eat healthy – Infinite Life Fitness

…Infinite Life Fitness Recipe: Zucchini Lasagna…

I don’t know about you…but there are just some things that I can not give up. BUT the key to reaching your health and fitness goals is FINDING A BALANCE. You may not have to completely give up on the things that you enjoy the most. All you have to do is slightly alter them.

I came up with a zucchini lasagna that taste JUST AS GOOD as the real thing…minus the pile of noodles that come along with a lasagna. Not only does it taste just as good…there are fewer calories and MORE protein!

What you will need:

1 lb lean ground turkey (or lean beef or any other chopped up lean meat)
3 garlic cloves
1/2 dices onions
dash of salt
dash of pepper
1 tbsp basil
16 oz contain of low-fat cottage cheese
1 can of tomato paste
1 can of tomato sauce
3 cans of diced tomatoes (i used the fiesta lime Rotel)
1 pack of low-fat shredded cheese
1 LARGE zucchini (or enough zucchini to cover the various layers that you want)

What you will do:

Pre-Heat your oven to 350 degrees
Cook and season meat in a pan and set aside for later step
wash your zucchini (some people have even skinned the zucchini…so you can do what you prefer)
you can slice the zucchini into long thin strips OR you can cut your zucchini into round slices such as I did:

Next you HAVE to grill or saute your zucchini. Zucchini is a vegetable that retains a lot of water. If you do not pre-cook the zucchini when you cook the lasagna it will become a watery/soupy dish.
After you cook your zucchini pieces start to layer your dish:

Now layer your lasagna with the other ingredients:

This is when you can get creative and mix up how you put together your layers. I wanted to have a total of two layers on my lasagna so I just cut all ingredients in half and mixed them up between the two layers.

lasagna

This dish can make approximately 8-10 servings.

I was able to make this dish, separate the squares of lasagna out into containers and freeze the extra pieces. This lasagna was AMAZING flavorful. I would have to say having the lime Rotel added a new burst of flavor. I also enjoyed having the tomato past because that also added to the flavor of the meal.

The fun thing about these casserole is that you can mix and match ingredients and add or change anything that you would want.

Another great thing about making a dish like this is that you will be able to set aside portions of this lasagna to have later during the week. With the added cottage cheese and lean meat, this dish is packed with protein while still leaving you feeling full and satisfied.

Meal preparation is KEY when it comes to helping you stay on track with healthy meal planning and eating. If you have food prepared and ready to eat you are more likely to make healthier meal choices during meal time.

August 29, 2014/by admin

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…When is enough food enough?…

When you go out to eat at almost ANY restaurant, the plate of food that you order is almost ALWAYS more than the suggested serving size. As a culture we are all wanting to get the best and the most we can out of our money. But is that necessarily the healthiest thing for you?

One of the things you can do to help you start learning what is enough is learning what the correct portion sizes are! You can look at my post HERE to get a sense of what is the correct portion size for most meals.

Learning what your body NEEDS and not what you want (or what you are craving) is a hard thing to do! Some people crave food because food can be a comfort for them. Emotional eating is one of the top listed reasons as to why most people gain the unwanted weight that they do. To get over this, it helps to plan out your meals, try to have a variety of items when you do eat meals and snacks, and learn your biological food clock. This “clock” is the indication of when you should eat food to nourish and replenish the body. Not just because it is 3:00 and you want a candy bar.

Example…here is my biological food clock…

I usually get up around 7AM. When I wake up in the morning I usually eat within 1 hour of waking up. If not, my stomach will be sure to let me know.

I always have a mid morning snack around 10 AM. This snack is a SMALL snack (which is about 300 calories). It is only a filler until lunch time which is around 12:30.

After lunch I usually have a mid afternoon snack around 3. This is an important snack for me because I usually work out around 5 so this snack usually has a few more calories to help me through the day and to help me through my workout.

After my work out I usually have dinner. Depending on how heavy or light my lunch was will depend on how heavy or light my dinner is. When I refer to how “heavy or light” it is I am speaking of if I have a meal with a lot of meat and starches for one meal I will try to refrain from having those things again with the next meal.

