swimming is a highly effective exercise for weight loss and toning. It’s one of the lowest-impact exercises out there, and it strengthens, tones and conditions your whole body.

It’s particularly ideal for women in their last trimester of pregnancy and individuals who battle with arthritis, obesity, and musculoskeletal conditions.

It’s also great for those who suffer from exercise-induced asthma, because the warm, moist air around the water helps keep the airways clear.

Many athletes use the pool as a cross-training tool, as well as to stay fit while rehabilitating an injury. When you’re neck-deep in water, your body is only bearing ten percent of its weight, and yet the water provides 12 times the resistance of air, making it ideal for strengthening and toning your muscles.

 

4. Cycling

 

Bicycling is another low-impact, high-rewards activity for losing weight.

 Cycling can burn anywhere from 372 to over 1,100 calories per hour, depending on your weight, your speed and the terrain you’re biking across.

Unlike running, cycling is easy on the joints, and even the most out-of-shape beginner can hop on a bicycle and ride several miles without feeling like they’ve just been through the wringer.

Outdoor cycling is best, because the varied terrain enables you to get a well-rounded workout that includes strengthening your lower body and getting a good cardiovascular workout.

If you live within biking distance of your job, cycling to work can stimulate endorphins and boost your metabolism for the day, as well as save you money on gas.

If outdoor cycling is difficult or dangerous in your area, consider spinning.

Offered at most gyms, this group cycling activity is one of the lowest-impact classes offered, and yet it’s one of the most effective for burning calories and revving up your metabolism.

 

5. Elliptical Trainer

The elliptical trainer at home or at the gym enables you to get a low-impact, full body workout.

Easier on the joints than a treadmill, the elliptical trainer also has movable handles that enable you to get a good upper-body workout in addition to working your lower body.

Elliptical machines let you choose the intensity level, and by raising and lowering the ramp and going backwards, you can target different muscle groups in your legs, both front and back.

The average person using an elliptical trainer can burn about 600 calories per hour. The elliptical trainer mimics the action of running while eliminating impact, saving knees and other joints from wear. For those who suffer from arthritis, musculoskeletal conditions and obesity, the elliptical trainer is a great way to exercise without risking impact injuries.

When you’re using the elliptical trainer, hold on to the movable handles rather than the static ones to increase the number of calories you burn and to help tone your arms.

 

6. Running

If you’re one of the many people who love to run, you’re in luck.

Running burns about 600 calories per hour, helps build strong bones and connective tissue and gets your heart pumping at a healthy rate to help prevent heart disease, stroke and certain cancers.

The only equipment running requires is a good pair of shoes to protect your joints and, if it helps you keep the pace and maintain motivation, an iPod with your favorite tunes.

Interval training can bump up the calories you burn on your daily run. Also called speed work, interval training involves short spurts, usually between 30 seconds and two minutes, of running at top speed.

Intervals burn a large number of calories in a short amount of time, improve your resting metabolism to help you burn more calories during the day, and increase your muscle mass.

 

7. Tennis

A good game of tennis can burn up to 600 calories in an hour.

 If you’re the type who prefers to exercise with a partner, tennis is an ideal way to get active. It’s also perfect for those who don’t particularly like to exercise, but who love a good competition.

You don’t have to be a great tennis player to lose weight doing it. After all, running after the balls is still a form of exercise.

The nature of tennis makes it a great whole-body workout, and playing it can help you improve your flexibility, balance and posture, as well as let off some steam to reduce stress.

Throughout the game, especially every time you hit the ball, your arm, abdominal and leg muscles are engaged, building strength and burning calories. But that’s not all that’s engaged. Your brain gets a good workout every time you play tennis, from thinking quickly and creatively to planning ahead.

8. High intensity interval training

This is one of the most effective weight loss exercise options available.

You only need to engage in this form of exercise for about 20 minutes, three times a week, to get incredible benefits that include burning a large number of calories and ramping up your metabolism in the wake of the afterburn.

High intensity interval workouts can be done with many forms of exercise, and consist of short but intense bursts of activity followed by a lower-intensity period or a period of complete rest.

Those who are new to exercising shouldn’t perform interval training until they’ve been exercising regularly for a couple of months.

A standard interval workout for biking, swimming, running, lifting weights or even walking is 20 minutes long, but burns far more calories than 20 minutes of steady exercise.

Start out by warming up for five minutes. For the sixth minute, push yourself as hard and fast as you can. The seventh minute is all about catching your breath. Repeat the fast/slow cycle (minus the warm up) five times, and cool down for three minutes.

 

9. CrossFit

CrossFit, like high intensity training, is only suitable for individuals who have been exercising on a somewhat regular basis for a couple of months.

Originally designed to train first responders and Special Forces, CrossFit is a workout regimen that involves weight lifting, endurance exercises, plyometrics, strength and speed training and kettlebell exercise routines, among other activities.

One thing you won’t lose with CrossFit is interest. Unlike other routines that involve doing one exercise for a specified amount of time, CrossFit incorporates many activities into one intense, fat-burning workout.

It’s designed to target all of the major components of physical fitness, including endurance, flexibility, speed, power and cardiorespiratory fitness.

No two days are alike when you’re doing CrossFit. An example of a CrossFit routine is five repetitions of 20 pull-ups, 30 push-ups, 40 sit-ups and 50 squats, all performed one after the other, with a three-minute rest between repetitions.

