Fat Loss Meatballs

Here is a super-easy, really quick meatball recipe that is perfect for fat loss, *and* fun even if you really don't like to cook (like me). I like meatballs since they're easy for grab 'n go when you're in a rush. You can top these with pure tomato sauce & melt some shredded mozzarella over top for extra personality, though I love them Plain Jane so I can eat them in the car...

Ingredients

1lb 96% lean ground beef (or preferably grass-fed)

2 whole eggs (I forgot to put those in the picture)

3 tbsp Thyme

2 tbsp minced garlic

Handful plain, old-fashioned dry oats

Couple tbsp pure guacamole mix (this is optional, so if you don't want to use this, you can replace with a couple tbsp of unsweetened almond milk instead)

Few pinches of cayenne pepper, & optional Himalayan salt & black pepper

Technique:

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together

Shape into circles

Bake at 375 degrees for 22-25 mins

That's it!!! Let me know what you think!

#1 Diet for Real World Fat Loss

 #1 Diet for Real World Fat Loss

Now that I’ve got your attention, I want to talk to you about “dieting”.

I receive numerous emails per week asking me what my opinion is on what’s the best diet for fat burning, and what my recommendations are for starting such a diet.

Last night. I received such an email, and I asked his permission to post my answer in a blog, using him as an example. This guy, who is a father of 2, U.S. Marine veteran, and single dad (AWESOME!!), emailed me out of frustration. Basically, the short story is that he has spent years surviving on a mostly government-regulated, military diet (boy do I know ALL about this) of about 75% starch, and the ‘confusing’ part is, he LOOKS AMAZING!!! He is more than happy with his results, has a visible 4-pack ‘round-the-clock with little hunger, his blood panel numbers are excellent, and can play football with his kids for hours! He has recently separated from the Marine Corp. and because most people in the fitness industry look down upon a high-starch diet, he is concerned that he should change something. He wanted my help in creating a program that would be different from what he was currently doing.

Ok, here is where it gets dirty:

What do you think I told him in response to him wanting to find the best diet out there, in order to switch from his current diet and still see results? DO NOT CHANGE A THING! He doesn’t need my help.

The #1 diet for real world fat loss is the one that works for YOU in all aspects of your life.

Once you found your fat loss formula, you don’t need to change it based on what others are saying or doing. Don’t give in to fear-mongering.

So how do you know if you’ve truly found your unique formula?

✓ 1. You are HAPPY- This may not seem like an important clue into finding your fat loss formula, but it is crucial for sustained fat loss. Anyone can follow a rigid fat loss plan for a temporary amount of time when they’re miserable. But eventually, you will reach a point in which you cannot keep up anymore, and something has to change. This is why your mood is absolutely an important indicator of maintaining permanent fat loss

✓ 2. Your hunger, energy, and cravings are balanced- We like to refer to this as “HEC”. If these 3 things are in perfect harmony for YOU, you are likely on the right path to sustained fat loss

✓ 3. You can fall asleep and stay asleep, and you feel great when you wake up- Many people don’t realize that it’s not normal to have insomnia, or wake up frequently during the night, or wake up feeling like you got run over by a twinkie truck. Just because these symptoms are common in our fast-paced society, doesn’t mean they should be accepted. Often times just slightly increasing your carbohydrate intake before bed can elicit enough serotonin to relax you enough to go to sleep if you’ve been struggling with insomnia. If you can fall asleep easily, but struggle waking up throughout the night and can’t get back to sleep, you might find relief by increasing your protein intake before bed, which will stabilize your blood sugar enough to keep you asleep. These adjustments will help you get higher quality sleep, leading to refreshing wake-up calls. When we get adequate sleep, our hunger, energy, and cravings are often already going to be balanced by default!

✓ 4. You’re seeing/feeling results- Whether your goal is fat loss, maintenance, strength, endurance, or muscle gain, you’ll know you’re at least somewhat on the right track if those results are happening. I say “somewhat”, because it really doesn’t matter if you’re seeing results if numbers 1-3 aren’t also happening. Sure it’s great to see results, and sometimes that’s all we remember to focus on; however, they will not be sustainable long-term if you cannot get numbers 1-3 on track.