Learning your clock will take some time and you will have to learn what it feels like to eat until you are satisfied. If you feel full or over embellished with your meal you have eaten more than you should have.

Another thing to be mindful of is what your body is telling you…not necessarily how full or empty your plate it.

Example:

If I have prepared a meal with correct portion sizes and I get done, I usually have something to drink to make sure that I am satisfied. If I still have an unsatisfying feeling I will add a few more veggies or something not so “heavy” to my plate. I am NOT a big fan or advocate of starving yourself if you have reached your daily calorie intake. But if you do consume those extra calories you have to be mindful to eat healthy things that will not make you regret eating the extra food.

It is also suggested that if you start to get on a regular eating schedule it will be easier for you to know how to handle your cravings and how to consume your meal portions correctly. Also, DRINK WATER!! It may be a form of cheating…but it has also been found that if you consume water regularly through your meal it will help you to realize that your stomach is full and to help limit the probability that you will overeat during your meal.

Here is an important tip for those who go out to eat regularly…when you order your meal, as soon as it comes to the table split the meal in HALF! Only eat HALF of your meal. If it is hard for you to stick with that ask your waiter for a to go box before you start to eat and put half of the meal in the to go box so you do not have to see it on your plate. This will not only help you stick to your portion sizes but it will also help you to have another meal for the next day!

Hope that some of these tips helped you to get a better understanding what kind of eating habits you have. It is about eating food that will satisfy and nourish your body. Consuming excessive amounts of food helps to account for gained weight. Embarking on your own health and fitness journey will take a lot of work until you get use to your body and what you need!

March 8, 2014/by admin

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…Fitness/Health Goals…

Over the past few post, I have provided more than enough material to help someone who wants to start to be active again. Besides getting up and starting your healthy lifestyle, the only other thing that you need to do is set a goal! It makes it easier when you have a goal you would like to reach so you know how long and how hard you should work.

To weight your self…or not to weight yourself…that is the question!…

Some people like to know their starting off right. This is a good idea. Although it may be disheartening to find out how much weight you have gained, it is on a temporary number! With hard work and dedication that number will steadily decrease over time. You can purchase your own scale (which may be good to help you keep track of you weight loss over time) or you can use a scale at a gym, doctors office, or any other place that will allow you to do so.

How much weight you should expect to lose over time…

On average, with the right exercise routine and a good balanced diet, you should be losing about 2 pounds a week. If you are losing more than 7 pounds a week then you might want to evaluate what you are doing (because its normal to lose between 2-5 pounds a week). Accurately losing weight is done by balancing how many calories you burn with how many calories you are consuming. Naturally, if you are burning off more calories that you consume this will lead to weight loss. These results will not be seen overnight! It takes time and patience and a regular routine of exercise and a good balanced diet.

what is a realistic length of time to set a goal?…

Lets say that your goal is to lose 20 pounds. To be honest, the length of time it will take you to lose 20 pounds may be different from someone else. It all depends on how often you exercise and if you decrease your calorie intake to help you burn fat. Like stated above you should be losing about 2 pounds for week (but some weeks it will be more than that and other weeks it will be less than that. It is completely normal for that to happen!). So if you calculate 2 pounds per week this will take approximately 20 weeks (or about 5 months). Like I said before The length of time it will take someone to lose weight will be different from someone else! If are losing about 4 pounds a week it will take you about 5 weeks to lose 20 pounds. It just all depends on how hard you work and how many pounds you lose from week to week. Do not let the length of time discourage you! These things take time, patients, and dedication. And in the end the hard work will show.

What happens if I do not lose weight one week?…

It is OK if there is a week that you do not lose any weight or you lose one pound. Try not to worry or stress out too much if this happens! Just try to push yourself a little harder the next week to help you get back on track to reaching your goal!

