HomeMade Healthy Episode 4- Supreme Superbowl

It’s Superbowl Sunday next weekend and there is a lot of pressure to indulge in the glory of hot wing, chips, dip and beer.

This week HomeMade Healthy has a recipe that will not only keep you on track, but satisfy any of the football fanatics in your life! The great part about this meal is it is easy to add your own twist to it. For us particularly, we decided to make it less spicy and completely full of veggies. This particular recipe was inspired by Megan’s Aunt Lou, a lovely lady who had  be cooking this similar meal for her own Vegan daughter. You could add beef, take away beans, remove a particular vegetable you hate or just experiment with an idea all your own. If you do, send it in to us! We’d love to see your photos and hear your story. Email laurgor510@gmail.com

Chili Supreme***
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 2-3 Hours
Serving Size: 10
Calories: 200**

1 large onion
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup stock (plus the remainder of a quart to be used throughout)
1 can diced green chilies
1 can peeled tomatoes
2 large carrots
2 large celery stalks
1 large green pepper
1 can tomato paste
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp cumin
3 cans (15oz each) beans

First, in a large pot (big enough for all the chili) sauté the onions and garlic in the stock until the onions are clear and the garlic is soft.  Add in the chilies, tomatoes, carrots, green pepper, and celery.   Add more stock. Cook until the veggies begin to soften.  Add in the spices, one spice at a time, and bring the mixture to a simmer, adding more stock as needed. Add in the tomato paste and gently stir until combined. Do a taste test now! Add more spice if needed to fit your taste, or add more stock or tomatoes to lessen the spice. Once you get it tasting yummy, add in the drain and rinsed beans. Gently stir them in. Let the chili lightly simmer for at least an hour. Stir intermittently and taste to make sure the flavor is suited to you.

Crescent Rolls Supreme
Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 12-15 minutes
Serving Size: 8 per tube
Calories: 170**

Ingredients

Pizza Stuffed:
1 tube of Reduced Fat Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
2 servings, 32 slices (roughly) of reduced fat pepperoni
1 can tomato sauce
1 cup reduced fat mozzarella cheese

Broccoli Stuffed:
1 bag of fresh broccoli (steamed)
I cup of 2% reduced fat colby-jack cheese
1 tube of Reduced Fat Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

*** Completely Vegan Chili if you exclude toppings of cheese and sourcream

**Calories are estimates due to serving size produced and serving size consumed. Also, calories are according to our specific ingredients… should you find a lower calorie ingredient that doesn’t sacrifice taste, use it and let us know about it!

Skinny Santa and Other Things That Bug Me

Being an overweight kid is a scary reality in today’s world. Sometimes it is not a parent’s fault that their child is overweight: genetics, fluctuating metabolisms, and general baby fat all comes into play. Not to mention for years schools that offered pizza and cheese fries rather than healthy snacks. There are a lot of players in the weight game. However, for some reason, people blame the media and the general food industry for making their children heavy. Please note this is my personal opinion and rant.

Today childhood obesity has tripled in the past 30 years. Some of the scary statistics are:

• Obese youth are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure. In a population-based sample of 5- to 17-year-olds, 70% of obese youth had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
• Children and adolescents who are obese are at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem.
• Obese youth are more likely than youth of normal weight to become overweight or obese adults, and therefore more at risk for associated adult health problems, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.

Do  you remember the year the internet scam about changing the Sesame Street’s beloved Cookie Monster into the “Veggie Monster?” Or how about the year that Santa Claus had to slim down? When they decided to ban Oreo’s? I want to know how these company’s are responsible for making kids obese? Of course, kids are going to want junk food. Of course they will kick and cry and scream for a cookie, they are kids. It is their role to be illogical, and our to teach them logic. To the parents of the world out there, I believe it is your job to tell your kid no, not the media’s. Companies are always going to make their product appetizing. It is your job to explain to your kids that the Cookie Monster can’t die of heart disease because he is a puppet and can eat as many cookies as he wants with no consequences, but you could.