So, if you can put a check mark next to numbers 1-4, you’ve found your unique formula. It’s really as simple as that! The Marine who emailed me has found his unique formula, even though it goes against what may work for a lot of us. Whether you’re on Paleo, Atkins, Weight Watchers, Keto, whatever, if numbers 1-4 are happening for you, DON’T CHANGE A THING!

Is lack of sleep making you fat?

There is a distorted view in the fitness world that it's all about the calories: all we have to do to avoid fat gain is make sure we're burning more calories than we take in each day, right? Wrong. SO WRONG.

Really, if it were this simple, we wouldn't have an obesity epidemic that is now even affecting children. Ever notice how nowadays if you say the word "nap", people will look at you like you're lazy? Or you're sick?  "....something bust be wrong, why did you take a nap today? Are you coming down with something?" Naps can be so crucial in resetting your hormones, lowering cortisol, and normalizing insulin. Sleep has no calories, and yet it has a huge impact on whether we burn fat or store it.

There is such a disconnect when it comes to understanding hormonal responses in the body, that so many of us don't realize why we get the 3 o'clock brain fog everyday like clockwork, or why we raid the fridge after work in a trance, or why we have strong cravings that seem to come out of nowhere.

Sleep has dropped off our priority list in favor of supposed productivity. I say 'supposed' because, really, how productive can you be in a chronically exhausted state? We are glued to our computers, TVs, all artificial light, especially in the evening hours when our cortisol levels should be winding down in preparation for sleep and recovery. Artificial light, however, creates a stimulating affect, which then becomes responsible for the hormonal imbalance that keeps us up all night. The dilemma usually looks something like this:

• Alarm goes off: SNOOZE BUTTON 4 times; you're too exhausted and miserable to move.


• Finally drag yourself out of bed and run to the coffee machine, brew your coffee, and drink 2 or 3 cups before even thinking about getting dressed.


• Because you hit snooze all morning and are now late for work, you have no time for a real breakfast, so you go to work with just your coffee. Hey, at least it'll keep you awake, right? Plus it's probably blunting your hunger a little at this point so food is not a priority for several hours.


• It's 11am and all the coffee you drank to keep you 'awake' is now causing you to crash and burn. You need more stimulation to stop yawning and stay awake


• You go to the vending machine and grab some chips and soda, and a donut too


• Now you're so hungry you can't stand it anymore, because all you really did was create an insulin surge, which within 30 minutes has come crashing down


• By this point you've been pumped so full of stimulants from sugar/carbs/caffeine just to make it through the day, that you get home, raid the fridge in desperation and severe hunger pangs (this is actually an issue with willpower drainage, not discipline, which we'll talk about in an upcoming post), and turn on the computer to surf the internet, get on facebook, etc....


• You can't sleep. It's 1am..2am...you pass out eventually.... the alarm goes off...you do it all over again

Does this sound at all familiar to you? This is the modern day dilemma with stress, lack of sleep, and fat gain, and not understanding the connection between them. We live in a fast-paced world, where it has become painfully difficult to take time to ourselves, to restore our mind and bodies, to have personal quiet time, to focus, to plan, to be happy. We have to start focusing on the things we can control, and the situation described above really can be controlled, once we recognize it. Leave work-related matters at WORK; have family time without the interruptions of cell phones and computers; sit down at the table and eat slowly and enjoy your food; pack the next day's meals in advance so that all you have to do is grab and go; get in bed an hour early and read and relax. Make your restoration a priority.

For more information, I highly recommend reading "Light Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival" by T.S. Wiley, or check out the metabolic effect 4 week sleep formula program for scheduled start dates

Fat Loss Approved Mint Chocolate Brownies

Here is another phenomenal recipe by Becki over at Training Wheels: Fat Loss Approved Mint Chocolate Brownies. As usual, I didn't have the exact ingredients laying around, but was dying to try somewhat interested in these brownies tonight :-) So, I made some adjustments, and will post both the original recipe, and the recipe I ended up creating. But first, how 'bout a picture to make you drool?



