March 2012
73 posts
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Health and Your Mind
I don’t know if it’s something in the air, but I’ve gotten an overwhelming amount of texts, calls, and messages from people deciding to make healthy changes in their lives. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me.
I started my blog for several reasons, but one of the main reasons was because I felt my life was too much about “me”- when I was working out, what I was eating, how I looked, how...
February 2012
52 posts
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For those who love to bake
Baking is an enjoyable past time for many of us. Unfortunately, most recipes we bake are cookies, cupcakes, brownies… in other words, a whole LOT of sugar.
I’m not going to tell you to give up this hobby, but I do suggest you start looking for “clean” baking recipes. Making a batch of chocolate chip cookies because “it’s thursday” and having them in your...
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The Cost of Healthy Eating- Grocery Shopping
Want to change your diet, but worried it’ll change your bank account?
As a grad student, I’ve spent the past few years trying to maximize my money at the grocery store. I’m the kind of person who loves going to the grocery store, and could spend hours in there finding new products. As far as my blog goes, that’s great.. as far as my bank account, that isn’t always...
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Rachel's Fit Health Hot Cocoa (55 cals!)
Hot cocoa is a delicious drink for the cold winter months. Good news- you don’t have to give it up if you’re trying to cut sugar/reduce calories in your diet! The recipe is very simple:
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
Truvia, Stevia, or Ideal no-calorie sugar to taste
Heat and enjoy!
Other options: Can add vanilla, cinnamon, or cayenne pepper...
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Spring Break/ Vacation Health Tips
I’ve been getting some frantic messages about spring break! This weekend, I’m going away with friends to go skiing, so I thought I’d share my own tips for eating while on a trip.
1. Food
As someone who consistently eats a healthy diet, I used to dread going on weekend trips with friends because of the awkward feeling I’d get as I said, “No, it’s ok.. I’ll just have...
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Anonymous asked: What are your thoughts on coconut oil and for somebody who is trying to lose weight, do you think the extra calories that come from coconut oil are a good thing? Thanks :)
“Whenever somebody discredits you, and tells you that you can’t do something,...”
– Nicole Wilkins, IFBB Figure Pro and Olympia Figure Champion
Anonymous asked: Is coconut water good for replaced water due to sweating from hot flashes?
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Spiced Nuts
This is a recipe from my friend Kat! Wanted to share it with you all:
Spiced Nuts
“So Rachel’s post the other day about cinnamon sugar almonds inspired me to try out an old recipe of my mom’s but just tweak it a little bit, and it turned out so good I wanted to share with all of you! If any of you like those spiced nuts they have at baseball games or your family makes ...
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Brown Rice with Rose Water
Excited for this meal at 10am!
Boil brown rice in water, add rose water for a floral taste.
Add parsley, paprika, and salt to rice
Shred baked or boiled chicken breast on top.
Here is what Rose Water looks like:
It can be found at Arabic food stores. I have also seen it at local grocery stores, but its availability probably depends on the population around you!
Yes, it literally tastes...
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Less is More in Weight Loss? Food Myths and Tips
I’ve been talking to a lot of friends lately about their own “healthy” friends. Here are the common beliefs among these friends:
The less food I eat, the small I will be.
The less often I eat, the small I will be.
The less fat I eat, the more fat I will lose.
The more cardio I do, the more calories I’ll burn and the more weight I’ll lose.
I will still lose weight...
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Coconut water: Nature’s Gatorade
Ever tried coconut water? A friend of mine asked me to research and write about it. I was surprised at what I found!
Whenever there is a trend in health, I am always skeptical of whether or not the product does what it actually claims to do. Usually, the claims are valid- but not necessarily for the particular product you’re looking to buy. For example, fish oil is another recent trend in...
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It's not just about calories..
This drives me crazy. Click the link to Shape magazine.
http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/most-deceiving-foods-they-have-more-calories-you-think?page=1
This slideshow is so misleading. Some of these foods are great for you. They say it’s about portion control but most people will see that list and avoid these foods altogether.
Quinoa carries the most protein of any grain. Rice...
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Ope's Oatmeal Applesauce Cookies- 6g Sugar!
What a great find! If you crave sweets once in a while, here is a great sweet to have on hand.
Ope’s Oatmeal Applesauce Cookie, Classic flavor
Nutrition info:
142 cals, 4g fat, 26g carbohydrates, 6g sugar, 4g protein
What make this cookie different?