You are what is responsible for raising your child. Keep your kid active and lead by example. Don’t eat 2 pieces of cake in front of your kid then deny him one. It can be tough getting kids to eat healthy, but if they see you do it they’ll be more like to respond.

It took me 22 years to get really on board with being healthy. Teaching your kids early, whenever you have them, will really help them to make smart choices. I plan to for my future little ones.

Exercising “Works Out” More Than Your Muscles

Some days it just feels impossible to go to the gym. Tomorrow turns into next week and next week turns into several weeks, often leading to the downward spiral of parking your butt on the couch indefinitely. But there are benefits to working out that go beyond the physical. Working out can boost your brain power, melt away stress and even ward off disease.

Though I am not seeing the physical effects yet, one thing I noticed is I  definitely feel it. One of the things the article says exercising will do is boost your performances in daily activities. Now before you brain jumps to some naughty “inner 13 year old boy place,” hear me out.

Over the weekend after we filmed HomeMade Healthy Joe and I decided to get some work done at Barnes and Noble. After about three hours of editing and working, we started to get a little hungry. We had a dilemma. Where the Barnes and Noble is located there is hardly a decent range of food options. You have the food court which who is ever really in the mood for that, and two not so appetizing restaurants (since we’ve been there like a dozen times) to choose from. We decided to try one of the places on the outskirts of the mall, but unfortunately they were rather far from our parking spot.

A cute way to think about devising a plan!

“Lets go get the car and try one of those places,” Joe suggests.

“Are you nuts? It’s Saturday night, we’re gonna’ loose our sweet spot by the movie theater!” I exclaim.

“Well, we could walk… but it’s like 25 degrees outside…”

The bantering continued until we decided it was worth it to walk. We headed outside and were hit with an icy blast of wind that caused several curses to escape our lips.

“Screw this, I am running!” I announced as I bolted across the lot with Joe trailing behind.

When we got to the door of the restaurant, I waited for the typical running pains to start: the cramping, the heavy breathing, etc. However, the usual bodily reminders that I need to get in shape didn’t come. No panting? No wanting to kick myself for thinking I could run?

I couldn’t tell you how great that felt. That small change really helped put things in perspective on how getting healthier is not measured in quantity but quality. I am so excited I actually might not complain about hitting the gym ever again. Well, maybe…

HomeMade Healthy Episode 3: A Glamorous Brown Bag Lunch

Turkey: Soggy. Mustard: Tasteless. Wheat bread: Dry. Lettuce: Boring. When you’re watching what you eat, lunch can be sort of a drag when you want to keep it healthy. Don’t worry HomeMade Healthy has a deliciously perfected pita to keep you healthy and satisfied! Don’t forget, you can mix and match your own ingredients too, like taking away the cream cheese/pesto and adding flavored hummus to make it vegan! Keep in mind, with snacks included as the video mentioned we hover around under 400 calories. When you use your own ingredients, calorie counts change! Happy lunch-ing!

Oh and yes, I say “newses” at the end. Yes I know that is not a word and I am a journalist. I got nervous, so sue me. Haha!

Recipe

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Serving Size: 1
Calories: 247 (if counting veggies)

1 Pita Pocket (Weight Watchers) (or another 90-100 calorie bread)
3 oz Cucumber (10 calories)
3 oz yellow pepper (15)
1 oz light cream cheese (room temperature) (64)
1 heaping tsp pesto (29)
Small handful of Arugula

First, cut the 3 oz of cucumber into thin slices. Next, slice the pepper into thin strips. Set aside. Now mix the room temperature cream cheese with the pesto, until fully combined. Spread the pesto-cream cheese onto each side of the bread. Place the cucumbers on the bread. Top with the peppers and the arugula.

Bogus BMI

According to Women’s Health Magazine there is a war waging in the world of weight loss:  the Fat-Acceptance Camp vs. the Anti-Fat-Acceptance Camp. All right, they should probably focus on better battle names, but never the less the debate is actually very real and very heated.

