Dieting does not mean boring

Just because you are going on a diet does not mean you have to give up all your favorite foods and drinks. Pizza and steaks can still be on the menu...maybe just not as often and with a little twist. The key word in dieting is MODERATION. If you can master the craft of moderation your weight and fitness goals will be simple to achieve.

Another key to successful dieting is to be smart about what you eat. Eating fast food, anything fried in grease and sugar laden foods will sabotage your health goals. Make your cheat days a cheat meal. I know a lot of cheat days end up as cheat weekends and you end up having 3 days of gorging which undoes all your hard work from the past week.

With the holidays coming up now is an even better time to start practicing smart eating habits that will keep you from "stuffing" in the calories. Sorry, had to do it.

Below is a link to 8 ways you can reduce fat in your diet without even realizing it.

Cut fat without noticing

By the way...the pizza burger to the right would be an example of a poor (not smart) food choice.

Locavores rule!

My trip to the downtown Memphis Farmer's Market was a total success. If you haven't visited one of our local markets before let me share some highlights.

Reasons to love the Memphis Farmer's Market:

1. Really nice people who know their stuff when it comes to growing things!
2. Super fresh veggies straight off the vine, bush, plant etc.
3. Good music by local artists
4. Fresh cinnamon rolls from our friends at The Big Ono Bakery to munch on while shopping. (okay not so healthy but they are made from whole grains with no preservatives!)

So on to today's recipe, Grilled Veggies with Romesco Sauce!
WARNING VEGGIE OVERLOAD!

Here's what you need:

Olive oil spray to coat the grill
6 plum tomatoes (about one pound), cored and halved
4 bell peppers, 1 red and the rest red, yellow or orange, cored, seeded and cut into 6 wedges
3 medium yellow squash
2 small eggplants
1 lb of asparagus
1 large onion cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices

For the marinade:
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper


First mix the marinade for the veggies. Combine 3 Tbsp EVOO, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Pour over the sliced veggies and toss them to make sure they are coated.

Spray your grill with the cooking spray before adding the veggies. They should cook 5-6 minutes per side. Once they are grilled set aside 4 tomato halves and 6 red pepper wedges for the sauce. The rest are ready to put on your plate!

Now for the Romesco Sauce. In a food processor combine the following:
The 4 tomato halves and 6 red pepper wedges you set aside earlier
2 Tbsp of EVOO
1/2 cup toasted almonds (we substituted cashews)
6 peeled garlic cloves
2 Tbsp sherry vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Process these ingredients till they are well combined and smooth. Serve as a dip for the veggies.

Here's the Klein Fitness Breakdown:

Prep ease: 4 out of 5 stars

Taste: 3 out of 5 stars

Grilled Veggies with Romesco Sauce:

Amount per Serving

• Calories 283
  
• Calories from Fat 36
• Total Fat 18g
• Total Carbohydrate 26g
• Sodium: 264mg
  
• Protein 9.5g

Grilled Chicken:
Serving Size: 6 ounces or 1/2 chicken breast
Amount per Serving

• Calories 281
• Calories from fat 27
• Saturated fat 1g
• Cholesterol 65 mg
• Sodium 750mg
• Total Carbs 3g
• Protein 35g

Total Meal: 564 calories

Overall satisfaction: We added chicken to the dish because the man must have his protein and is, by every definition of the word a SERIOUS carnivore. The veggies were great and we had way more than we needed. Unfortunately the Romesco sauce left something to be desired. It was okay, much the same consistency as hummus, but the sweetness didn't seem to go with the rest of the meal. To sum it up, great side dish recipe but we're not sold on it as the main event!

Avoid the hangry with healthy options

Hi everyone, It's Meg again. Have you ever experienced hunger that just puts you in a bad mood? The technical term for that feeling is hangry.

hangry - def. When you are so hungry that your lack of food causes you to become angry, frustrated or both. An amalgum of hungry and angry invented to describe that feeling when you get when you are on a diet and every delicious thing you crave is off limits.