No butter, limited flour, and a LOT less sugar.
These would be a great option for anyone who likes an occasion sweet but wants to keep...
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It's Time to Get Uncomfortable
The majority of people do not like change. We get accustomed to the same routine, the same friends, the same foods, the same study habits, and we stick with them (whether or not they really work!).
We know eating well and exercising is good for us. Why is it so hard to make a healthy change in our lives?
Because it’s uncomfortable. Any degree of change brings us out of the comforts of our...
What are You Made of?: Four Ways the Dietetics... →
Read this post and had to share- I’ve been saying this for years!
realfoodology:
Pervasive, accepted, and largely unquestioned concepts and ideas exist within the nutrition field that are quite harmful. They don’t provide room for growth, critical analysis, or substantive dialogue. Here I discuss the top four misconceptions and how nutrition professionals…
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imstephanieeee asked: Hi Rachel! :D Starting off, I just wanted to say I love your blog and every piece of information you post is a new fact I never knew. :O The thing is, I'm 16 years old and my dad does the grocery shopping and he only buys the junk because it's cheaper. I get him to buy a few things, but nothing like almond milk or grapefruit or things like that because it's too expensive. I was...
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Simple but power thought for Sugar Month
This is a great post from another blogger. Look how quickly sugar adds up in your diet!
exercisescience:
A day of beverages:
8:00am - Orange juice 8 oz (110 calories)
10:00am - Medium mocha (400 calories)
Noon - Regular cola 20 oz (280 calories)
2:00pm - Some fruit drink 16 oz (230 calories)
5:00pm - Sweet tea 16 oz (200 calories)
8:00pm - Beer 12 oz (150 calories)
Total of 1,370...
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Searching for a snack idea?
I get this question all the time, “What can I eat for a snack (now that your blog has greatly decreased my options!)?”
One of my go-to snacks is greek yogurt. High in protein, full of probiotics, can be added to smoothies, used for dips, or eaten on it’s own!
Here’s one I take to class with me!
1 cup PLAIN greek yogurt (protein, plain is lower in carbohydrates)
1/2...
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Healthy "Soft Serve" from FitSugar
So after I saw the chocolate banana soft serve recipe on FitSugar this afternoon, I immediately chopped up a banana and put it in the freezer! Here’s the result:
This tasted soo good! Cool, creamy, and sweet.
I used:
1/2 banana (frozen, in pieces)
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1 tablespoon of Peanut butter(if desired)
1 tsp cinnamon
(if you do not find it sweet enough, you can add a...
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Chocolate Banana Soft Serve from FitSugar
Must try this! Might do 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup greek yogurt as an alternative.
Check out the recipe!
http://healthy-recipe-group.fitsugar.com/Chocolate-Banana-Soft-Serve-Ice-Cream-17567474
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Steamed Artichokes
If you’ve never had the pleasure of eating fresh artichokes, you’re missing out!
After boiling in water. Still steaming!
Artichokes are almost in season (around March), so look out for them!
There are many ways to prepare artichokes. I simply boiled them in water and didn’t trim the leaves. But here is a great recipe I’ve tried with a ton of flavor!
...
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No Excuses Challenge Update
So it’s been about 4-5 days since I started the No Excuses Challenge! Here is my update:
I will exercise 6 days per week.
Yesterday was a rest day, so 2 more workouts- today and tomorrow!
I will eat clean meals all week, with one cheat meal(that I make!) per week.
The “cheat” or “treat” meal as people call it, is to keep your sanity! I’m going to make...
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“I woke up this morning to a stronger body and a stronger mind- strengthened each...”
– Rachel’s Fit Health
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Easy tips for lowering sugar at breakfast
Now that you’ve read my post about sugar, I’ll occasionally post lower sugar ideas for breakfast, snacks, and other meals! If you can’t give up the convenience and crunch of breakfast cereal, here’s an option:
Crunchy Vanilla Sunrise cereal is SO good! It has 7g of sugar per serving. I like to take 2/3 -1 cup of the brown rice crisps cereal and add 1/3 cup of sunrise...
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Too many of us only have EXTRINSIC motivation to eat well- we only try to eat healthy foods because we want our bodies to look a certain way. Educating yourself about how your body responds to good nutrition increases INTRINSIC motivation to eat healthy.
This takes you from “How many calories is in that?” to “Nope. That’s not optimal fuel for my body”- this is how...