Colorful Kale Salad

by sheilaobb | Feb 23, 2011 | Uncategorized

I decided to make this salad because it sounded really healthy — I didn’t expect it to taste so good! It also is a very pretty dish with a ton of color. Just because it’s not summer doesn’t mean you can’t make beautiful dishes with fresh ingredients. This is an awesome way to use fresh local winter produce and it would be a perfect dish to pass.

And I know I said this already, but it tastes amazing. My taste tester who is a self proclaimed vegetable hater loved it.

After his first bite he exclaimed,

“Whoa, what is that!?”

To which I replied,

“Good or bad?”

And he answered,

“Good, very good!”

And proceeded to eat 2 servings. (more…)

Lunch at Your Computer Could Make You Fat

by sheilaobb | Feb 22, 2011 | Uncategorized

What are you doing right now, while you’re reading this post? Hopefully nothing, hopefully I have your complete and undivided attention, but in reality that’s probably not the case. We live in an age of multitasking. We are rarely doing just one thing at a time — and one activity we multitask the most during is meal time. We watch TV during meals, we read the paper, we browse the internet or work at our computers, we play games, drive and talk on the phone while eating. The possibilities are endless.

Most of us have heard (or realized after the entire bag of potato chips is gone and we don’t know what happened) that eating in front of the TV causes us to eat more during that meal or snack. That is because you’re distracted and not paying attention to the signals your body is giving you and you aren’t giving your brain enough cues about what you’re eating.

But it turns out that eating a meal while distracted or multitasking can even make you over consume foods later in the day! (more…)

Mix-and-Match Chickpea Salad

by sheilaobb | Feb 18, 2011 | Uncategorized | 1 comment

I came home from the YMCA the other night, didn’t have anything planned for dinner and didn’t want to spend any time in the kitchen (I had been hoping that someone else would have prepared something in my absence, but that didn’t happen). I stood in front of the cupboards hoping for inspiration and came away with a can of chickpeas. The dish that evolved from that can is extremely versatile. It could be a main dish or a side dish — We ate it with some chicken sausage wraps that were topped with spinach and avocado — and it could include a wide array of different ingredients depending on what you have on hand at that time. Here’s is the recipe for what our salad included but you could go in a million different directions with it so feel free to mix-and-match. And share your winning combination with us! (more…)

oMMMMMmmmlete Muffins

by sheilaobb | Feb 16, 2011 | Uncategorized

Mmmmmm. Just so you’re warned before you being making these: they won’t last long and this recipe only makes 5 muffins, so a double batch might be a good idea. I actually decided to make these muffins on a morning I had to fast for some testing at the doctor’s office, which was a very bad decision. I was able to refrain from tasting them but it was painful.

I’m sharing this recipe with you for a couple reasons. They are SUPER easy and fast to make. They would make an excellent breakfast and are a great way to get in veggies and protein during your first meal. They would also make a great 2nd lunch. And they are delicious. So, here is the recipe.

1/3 cup cottage cheese (I used 2%)
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tablespoons water
a couple good shakes of dried dill
1/3 cup chopped smoked salmon
1 tablespoon of almond meal/flour
a handful of fresh spinach, chopped
1 tablespoon grated parmesan (optional)

First, preheat your oven to 400. Here all all the ingredients you’ll need to mix together (except the water). Here I have some Bob’s Red Mill almond meal, which you can find at Whole Foods. We have almond flour available for purchase at the clinic for our clients.

I decided to add the spinach last minute.

So, you mix everything except the parmesan together in a small bowl.

And spoon the mixture into a lined muffin tray. When I make cookies or muffins, I really like to use an ice cream scoop to spoon the batter out; it works really well and cuts down on mess. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

On a side note, I love this brand of muffin liners (If You Care brand found at Whole Foods). They are naturally non-stick so you don’t need to grease them and you can use them without a muffin pan if you don’t have one. You just sit them on a baking tray and pop them in the oven.

While the muffins were baking I freshly grated a little bit of parmesan. This is optional…

When 15 minutes are up, take the muffins out, sprinkle a little parmesan on each and pat it down gently. Then stick them back in the oven for 5 more minutes.

The finished product! Yum!

Are you riding the snacking seesaw?

by Sheila | Feb 15, 2011 | Uncategorized

Do you snack? Do you have emergency cookies stashed in the desk drawer or a bag of M&Ms in the glove box? If this sounds familiar you could be sabotaging any efforts to manage your weight. The way you snack is very important to maintaining a healthy weight… if you find yourself snacking often you could be exposing your body to a snacking seesaw effect. Let me explain — often times when we reach for a snack it is something high in carbs (such as the examples above). Eating these high carb snacks creates a spike in our blood sugar levels. When we have high spikes of blood sugar, our body freaks out and over-releases the hormone insulin to counteract the spike in blood sugar. The excessive amount of insulin brings the blood sugar levels down too low. Now that our blood sugar levels are too low, we get hungry again and want another snack! Hence, the seesaw analogy — blood sugar levels are always either too high or too low, causing cravings and overeating.

What you want to do, is keep blood sugar and insulin levels within a normal range. And this can be done by eating balanced snacks. In fact, in the Optimal Body Balance program, we’ve even done away with the word “snack.” We’ve found it much more helpful if you think of everything you put into your body as a balanced meal — which is why our program includes 4 meals a day (breakfast, 1st lunch, 2nd lunch and dinner).

Eating balanced means eating the correct ratios of carbohydrate, fat and protein at each meal. And yes, you need some of each group at EVERY meal for it to be balanced. For example, an apple might seem like the perfect snack… but in reality, an apple is all carbs! So it will do almost the same thing as that cookie did to your blood sugar and insulin levels. Instead of eating the apple alone, slice it up and put some nut butter on it with a side of veggies.

Controlling the seesaw will help you gain much more control of your cravings and overeating. To learn more about eating balanced, meal recipes and ideas and how to find the right balance for you visit our website. We have a session of the Little Black Dress Class starting soon; reserve your spot today!

Source: Life Extension “Curb Compulsive Eating Naturally” August 2010