Fit food guru shares advice on staying on track during the holidays
November 18, 9:56 AM
Sara Shepard, certified personal fitness chef, personal trainer and owner of Eat Fit photo courtesy of Eat Fit
The average caloric expenditure of Midwesterners tends to drop 15 to 20 percent during the winter months. This makes eating right during the holidays is more important than ever for Chicagoans.
“When it comes to holiday fitness and nutrition, the biggest obstacle is time,” says Sara Shepard, certified personal fitness chef and personal trainer.
Owner of Eat Fit, Sara sees to it that her clients have the tools, tip and tantalizing meals it takes to stay fit from Thanksgiving to New Years—and the rest of the year as well.
“Have a plan. Schedule your workouts like you’re scheduling lunch with a friend,” Sara advises. “Work out in the morning if you have holiday events later in the day.”
Sara’s tips to keep the pounds off during the holidays:
Prepare your veggies for the week during free time. Chop up celery, peppers and other healthy ingredients ahead of time so that you won’t be tempted to leave them out because of time constraints.
Cook up chicken breasts en masse and throw them into salads, pastas or other entrees all week long.
Snack on something healthy--with fiber and protein--before you attend holiday functions. This will make you more likely to eat light while you are socializing.
Bring a healthy appetizer to the party you are attending. In this way, you’ll know exactly what you’re putting in your mouth—and helping your host as well!
Limit your alcohol. The alcohol itself has calories, and it also make you forget to control your food intake.
Say no. If you are overtired and overscheduled, don’t feel guilt over politely declining a party invitation.
Keep a calendar and schedule your workouts.
If it’s not dangerous, get outside for walk, a run or a calorie-burning winter activity like skiing or skating.
Enlist help in the form of a personal trainer or meal preparation service.
Sara’s business, Eat Fit, offers personal training, in-home meal preparation, meal delivery and other personalized services for clients in Chicago and its suburbs. New clients are given a personalized consultation including a basal metabolic rate measurement, and specialized meals to combat diabetes and high blood pressure are available. To learn more, visit eatfitchicago.com.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Elementary school kids learn nutrition through MyPyramid
Last Thursday I had the pleasure of spending the day at an Elementary school in Lake Forest and talking with each of the grade levels about nutrition and how to make healthy food choices. Childhood obesity is a major issue in our country so it is extremely important that we are teaching these kids how to make healthy choices. The kids had a ton of fun playing a healthy food game and learning how to make Crunchy Banana Snacks.
Ingredients:
1 Banana, sliced
1 baggie
1 cup healthy cereal, such as Kashi Crunch or Low Fat Granola
Place the cup of cereal into the baggie and have the kids crunch the cereal into pieces with their hands. Then place 1 piece of sliced banana into the baggie at a time and shake until the banana is covered in cereal. Remove and finish with the rest of the banana for a fun and healthy snack.
Ingredients:
1 Banana, sliced
1 baggie
1 cup healthy cereal, such as Kashi Crunch or Low Fat Granola
Place the cup of cereal into the baggie and have the kids crunch the cereal into pieces with their hands. Then place 1 piece of sliced banana into the baggie at a time and shake until the banana is covered in cereal. Remove and finish with the rest of the banana for a fun and healthy snack.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Is your food safe?
The NY Times feature piece today on E. coli contamination is a sobering reminder of the need to pay more attention to food safety and inspection standards.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
Monday, September 21, 2009
Smart Choice food labeling program not so smart.
According to this extremely flawed program, as long as a food has a few added nutrients it could meet the criteria for being a 'Smart Choice'...so, load up on the mayo and Stouffers Lasagna, apparently they are now considered healthy..yikes!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/business/05smart.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1253542303-PJ8%20iSMZnwushXumpm8qBA
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/business/05smart.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1253542303-PJ8%20iSMZnwushXumpm8qBA
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Shop Fit
Many of my worst diet blunders began at the grocery store. It's taken me quite a few years to learn but now I finally understand how to stock my fridge and pantry with healthy foods. Here are a few helpful tips that won't leave you feeling guilty or blaming the check out girl at Jewel for making you fat.
1. Under NO circumstances go near the grocery store when you are hungry..unless its a produce market- then the damage you can do is minimal.
2. Don't go empty handed. Think about what you plan to eat for the week and go to the grocery store with a list of all the items you intend to buy. If you stick to your list, you'll avoid impulse buys saving your waistline and your wallet.
3. Stick to the outer edges of the store. Start with stocking up on yummy fruits and veggies, skip the deli- its loaded with high sodium foods, make your way to the meat/fish counter for some lean protein, and hit the dairy. Finally, enter carefully into the middle of the store for a few whole wheat items, and legumes.
4. Make friends with the meat/fish guy. You'll find that they might start to helpfully steer you direction of the best cuts of meat and freshest seafood.
5. Enjoy! You have sucessfully navigated your way through the dangerous pitfalls of the grocery store and can go home and enjoy a healthy and delicious meal!