What to eat during this time…

Setting a menu is just as important as setting a work out schedule. What I have personally found to be helpful is that each time I go to the grocery store, I plan my menu’s (at least for the next week to two weeks). It helps because I can budget the things that I need to get, and I can also cook some items I need during the weekend so that it can be stored to be used later in the week. Each month I set a monthly budget for how much I can spend at the grocery store and how much money I can spend going out to eat. A few years ago I stopped eating fast food all together, so my “out to eat” budget is for the weekly dinners I plan at restaurants with my friends (and I always save half of that meal to be eaten the next day for lunch or dinner! so I get two meals out of going out to eat) It also allows me to look at the local stores newspaper adds so I can try to get the best price for the fruits and veggies I buy and eat on a regular basis.

What happens if I do not reach my goal in the time that I set for myself?…

If you do not reach your goal in the time you set it is OK!! Just extend your goal time. Allow yourself a few more weeks to work hard and reach the initial goal you have set for yourself. What I have suggested to some clients is to possible keep a fitness/health journal. This can help you keep track of your workouts, if you happen to splurge during one meal (which is OK but try not to make it a habit), or any other things that go on during the time you are trying to reach your goal. It will not only allow you to keep track of these things, but it can also serve as an outlet of positive and negative things that happen. You can write it down, or blog about it (there are several sites that will allow you to keep your blog private or let you choose who can/cant see it). This can also help by letting people see thins and encourage you to keep pushing towards your goals. I also love this idea because if I am out and I hear of something I want to try or randomly find a recipe I would like to try, I have my journal near by to jot it down!

I hope that these tools will help you create your goals and start your own fitness and health journeys.

June 1, 2013/2 Comments/by admin

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…Knowing what you eat: Counting Calories…

Do you know exactly what you are putting into your body? Do you even know how much food you are consuming each day? It is said that most people consume as little as TWICE as many calories than they actually need each day.

One of the most important things you need to do to help you reach your goals is to figure out what you are eating and how much you are eating!! There are DOZENS of applications you can download onto your smart devices and they are also accessible on your computer.

You can find an easily accessible and FREE calorie counter site at: http://www.nutracheck.co.uk/

Once you get singed up with these programs feel free to play around with it!! You need to get use to how the program works so you will become efficient as being able to navigate and use the program properly.

Using these types of programs will allow you the change to closely monitor HOW much food you are eating and what kind of foods you are eating.

I suggest a few things:

– when you decide you want to make a healthier change, sign up for one of these programs and track what types of food you eat for a FULL week

– when the week is over go back and look at what you eat a lot of and what you need to eat more of. You will be surprised to see that you consume too much salt, sugar, or another type of food. You will also be able to see that you do not eat enough veggies, fruits, or protein. This will allow you the change to actually see what areas you need to improve on.

– next find some healthy recipes and go shopping! You have to find recipes that will be fitting to your needs! Usually breakfast will be around 300-400 calories snacks will be around 200-300 calories, and lunch and dinner should also be around 300-400 calories! The goal is to spread your meals out throughout the day so you do not feel like you are going hungry! YOU DO NOT WANT TO SKIP MEALS!! THIS CAN HINDER YOUR WEIGHT LOSS! You want to try to stick to a regular eating schedule. I would suggest eating about every 2-3 hours. have breakfast, and then a small snack, lunch, another snack, dinner, and if you are still hungry in the evening have another SMALL snack. You want to try to stop eating about 2-3 hours BEFORE you go to bed. But you do not want to go hungry and you should try NOT to skip any meals

-keep track of what you eat in these applications. They will let you decide if you have the right serving size or more than the suggested serving size. If you stick to the proper serving sizes, a steady workout routine, and drink water you should start to see results in about a month!

Reaching your goals will take TIME! You will have to be patient! You can not eat healthy for a week and expect 15-30 pounds to just vanish! Yes that would be nice but it is not realistic. You have to stay consistent with eating right AND working out. Eating right is the MAIN priority. If you are not feeding your body the right foods it will hinder the results you want to see!! You can spend all the time you want in the gym, but if you eat junk food all of that hard work will go to waste. So this is why it is SO important to get your diet under control so you are able to reach the results you want.

And there you have it! I just gave you the tools you need to help you jump-start your new health and fitness journey!

Any day is a great day to start living healthier…why not start today!?

May 23, 2013/by admin

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