Super Tracker

Short and swimsuit weather is almost here!

Oh the fun of summer.

Adventure and fresh air!

If your like me you've put on some winter weight.
How to get it off?  We all know the answer.  Eat right and exercise.
If we know then why is it hard?  That's easy too.  There are hundreds of different eating lifestyles.  Paleo, vegan, veggitarian, whole foodist, low-carb.


Which works, which is safe?  Your ready for these answers if you already eat "good."  Meaning whole grains, little to no processed foods and you eat up your vegetables on a regular basis.

Most people are not there though.  And that's OK.  We are not seeking perfection just progress so to get you progressing and on your way to eating "good," I give you...

SuperTracker 

This is a tool designed by the government to help you learn to balance your daily food intake and physical activity.

It is a state-of-the-art, free, online resource designed to help individuals who want to make lifestyle changes.

This will give you a personalized plan to meet your food and beverage needs

and guide you to make better choices.

Give it a try and see how your doing on your way to health.

Green Smoothies-Beginner level recipe

Wow, there was such a response from my last Green Smoothies post!  So I'd thought I'd do a follow up post to answer all your questions.

 

Kids even not my own loved the smoothies and popsicles

Green Smoothies are great!  They can naturally lower your weight, give you better skin, and loads more energy.
Why?
Because your giving your body what it needs and wants with no junk.  That's it plain and simple.

There are different "levels" of Green Smoothies.  The first one I tried was an advanced smoothie.  It had celery, spinach, lettuce and more in it.  Celery is a strong and fairly sharp flavor, that along with multiple greens in it make it more of an acquired taste.

If you've eaten clean and healthy for years then by all means jump in and go advanced.  If your new on the health path or if your hesitant then try a beginner recipe.

Here is the recipe I give my clients when they try them for the first time:

1c. water
1 c. frozen blueberries (or fresh)
2 c. Fresh baby spinach (must be fresh and don't pack it down, keep it light and fluffy)
1 TB Honey

-Blend well and sip.

This is a delightful recipe and no one has yet guessed there is spinach in it.

The intermediate level you add in Kale, and or cucumber to various fruits such as  apples, bananas, pineapple, and pears.




Once your pallet is used to that, add in other healthy fun stuff:
flax seeds, or milled fax
chia seeds
protein powder
avocados
almonds
almond milk

Experiment, the world is yours, and you'll be healthier for it.

Green Smoothies

I've been playing around with Green Smoothies lately, and I must say I'm liking them quite a bit!
The first recipe I used was not the greatest and it made 3 servings- they forgot to mention that.  So I made the rest into popsicles and ice cubes.

This was is where my world went very very right.
I had the munchies yesterday and I didn't want to eat anything I'd regret so I pulled out a green popsicle and my kids' eyes were bulging with envy!

So I gave them one and figured they would say it's gross and put it down.
Nope, they gobbled up that spinach, celery, lettuce, apple, pear popsicle like it was nothin'
Amazing!
To amaze you further after breakfast the next day they asked for more.  Shocked and awe.  So I made more which I will give them after their naps.

The secret with new food always seems to be presentation.  I had it and didn't offer it to them, they got to "want it" first.  Another thing to try is maybe bust these out on St. Pateriks Day.

We will now made these magic popsicles daily and they can have them morning, noon or night.
Win-win right?

DIY Baby Food

We all know preservatives are really really bad for you.

Have you thought about what you giving your babies?  Commercial baby food has to be processed and preserved.  That precious little thing is so fresh and young, and what do we do? Shove preservatives in their mouth- usually unintentionally, we just don't think about those things.

Not only that but the mark up on baby food?! Ridiculous!!!

It's not hard or really time consuming to DIY, not to mention so cheap. All you need is a blender (or even better a magic bullet or equivalent) and your baby can have fresh nutritious food in flash.

It only takes about 2-3 minutes.  Fill the bullet with a bit of water and add veggies.  Steam them in the microwave and blend. -That easy.

Or you can make a big batch and fill ice cube trays.  When frozen dump 'em out into a zip-lock bag.  Label the bag. -Repeat with more fruit and veggies.

Parents has created this easy guide to help along the way if you need it.  If you have a baby check it out.

May your baby be healthy too!