1. Under NO circumstances go near the grocery store when you are hungry..unless its a produce market- then the damage you can do is minimal.
2. Don't go empty handed. Think about what you plan to eat for the week and go to the grocery store with a list of all the items you intend to buy. If you stick to your list, you'll avoid impulse buys saving your waistline and your wallet.
3. Stick to the outer edges of the store. Start with stocking up on yummy fruits and veggies, skip the deli- its loaded with high sodium foods, make your way to the meat/fish counter for some lean protein, and hit the dairy. Finally, enter carefully into the middle of the store for a few whole wheat items, and legumes.
4. Make friends with the meat/fish guy. You'll find that they might start to helpfully steer you direction of the best cuts of meat and freshest seafood.
5. Enjoy! You have sucessfully navigated your way through the dangerous pitfalls of the grocery store and can go home and enjoy a healthy and delicious meal!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Are you Sabotaging your health?
If you are one of the millions of Americans who wakes up in the morning and dashes out the door without a thought to what they will be eating that day, you may be sabotaging your health. Not having an eating plan makes you more sucesseptable to making poor choices when it comes to meal and snack times. On a busy day at the office or with the kids, you may find yourself running out for something quick, without time to contemplate to nutrition and calories. You may even think you are going for something healthy not realizing the hidden calories, fat and sodium in that ‘quick’ meal from the take out place across the street. Planning ahead and keeping a few high fiber snacks less than 150 calories on hand (one for morning and one for afternoon) can save your waistline and your wallet.
Here are a few quick and easy techniques that can help you Eat Fit and be fit:
-Breakfast of champions- Getting some protein and fiber into your system first thing in the morning will give you more energy to start your day and will stave off hunger. If you know that you will be rushed in the morning, mix a cup of high fiber cereal with some kefir or yogurt and some blueberries and put it in the fridge the night before or keep a box of Oatmeal Old fashioned oats (not the flavored packets which are loaded with sugar) in your desk at work.
- Brown bag it – Bringing your lunch to work will not only save you money but calories, fat and sodium as well. It takes just a few minutes to throw together a salad (the more colorful the better), and toss in left over dinner meat, beans, brown rice, and a few nuts and low fat cheese.
- Eat between meals- Forget the old diet advice that said- don’t snack between meals. You should have both a morning and an afternoon snack but they should be planned and not more than 150 calories. Again, Fiber and protein are your keys to satiety. My favorites are: Fiber One bars, Greek Yogurt, an Apple and String cheese or grapes. If you are planning an afternoon/afterwork workout, be sure that your pm snack has plenty of carbs for energy.
- Cook Once, Eat all week- On Sunday, grill or bake chicken or another lean meat, cook whole grains like Brown rice, quinoa or barley and chop up some veggies for the entire week so you have a ready made meal in the evening. You can quickly steam the vegetables and reheat up the meat or throw them all in a salad in the evening. On particularly busy weeks, hire a Personal Chef to come in and cook your meals for the week. They can really be a lifesaver in helping you eat healthy and save time and are surprisingly affordable.
Plan for your health and take just a few minutes to plan your meals and snacks- it is one of the most simple and important things that you can do to ensure that you are eating balanced and healthy meals.
Here are a few quick and easy techniques that can help you Eat Fit and be fit:
-Breakfast of champions- Getting some protein and fiber into your system first thing in the morning will give you more energy to start your day and will stave off hunger. If you know that you will be rushed in the morning, mix a cup of high fiber cereal with some kefir or yogurt and some blueberries and put it in the fridge the night before or keep a box of Oatmeal Old fashioned oats (not the flavored packets which are loaded with sugar) in your desk at work.
- Brown bag it – Bringing your lunch to work will not only save you money but calories, fat and sodium as well. It takes just a few minutes to throw together a salad (the more colorful the better), and toss in left over dinner meat, beans, brown rice, and a few nuts and low fat cheese.
- Eat between meals- Forget the old diet advice that said- don’t snack between meals. You should have both a morning and an afternoon snack but they should be planned and not more than 150 calories. Again, Fiber and protein are your keys to satiety. My favorites are: Fiber One bars, Greek Yogurt, an Apple and String cheese or grapes. If you are planning an afternoon/afterwork workout, be sure that your pm snack has plenty of carbs for energy.
- Cook Once, Eat all week- On Sunday, grill or bake chicken or another lean meat, cook whole grains like Brown rice, quinoa or barley and chop up some veggies for the entire week so you have a ready made meal in the evening. You can quickly steam the vegetables and reheat up the meat or throw them all in a salad in the evening. On particularly busy weeks, hire a Personal Chef to come in and cook your meals for the week. They can really be a lifesaver in helping you eat healthy and save time and are surprisingly affordable.
Plan for your health and take just a few minutes to plan your meals and snacks- it is one of the most simple and important things that you can do to ensure that you are eating balanced and healthy meals.
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