A huge player in this debate is BMI (Body Mass Index) which is what has been used to years to determined if a person is overweight, perfect or underweight. In one corner of the ring stands fat acceptance, who believes the correlation between health and weight is grossly exaggerated. Pear shaped people are in luck, because the fat in thighs, hips and butt is actually very useful for your body and also suggests that being heavy is better then the strain yo-yo dieting puts on your body.

In the other corner of the ring we have the anti-fat camp who insists that you could never not benefit from trying to loose weight, mostly because you cannot choose where to distribute your fat when you overeat. Fat on your thighs might not be so bad, but excess abdominal fat is in no way a good thing.

The reason I brought this to your attention is what the two sides do agree on: fitness is key and BMI isn’t necessarily the most accurate portrayal of healthy weight.

Which is a relief in a lot of ways. When I was heading to Ireland for a month with Temple, I had to get a physical to make sure things were good to go before I went abroad. They checked everything from my hearing to sight and of course, they weighed me. I have a sincere fear of the scale in a doctors’ offices despite the fact that they are usually very polite and honest. It use to make me cringe to think in actual numbers. I removed my shoes, belt, phone, rings, earrings and anything else that may add a little extra weight. The pad rocked shakily back and forth as I stepped on it, metal clanking in my fear.

The worst part about being weighed is watching them slide that metal block way to far to the extreme right, the frowning look of disappointment as they edge it further and further toward the higher numbers. With a quiet “hmph” she documents my weight and tells me to slightly step down. I get the whole thing about how I need to lower my BMI and blah blah blah. I ask her for a referral to a nutritionist and she happily obliges, writes it out, and hands it too me. We proceeded with the rest of the examination, chatting and laughing about how excited I was to visit Ireland. As she was leaving the room, I looked down to the referral to my future nutritionist and gasped. Next to reason it read:

“MORBID OBESITY”

I called out to her, tears welling up in my eyes and asked her is this was really true. She shrugged saying, “according to you BMI you are extremely morbidly obese” and left the room. I was mortified, horrified and ashamed.

I don’t feel morbidly obese even now. Hefty? Yes. Thick? Definitely. Overweight? Absolutely. Morbidly obese? There was just no way I was that bad.

According to this article, BMI measurements to fit individuals is almost scientifically inapplicable.

That label of morbid obesity nearly broke me. Sure it scared me at first, but those two nasty words really made me feel very hopeless.Hopefully they can figure out a more accurate, less disheartening way to determine a healthy weight.

As far as the “war” goes, I support the anti-fat camp. We should all be striving to be the healthiest versions of ourselves and do it in the healthiest way possible.

What do you guys think about BMI? Totally bogus or an accurate way to measure a person’s healthy weight?

 

Weight Bias: My first Rant of 2011

On the subject of weight and dieting, I have a lot of mixed feelings. Being healthy is the top priority, the bikini will come, but I don’t know if I could ever properly stress just how emotional being overweight is. Just went I feel good about getting to where I want to be, I get cut down, or read an article like this.

I remember in my Gender and the Media class, we got into a discussion about discrimination. The class was full of different people: black, white, male, Hispanic, Asian, mothers, fathers, gay and straight. One of the girls in my class, a thin women, raised her hand.

“People like, really hate fat people. Did you ever notice this?” she asked the entire class. I turned around, I was intrigued.

She went on to talk about how people are violent to heavy people, how they hate them, are disgusted by them and dismiss them in a lot of areas in life. Whether obese or slightly overweight, I have been and have seen people been mistreated for no reason at all.

I’ve been called names until my eyes went dry with tears, I’ve been ignored or treated rudely. All because my weight didn’t make me acceptable in some peoples’ eyes.