Being hangry often leads to bad food choices but sometimes it's hard to find something healthy you actually want to eat. Allow me to introduce the"Boost your Metabolism" dish Cashew Crusted Chicken Breasts.This recipe was so simple and it allowed me to break out the food processor we got from our wedding (three years of dust but it's still worked!)

I started by setting 4 chicken breast halves out to thaw and preheating my oven to 425 degrees. Next I mixed the ingredients for the cashew crust (photo right)

1/2 Cup of toasted cashews
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3/4 tsp dried rosemary1 Tbsp minced garlic

Just process these together till they are coarsely chopped, creating a thick paste. Then spread over the thawed chicken breasts in a baking dish and roast it in the oven for 10-15 minutes. The crust will brown nicely but watch it closely between 10-15 minutes to prevent burning.

I decided to roast some asparagus as a side dish. First I sprayed them lightly with Omega 3 cooking oil on a pizza pan then topped them with a couple tablespoons of Teriyaki sauce and cashews.

I roasted these at 425 along with the chicken, checking them around the 10 minute mark to see if they were tender but still had a little crisp.
The meal only took 30 minutes start to finish and was really good! You'd ever realize it was so good for you!

Here's the Klein Fitness Breakdown:

Prep ease: 5 out of 5 stars

Taste: 4 out of 5 stars
Cashew Chicken:
Serving Size: 4-5 ounces or 1/2 chicken breast
Amount per Serving

• Calories 293 Calories from Fat 156
• Total Fat 17g
• Sodium 194mg
• Total Carbohydrate 4.3g
• Protein 30g
  

Roasted Asparagus:

Serving Size: 7 to 8 spears
Amount per Serving

• Calories 55 Calories from Fat 36
• Total Fat 4g
• Saturated Fat 0g
• Sodium 101mg
• Total Carbohydrate 4g
• Dietary Fiber 1g
• Protein 3g
  

Total Meal - 348 calories!

Overall opinion: Delicious and easy! This one is a keeper!

You are what you eat...so I hear

Dear Diets,

You STINK!

I've never met anyone who likes dieting but it seems like everyone is doing it. It's the most popular - unpopular thing going.

To paraphrase the the Dread Pirate Roberts in The Princess Bride "Diets are pain highness, anyone who says differently is selling something."

And boy aren't they! Every web page I visit has some new fat burning supplement, aid, trick or solution that you can get for three easy payments of $19.99. Sadly, I admit, I've fallen prey to some of the fad diets out there. I've tried just about everything (many times against the very sound advice of my personal trainer husband.)

Let me just list a few and give you a rundown of my results:
Diet Shakes = Heightened gag reflex
Diet Pills = Heart murmurs
Diet Supplements = Nada
Portion Control = Well I'll just have one more piece...
No Booze = Cranky Meg
No Dessert = Cranky Meg
No Carbs = Cranky Meg
No Beef = Cranky parents (proud producers of some of the best Angus beef around, check www.perrypurebreds.com to order yours!)

After all this up-and-down, mood-altering nonsense, Corey suggested (for my health and his sanity) that I take on diets Julie vs. Julia style and try to find a healthy way to boost my metabolism and lose weight for real without feeling deprived.

It is this advice that leads me to introduce a new segment on KleinFitness. Each week I'll be trying some new, healthy meals and sharing my successes and failures with you. I haven't decided if I'll be sharing my weight loss goals/results with you...I mean we're not that close and I like that info to stay between me and my bathroom scale, but if I notice anything drastic I'll let you know.

Challenge 1: Become a Locavore

Main principle: Preservatives are bad for you.

Solution: Purchase foods from vendors who offer locally grown produce. I'm going to find some recipes to try this week and do my shopping at one of the local farmer's markets. If you need some help finding one in Memphis look here. Tune in this weekend to see what I come up with!