 

 

 

 

 

 

ORIGINAL RECIPE | MY CHANGES

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients
1. 4 eggs, beaten or egg replacer | 4 whole eggs
2. Five dropperfuls vanilla stevia liquid
3. One to two second pour real peppermint extract (should not contain corn syrup or agave)
4. 1/2c pumpkin puree, unsweetened
5. 1 pureed zucchini (add a second for additional moisture) | I completely omitted this and added unsweetened shredded coconut instead!
6. 2/3 cup dark cocoa powder, unsweetened. Go here for some great information on the health benefits of cocoa, posted by Metabolic Effect!

7. I added a 7th ingredient: 1 whole 100% cacao bar (Ghirardelli)

{Grease a glass 8x8 pan with coconut oil liberally} | I obviously used a disposable foil.

1. Beat the eggs, stevia, and peppermint in a bowl with a whisk
2. Chop the zucchini, and add to a blender or food processer with a small amount of water. Blend until smooth
3. Pour the zucchini puree into the egg mixture, and add the pumpkin. Mix very well with a rubber spatula, scraping the sides of the bow until the mixture is well blended
4. Gradually add the cocoa powder to the mixture a little bit at a time until well blended
5. Batter should be smooth, but not too thin. If the batter seems too watery, you can add more cocoa powder until it reaches brownie batter consistency.

6. Melt 100% cacao bar over low heat, then pour into batter

7. Pour batter into greased 8x8 pan, and bake at 350 degrees for an hour. Check for doneness. If the batter is pulling away from the side of the pan, and the center is firm, you can remove it, and allow it to rest. I usually end up baking it for about 1 hr 15 minutes due to high moisture content of the batter. | I ended up only cooking for about 45 mins; I think my pan was a different size, so be sure to continually watch it if your pan size is slightly different from what we used!

ENJOY! xoxo

Healthier Sugar Cookies!

I owe all of this to Becki over at Training Wheels! She came up with this recipe, and I altered just a couple things based on what I had around the kitchen for experimentation!

<~~~~  Look at that thing!

 

1. Beat 3 whole eggs in a bowl, then slowly add in almond meal until it resembles the consistency you desire (you want it somewhat thick...see below)



 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Add in any extracts you want! I used a little butterscotch and vanilla extracts (you want to make sure your extracts do not contain corn syrup).

3. Stevia to taste. Then keep mixing thoroughly

4. ADJUSTMENTS: I'd add melted butter next time, for a little softer texture, and maybe some cinnamon!

5. Put on cookie sheet and then press with fork so that you feel like you're eating PB cookies, lol!  Bake at 350* for about 15-20 mins (watch em carefully because the thickness will determine cooking time)

Protein Peanut Butter Cups

Yes, can you believe it? Here is a healthier alternative for satisfying a "need" for PB cups! Recipe below....

 1. Combine your favorite chocolate protein powder with a little coconut milk (canned, not carton) and stevia to taste, until the consistency sort of resembles cake batter.

2. Spoon about 1 tsp peanut butter (the ingredients for this should be only peanuts & salt) into cupcake holes/muffin tins (whatever you wanna call 'em!) and then pour the protein powder & coconut milk mixture over the PB in each hole.

3.  Stick pan in freezer for about 30-45 mins, then enjoy! You can store in the freezer and eat the others whenever, but after about an hour or so, they'll become impossibly hard to bite unless you let them thaw for about 5 mins or so. HAVE FUN! xoxo

Pumpkin Pie Eggs

Ok guys, I realize this picture looks really awful, but I promise it tastes exactly like pumpkin pie, and you have no idea you're eating eggs! It took less than 2 mins to prepare:

Crack eggs into the pan on low/medium heat, and while they cook, take a separate bowl and add the following: couple TBSP pure pumpkin, couple TBSP pure sweet potato (using organic canned options is much easier, just make sure there are NO other additional ingredients than what I just listed), 1/4 tsp cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a quick drop of vanilla extract. Stir/mix, then add to the eggs when there is about 1 minute left of cooking & continue scrambling. Sprinkle pure Stevia crystals (in the packet, or powder form) on top after removing from heat, and you have yourself a whole new way of eating eggs.

Be mindful that if you are eating for fat loss, you do NOT want to go overboard on the pumpkin & sweet potato. If you're not currently on any exercise program, scale back the amount to about 2 tsp of each. You don't need that much to be able to create the pumpkin pie taste!

 

Enjoy!