But you know, I’d like to take it a step further and shout out to my thin girls, the ones with the small ego’s and big hearts. In a lot of other words: the Lauren McDonnell’s of the world. Lauren and I share more than a name; we’ve shared over a decade of friendship. We love most of the same music, television, art, movies, books and clothes. We can finish each others’ sentences, we have the same goofy laugh, and we can curse each other out while saying I love you in the next breath. We are on the same exact page except for one thing: our size.  When we were kids, Lauren was a size 0 and I was a size 13. She has hips, I have boobs. She has freckles, I had acne. One day I told Lauren about how upset I was at being over weight, how kids would make fun of me, and how much I hated it. She stared at me blankly.

“You’re overweight?” she asked me, confused. “I had no idea!”

I was sort of speechless. “Uh, Laur, did you not see that big thing hangin’ from my stomach?”

She laughed and told me she seriously never saw me as anything but Lauren, never noticed that I or Megan Carpenter (her cousin!) had image issues until we mentioned it. She saw me for what I am, and I her.

Best Friends since the 90's!

Now a lot of heavy girls have a huge issue with skinny girls, sneering at them for wearing small clothes or jealously condemning them for their cute boyfriends. But Lauren’s problems weren’t too far from mine. People commented on “smallness” all the time, she had trouble finding pants that would fit her; the two of us shopping together is almost comical.

My point is that it is not us that is the problem; it is the world. We hate each other because of weight, we are envious of what we aren’t and constantly compare. Think about why we as a society feel that way. As an individual, you probably would never develop the discriminating or bias views we have without the influences of the world around us

But now, we need to stop. Get passed the crap you’ve heard about “fat people” or “skinny bitches.” Like with the woman in the article atop the page, she was deemed a “bad person” by her mother solely because of her weight; as if that had anything to do with who she is! It is my opinion we all need to be active participants in defining what is beautiful, get healthy for the right reasons and probably get best friends like the ones I have.

It is important that you know, you are not the reason I am doing this. I am the reason. But kindness in your judgments wouldn’t hurt either the world.

The Diet Distasters!

As a culture, we are inundated with dieting. Here is a pill for this, do this and have tighter abs in 5 days, loose weight without getting off the couch… after awhile the ads start to sound like cheesy car dealership commercials. Isn’t anyone concerned about the process of loosing weight? I am a huge proponent of learning to loose weigh rather than just doing it. However, there was a time I was tempted…

In college I tried diet pills. I was convinced the weight wouldn’t come off naturally: my family was genetically prone to weight gain, I didn’t know how to diet, I had no time for the gym, it was just a quick fix to jump start me; the excuses piled on until one day I broke down in Rite Aid and slapped the expensive “magic” pills on the counter. The instructions were simple enough: take twice daily, ween yourself as you go, eat better foods while your on it and watch your intake. Within two weeks of the exact regiment I started to notice changes, but not in my body. I was wide awake, fidgeting constantly and super on edge. I remember that it was October, just as the Phillies were on the cusp of their World Series Championship and Joe and I were sitting at a cafeteria table at TU. My leg was bouncing profusely, I looked around a lot, and kept nail polish in my bag to keep my hands busy. I painted and repainted my nails red and white in honor of the Phils like a 13 year-old girl, right there in the cafeteria at school.

“A lot of energy today Laur?” Joe asked with a chuckle.

“It’s these diet pills dude,” I replied probably with a chipmunk sounding voice. “I just, can’t sit still.”

My legs were bouncing up and down all day in class. My eyes were darting around the room. My chest tight with anxiety.

That day I threw out the pills and proclaimed I’d rather be fat then feel like that ever again.

That being said, it’d be nice if I could see some results a little faster than  when I am going au naturale. I am still at 230lbs! What the fizzle man. I eat a  lot better, I exercise way more… when do I get to do the happy dance after loosing some friggin’ weight? I think it is officially time to see a doctor. I want to see a nutritionist, despite my fear of doctors and weight. There has to be a logical place to check in and get me on track. I know I am doing the right things, but I am worried that at this rate, I’ll never get to where I want to be. Heck I don’t even know where I should be! And I wonder if I am genetically prone to being heavy? And why am I doing the work and not getting the pay? Any suggestions?

