I will be a cheerleader, a consultant, an adviser, and a friend.

I will be thankful for every moment and every person. 

I will watch multiple people sweat and love it.

I will laugh with (and sometimes at) my sweet clients.

I will cry with and pray for those same people.

I will not waste another single moment of 2011.

What will you do today?

No processed foods ALL day!  No processed sugar, no processed cheese, no processed oils, only food from God’s green earth!

Make this week great!

Train hard, eat right, prepare for the coming of Christmas!

Pomegranate Punch:

• 2 ½ cups of Seltzer
• 2 cups of Pomegranate Juice
• Lemon twists

Directions:  Mix seltzer and pomegranate juice in bowl and then garnish with lemon twists.

To add alcohol: add 2 cups of champagne, decrease both pomegranate juice & seltzer to 1 cup each, and add ½ cup vodka. (Serves 6, 128 calories, 7 gr. carbs, 5 mg sodium, 72 Potassium).

Santa Claus:

• 46 oz. pink grapefruit juice
• 12 oz. raspberry juice
• 1 quart raspberry sherbet
• 2 liters ginger ale

Directions:  Pour pink grapefruit juice and ginger ale into a punch bowl. 

Add raspberry juice or 12 oz. frozen raspberries (stir to thaw).  Add sherbet and stir until melted

.

Stuffed Mushrooms:

• 24 large button mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed, reserving stems
• 2 tablespoons onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup celery, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup unsalted organic butter
• 2 cups bread crumbs (whole wheat)
• Juice from 1/2 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
• 2 tablespoons dry sherry (or substitute apple juice)
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Arrange mushrooms, cavity facing upwards, on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Set aside.  Finely chop the reserved mushroom stems.  Heat a small frying pan over medium heat; melt butter and sauté the mushroom stems, onion, and celery until soft, about 3 minutes.

3.  In a large mixing bowl, combine breadcrumbs, lemon juice, sherry, parsley, garlic powder, salt, basil, oregano, pepper, and 1/2 cup Parmesan. Mix well. Add sautéed vegetables and mix well to combine.

4.  Using a small spoon, stuff the prepared mushrooms. Bake in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes, or until stuffing starts to brown.  Remove mushrooms from the oven and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.  Turn the oven to broil and return the mushrooms to the oven, until the cheese has browned nicely.

Serve warm from the oven. Makes 24.

Lemon-Garlic Marinated Shrimp:

• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ¼ cup minced fresh parsley
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 ¼ pounds cooked shrimp

Directions:  Place garlic and oil in a small skillet and cook over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add lemon juice, parsley, salt, and pepper.  Toss with shrimp in a large bowl.  Chill until ready to serve.

Serves 12.  Can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for up to 2 hours.

Enjoy!

Here’s a few EASY tips I give my clients to help them stay far AWAY from those added holiday pounds:

1)Drink…a lot.  Water, that is.  Drinking a full 8 oz of water before every meal.  You will fill up faster and eat less.

2)Use the dessert plate.  For your food.  The smaller the plate, the less calories you’ll consume. 

3)Eat before you go.  Don’t go to any holiday party hungry.  Fill up on your veggies and other healthy options before you get there!

4)Decide how many drinks you are going to have before the party.  Choose light and clear alcohol over dark, and alternate between an alcohol beverage (if you are drinking) and water.  This cuts 100’s of calories!!!! 

5)Throw it away. If you host the party, THROW away any unhealthy leftovers.  I know…it’s hard.

6)Be the heel.  Be the one at the get together that loads up on the veggie tray and stays away from the sugar plums.

7)Train Hard.  Give yourself a GREAT workout the day of the party and you will be less likely to indulge.

8)Don’t give up! Falling out of habits you are trying to accomplish for a few days, DOES NOT mean your effort is hopeless.  Simply acknowledge that you ‘slipped up’ or ate poorly and get back on your plan.  New day, new start!

9)Strive for 80-90%  If you can eat clean 80-90% of the month, it’s way okay to enjoy yourself with culinary delights sometimes.  

Give yourself the good gift of a vibrant life this season.  Train well, eat well, and live well. 

1)Take each obstacle as it comes and give it your best effort.

2)Let your past success encourage you and catapult you over the next few hard miles.

3)Help out your teammates.

4)Be humble enough to depend on your teammates.  There are some things you can NOT do alone.

5)Keep smiling.  Attitude is everything.

6)Don’t be afraid to get dirty.

7)Be willing to lose the shirt off your back, no matter the sentimental value.

8)Do not let others set your pace.  You run your own race.  Others will move faster or slower than you…do not let that influence your day.

9)Don’t ever forget your why.  Keep your eyes on that and you can finish anything.

10)Have fun…it’s what it’s all about.

11)Take full advantage of intermittent rest.

12)Think about your strategy BEFORE you come to the obstacle.

13)Choose wisely who you run the race with.  I am blessed with the bestest of friends.

14)Listen intently to the words of our national anthem.  They are powerful.

15)Don’t let your personal setbacks keep you from running the race.

16)Don’t forget to be thankful for every step of your journey, for every leg of your race, for every obstacle you encounter.

Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds.

Here’s one that I got this week:

It’s treated like a vegetable, but technically a fruit.

It’s orange.

It’s yummy.

And best of all, it can be used in our bootcamp fun!

Join us for Pumpkin Bootcamp!  Mondays/Thursdays in October at 6pm.

Contact me for additional information.

Make today great!

Here’s what my sweet parents in the room need to hear.  The issues you have with food, you got from your PARENTS.  Well, that was the start of it anyway.  We truly do crave what we eat.  Do you crave soda?  Are sweets nearly impossible for you to give up for Lent?  Or maybe you need salt on everything.  Think about where that started.  Think about what you ate as a child.