While definitely not for the faint-of-heart, CrossFit routines are highly effective at burning calories and fat, improving physical stamina and endurance, and increasing metabolism.

 

10 Food Swaps to Lower Blood Pressue

While blood pressure raises and lowers naturally, sustained elevation — otherwise known as high blood pressure, or hypertension — can damage your heart, kidneys, and even brain.

More than 65 million Americans have the condition — caused by stress, aging, a poor diet, not enough exercise, obesity, smoking, or just plain genetics — and which can be managed in part by cutting back on sodium, according to the American Heart Association.

The recommended daily allowance of sodium is no more than 2,300 mg — about 1 teaspoon of table salt — which adds up fast. These switches — also good for those who want to maintain low blood pressure — can help you cut your salt intake without sacrificing flavor.

1. Say No to Pre-Packaged Frozen Dinners
They’re quick and easy to prepare, but many frozen meals also pack a huge sodium punch — as much as 1,800 mg in one dish, according to MSNBC.com — and many of them don’t have enough vegetables to help you meet your daily requirements. For fast meals on busy nights, freeze leftovers or try make-ahead casseroles that go from freezer to oven to table with a minimum of effort (like Emeril’s Mexican Chicken Tortilla version) to make sure you’re getting the right nutrients.

Worst case: Look for low-sodium, organic frozen meals.

 

2. Trade Salt for Spices, Vinegar, or Fruit Juice
Start by adding fresh or dried herbs and spices — like rosemary, basil, dill, oregano, hot peppers, thyme — lemon or lime juice, flavored vinegars, and garlic in place of salt in your favorite recipes.

3. Try Oil and Vinegar For Salads
Salads, sandwiches, and stir-frys are often healthier than other dinner options, but you can inadvertently add too much sodium by pouring on ketchup, mustard, soy sauce, and salad dressings. Try simple olive oil and balsamic vinegar on your greens, use fresh tomatoes on your burger, and look for low-sodium versions of other condiments — or just make sure to watch your portions (one tablespoon of regular ketchup has a whopping 160-190 mg of sodium). Some companies do the work for you, though: This spring, according to the Huffington Post, Heinz announced that it tweaked its classic ketchup recipe to cut the sodium by 15 percent in response to new FDA salt limits.

4. Trade Canned Soup, Broth, and Vegetables For Homemade
Canned goods are notoriously high in sodium — one serving can have as much as half your daily allowance — so you might be paying for the convenience. Soups and broths are easy enough to make yourself once you realize that they pretty much require two things — water and time — and you can flavor them with vegetables, herbs, and spices for low-cost meals that feed a crowd. Many companies also offer low-sodium or no-salt-added versions of popular soups, broths, and vegetables (but check the sodium levels on your frozen vegetables, too, especially if they come with seasonings or sauces: sodium often sneaks into those).

Try canning or freezing your own vegetables during the summer to eat all winter.

 

5. Avoid the Brine
Pickles, olives, sauerkraut, and just about any other vegetables that come in a brine may not feel unhealthy, but those brines were designed to preserve the food — which means there’s plenty of sodium floating around. Limit your indulgence in these foods, and try your hand at canning your own pickles from fresh cucumbers to be sure you know exactly how much salt you’re eating.

6. Cut Down on Cured Meats
Bacon, ham, salami, and other cured meats are another sodium obstacle: According to the NIH DASH eating plan, 3 ounces of lean meat, fish, or poultry contains between 30 and 90 mg of sodium, while the same amount of roasted ham contains 1,020 mg. Eat cured meats sparingly and replace them with fresh chicken, pork, fish, or even no-salt-added canned tuna. Watch out for smoked and processed versions, too — they’ll also increase your sodium levels.

7. Reach for Unsalted Popcorn Over Salty Snacks
It doesn’t take a dietitian to realize that salty snacks are higher in sodium than sweet ones — that’s something your tastebuds can probably tell you all by themselves. In a perfect world, you’d replace all those cravings for crackers, chips, and pretzels with fresh fruit slices and carrot sticks — but when you just can’t resist a snack attack, look for healthier versions, like no-salt popcorn, low-sodium crackers, or unsalted chips.

8. Substitute Whole Wheat Flour For White Flour
Choosing whole wheat pasta, rice, bread, cereal, and snacks can help lower blood pressure in several ways: You’ll be skipping a lot of processed and salted foods by default (since many of them are made with white flour), and they can help you lose weight, which lowers your risk of developing many health conditions (including high blood pressure). Make oatmeal, rice, and pasta without adding salt to the cooking water, and you could end up with as little as 5 mg of sodium per serving.

9. Say No to Buttermilk
Buttermilk has more than twice as much sodium as a cup of its less-flavorful cousin, low-fat milk, which means you could be adding a lot more than just taste to those pancakes. Stick with regular milk and natural (not processed) cheese as part of a low-sodium diet, since they also contain blood-pressure-lowering potassium.

10. Stock Up on Dark Chocolate
Okay, here’s one piece of good news: Dark chocolate doesn’t need to go on your list of foods to avoid, since some studies have shown that the flavanols it contains can help lower blood pressure by helping dilate blood vessels. As with any treat, you don’t want to eat too much of it — but in small amounts, it can have health benefits that go beyond a sugar rush.

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