As a side note KUDOS to my family for getting aboard the healthy train! My mom and aunt just joined Weight Watchers in hopes to lead healthier, happier and longer (well, that’s my hope for them) lives. The program is actually extremely interesting; how they break down the fiber, protein and total fat to get it within your own personalized points systems to help you loose weight is a really effective manner in which to get you revved up to loose weight. And they can eat as many fruits and veggies as they want, and it doesn’t count for anything towards their total points. It is definitely a program I’d consider trying. In support of you Weight Watcher members,  Megan and I are going to bring you points for each recipe we create.

For those of you who are clueless as to where to start, check out this site, and let me know if it helped you!

HomeMade Healthy Episode 2: Breakfast Sensation!

Did you know that some studies say that eating a big breakfast is healthier for you?  People who ate more of their daily percentage of calories at breakfast gained less weight then those who ate a smaller percentage. So maybe we should rethink all that yogurt? Here’s a healthy, large, and decadent under 400 calorie breakfast. Perfect for a Sunday morning!!

Mini Loraine Egg Frittatas

Preheat oven to 350

Prep time 15 minutes
Bake time 30 minutes
Serving Size: 2 Frittatas per serving for 3 people
3 Eggs White
1 Egg
2 oz Cheddar
Turkey Bacon 2 oz cooked and diced
Black Pepper
1 tablespoon (fresh) Parsley
1 tablespoon (fresh) Chives

Total Calories 138 ** According to specific ingredients we used. Look for lowest calorie options at your local grocer

Beat the whites and yolk together with about 1 tbsp water. Add in the cheddar and cooked turkey bacon (cook per package instructions, the microwave to package instructions). Mix well. Add in a tablespoon of fresh parsley, a tablespoon of fresh chives, and fresh ground black pepper.Pour micture into standard muffin tins. evenly dividing the mixture amongst the tins.  This should make 6 mini frittatas.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

Frittata Nutrition Facts: results will vary upon your own personal ingredients

French Toast
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: Until evenly browned
Serving Size: 2 slices
6 oz Sourdough bread
½ Cup Egg Substitute
1/4 cup fat free half and half (40)
½ tablespoon vanilla extract
½ tbsp Cinnamon

Total Calories: 177** According to specific ingredients we used. Look for lowest calorie options at your local grocer.

Cut the Sourdough bread into 2 oz slices (or 2 1 oz slice per serving). Set aside. In a large bowl, mix the egg substitute, fat-free half and half, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Set aside. Lightly coat with non-stick spray. Heat large skillet or a griddle on medium-high heat. Coat slices of bread in the egg mixture until fully coated. Place in heated pan/skillet and cook until they are done, about 4 minutes a side.

French Toast: results will vary according to your own personal ingredients

Garnishing
Optional: Top the French Toast with your choice of strawberries, whipped cream, and sugar-free maple syrup

1 ½ cup strawberries (27 cals per serving)
7 grams (if weighing) Light Whipped Cream (resist putting the can directly into your mouth!)
¼ cup Sugar Free Maple Syrup (30)
With Garnishing, Frittatas and French Toast Total Meal Calories: 392 ALSO NOTE: Not all of mixture made will be used to coat to total calorie could will be LESS than this assuming you do not use all of mixture.

An Experiment in Exercise

Once when I was 15, I ran around the block every morning for a few weeks. I’d do the stretches I learned from lacrosse (yes, I played sports. No I was not good) and then go for a quick jog in the AM. Things were going well in that early spring. It was fairly warm, so it was going well. Then one day, out of no where the temperature dropped. I mean Arctic chill type of cold. At the time I was on one of my, “psh, I can do this no matter what kicks” so I threw on another layer and skipped out the door.

Running the vaccum and cleaning helps shed the lbs!