Now, before you start disowning your parents, think about what you are feeding your own children.   Our taste buds are essentially formed from birth through age 7.  Right now, YOU are giving your child a gift of nutrition.  What will that gift be?  Is it a hunger and craving for fresh fruits and veggies, or is it the taste of soda that they will ALWAYS have to have with lunch?  Will they ask for it?  Absolutely.  But we get to decide what’s best for them.

Enter…ranch dressing.  Love the Hidden Valley commercial, don’t you?  With children bursting open pinatas full of carrot and celery sticks and eating broccoli from the ice cream truck that doesn’t give ice cream but instead gives veggies.  I have one problem with that.  WE CAN DO BETTER.  If we automatically slather ranch dressing all over our kids’ produce we are training their pallets to crave saturated fat every time they see a vegetable.  Psst.  Your kids don’t even have to know ranch dressing exists.  If you MUST eat saturated fat with your veggies, HIDE IT FROM THEM.  Yes, eventually they will grow up and possibly require counseling because you never gave them syrup on their pancakes, Little Debbie in their lunch box, or ketchup on everything.  But rest assured, their waistlines, heart health, and tongues will thank you.

If your children are older and you have always been giving them ranch dressing with their veggies, switch it up on them.  Try this recipe sent to me from one of my stellar mommy clients this week.  If they are under the age of 7, they won’t even notice.

And remember. It’s okay to say no.  They’ll only cry for a little while.

Veg-Wee Dip (Makes 1/2 Cup)

1/2 Cup Plain Yogurt ( I use Greek yogurt)
1 Tsp Spike Seasoning
1 Tsp Lemon Juice

Accompaniments: raw or steamed veggies such as baby carrots, celery, cucumber, fennel, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, or jicama

1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir.
2. Serve.

There is one moment from my teaching background that I will never forget. I was a student teacher at a small low-economic school in central Kentucky. It was early on in my student teaching possibly the first or second week. My cooperating teacher, Mrs. Lambert was a sweet, petite, busy-body of a woman who was very efficient and who ate a single piece of chocolate every day with her lunch. As I entered the class of 24 second graders, I remember specifically assessing each student as I encountered them. The tall, African American student was brilliant, but very tightly wound. Thomas, the small freckled child was prone to cry…about everything. Eric had Autism, and he was known to suddenly pinch, scratch, or break out in laughter.

Then there was Miranda. Miranda was obviously from one of the lower income families even in a school such as ours as evidenced from her worn out sneakers and hand-me-down jeans. Miranda was a well behaved student with long white/blonde hair that was in a constant state of mayhem and needed a good trim as her bangs hung down through her line of vision. Miranda was quiet. She didn’t demand a lot of attention, and so from me, she didn’t really get it. Miranda was not at the top of the class. I would place her somewhere close to the bottom. She really struggled with most of the things we were learning in class, and homework was NOT turned in by Miranda.

One day, as the kids were having “quiet work time,” Miranda slumped up to Mrs. Lambert to show that she had completed her work. Since I was still early on in my student teaching, my job was to shadow Mrs. Lambert. Essentially just watch every move she made. As Miranda presented her paper, her teacher’s eyes lit up. “Miranda!” She exclaimed with maybe a bit too much emotion. “This is beautiful!” And she proceeded to pick out specifics about why Miranda’s paper showed such brilliance.
“Are we looking at the same paper?” I thought to myself. There were obvious errors. Some Mrs. Lambert pointed out, (after her long gush) and some she simply did not. Miranda’s paper displayed sloppy hand writing and based on the time it took her to complete it was not a 100% effort.
However, now it was Miranda’s face that lit up. She smiled widely and bounced back to her chair to make the corrections all the while beaming brilliantly. And Mrs. Lambert continued to praise Miranda even when she was out of earshot.
I went about my day wondering why this teacher would find such specialness in a girl who was in the same class as Thomas, Michael, and Rebecca who clearly out performed her in all things academic. But as I continued my weeks and months in that short semester in a second grade classroom I noticed a little blonde haired girl who stood a little taller, danced a bit more freely, and yes, even began to give greater effort to her daily menial tasks.
We all lead in some way, don’t we? We all have a Miranda who is under us. Whether that Miranda is our own child, a gal in bootcamp, or even a friend. The world will do its job of tearing down. Let us be a community who builds up.
Live WHOLLY fit today.

So I have nutrition segments to what I do. And this week I got a great question:

“Rachel, what oils should I be cooking my vegetables in? I have been using olive oil.”

And here was my response to her. Hope it helps.

GREAT question. I wish I had this question more often.

The #1 oil you should be cooking your vegetables in is coconut oil. Love it that you have been using extra virgin olive oil so far. It is a great monounsaturated fat, and works great in salad dressings, but, due to it’s chemical structure, when you heat up olive oil, it damages the oxidative nature to the oil which essentially means it’s less than stellar.

Stellar is coconut oil. Great to cook with, it is a saturated fat, but this is a NATURAL saturated fat. I don’t often talk about this in bootcamp because it gets confusing…”but I thought you said saturated fat is bad, Rachel?” Indeed it is. Manmade saturated fat is bad. This is God made saturated fat. Lovely for our whole system.

Stay far far away from corn oil and canola oil. These contain chemicals which are worse for your body than the dreaded “trans-fats”.

To quote Dr. Joseph Mercola:
“There is only one oil that is stable enough to withstand the heat of cooking, and that’s coconut oil. So, do yourself a favor and ditch all those healthy oil wannabes, and replace them with a large jar of fresh, organic, heart-supporting coconut oil.”

Thank you Dr. Mercola, will do.