The funny thing about early mornings in the city is they are quiet. The occasional car zooms past but other then that I could only here my feet pounding pavement, the icy wind whistling against my ear. I breathed in through my nose and out of my mouth, just like I had been taught for easy breathing. Hm that’s funny, why does it feel like a knife if in my ribs? Weird, because now every time I breathe through my nose it feels like someone is scrapping pins against my internal organs. Suddenly I was heaving in pain, and heaving made it worst. God, that knife was the cold air! It was sharp and harsh and caused me to hold my breath until I got into my cozy house, vowing to never leave my home in the cold again to exercise.

So for those of you that share this sentiment and won’t join a gym for monetary or personal reasons there are a lot of little things you can do  daily to keep the calories a-burnin’! For instance, did you know that shoveling snow burns 420 calories an hour? Also sledding, building a snowman and snowball fights are all excellent ways to burn extra calories. All of that horrendous weather is good for something! Also laughing, drinking coffee, sleeping, fidgeting and more are little things you can do throughout the day to constantly keep moving and thus burning calories.

After ONE day of shoveling snow... just kidding!

Some of my favorite suggestions are for those who sit at a desk all day. For instance you could put a little step ladder under your desk and “climb the steps” while your typing away. Another neat trick was taking the escalator but walking up it instead of standing on it the whole way. The resistance actually helps you to burn the calories. While some of them are a little more unbelievable than others, the idea is to constantly be conscious of the things you are doing. Do you guys do anything little to keep you in motion all day long?

Imagine a Healthier You

Apparently the power of  imagination is no longer limited to fictional friends and hilarious South Park skits. A new study was released stating that your imagination can take you to new heights or a smaller dress size.

Imaginattttion, Imaaaginaatttion...

The idea is to methodically imagine  eating a meal before you actually eat it. For instance, you say to yourself, “self, you’re have chicken parmigiana  for dinner” and you imagine cutting it, forking it and go about the process of chewing and swallowing each bite. You literally have to envision the entire thing, and finish the whole piece of imaginary chicken. (No scraping your plate off for your imaginary puppy either! shame shame!) The idea is you trick your brain into thinking that it is full so when you go to eat your meal you eat less of it.

When I saw this, I was sort of dumbfounded. It’s not that I do not believe in the power of mind over matter. It is more or less I can’t  wrap my mind around having the attention span to do this. This is exactly how it would go down in my head:

*Cue Meditation Music*

Ok, you are sitting in a restaurant downtown. No wait, more specific, South Street. OK sweet! If I am on South Street I can get Lorenzo’s! Yeah, Lorenzo’s Pizza! Wait do I have to eat healthy in my fantasy too? That doesn’t seem fair. I mean could I gain imaginary weight from imaginary calories? Oh my god, do I have imaginary high cholesterol?! Ugh, wait never mind I’ll just eat some imaginary sushi! Yes sushi is OK! Well the California Roll is… OK, OK, so I pick up the sushi roll and pop it in my mouth. Mmm chewing…chewing…I wonder where I’d go next? I really love that Eyes Gallery Julia Zagar runs. Those amber necklaces are awesome! Wait am I still chewing? OK I taste the rice… hear the crunchy cucumber… OK time to swallow. All right! Here goes sushi number two… two… is it 2 o’clock? Holy crap it’s 5! I gotta’ write that story…shit I have to find time to actually eat! Aw man stupid sushi…

I mean, seriously. I don’t have time to eat on a real work day let alone go zen and eat my meal in my head before I really eat my meal! If this works for you, then please go for it, and let me know if it actually works. I think it’s more realistic–pun totally intended– to portion meals to actually be more full. Portioning can even be hard to find time for, but it definitely does help. Like I mentioned in this post, eating those “snacks” between meals helps. For instance, I love baby carrots and celery. I think for those cling-to-refrigerator moments I am going to have those pre-cut and ready to snack on for when I am feeling the urge to munch.

What are some of the tricks you guys used to stay full to keep from snacking? And what do you think of the imagination diet?