Free Teleclass - Diet is Not a Four Letter Word

 

Does this sound like you or someone you may know?

Have you tried every diet out there, only to feel unsatisfied, deprived and a failure for either quitting almost before it began or losing weight, only to gain it back?

Are you tired of dieting and being a slave to food?

Do you want to enjoy eating without worry or obsession?

Do you want to understand how to lose weight while feeling energetic, fulfilled, and happy?

Would you like to understand how to manage your weight the right way and never have to diet again?
 

Then you’ll want to hear this!

On Monday, January 23^rd at 7 pm, I’m hosting a free teleseminar entitled: 

“Diet is Not a Four Letter Word; Seven misconceptions about diets and why they don’t work.” 

This high content call will identify the common beliefs held by many of us surrounding diets, how they may be holding you back and what you can do to eliminate diets from your life for good.
 

I’d like to sign up for the call!

If you have a friend that would be interested in the call, please let them know about it too!

Can’t make the call on January 23^rd?  No problem!  If you sign up anyway, you’ll receive the link to listen to the call at your convenience.
 

So sign up today!

We’d love for you to be there,



Linda DiBella, Ph.D., is a nutrition and lifestyle mentor and a First Line Therapy Practitioner with a background in Biomedical Sciences who helps clients gradually change their diet and lifestyle habits so they can lose weight, eliminate their dependency on stimulants, have more energy, and improve their moods. She works with clients in person, over the phone, or Skype. For more information, visit her website at http://www.getreal4health.com or email her at getreal4health@gmail.com.

Image courtesy of isolated images

Purple (and Green) Smoothie

The holidays are not quite over yet, but maybe you wish they were so that you could get back to eating normally.  Thankfully, there’s a week between Christmas and New Year’s where we can slow down with the food, and if you’re on vacation, where you can slow down with the body.  Often, if I want to take a break from food, I’ll turn to one of the smoothies below.  Maybe I shouldn’t refer to it as something other than food though.  There’s plenty in there to keep your blood sugar from plummeting after a couple of hours and heading to the leftovers. 

You can play around with the amounts and try different spices.  I love the warmth of cardamom this time of year and sometimes I’ll add ginger too.  Even a pumpkin pie spice would work well.  It tastes more like a treat that way! 

Happy holidays!

Purple (and Green) Smoothie

1 c water or almond milk

½ c frozen blueberries

½ frozen banana, cut into chunks

1 T chia or hemp seeds, or

1 scoop protein powder, or

½ cup plain Greek yogurt

¼ avocado

handful of greens (baby lettuces, spinach, or kale)

sprinkle of spices (cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, etc.)

1 t real maple syrup or honey (optional)

Combine the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  For a thinner drink, add more water or milk.

Quick, Whole-grain Cereal

If you're trying to get away from the boxed cereals that are often loaded with sugar and artificial or genetically modified ingredients here is a great alternative that is easy to make and store.  It's a source of whole grains, proteins and healthy fats and is sweetened with natural ingredients.  You can also play with seasonings to change the flavor.  I made a quick bowl this morning and it was perfectly satisfying.  

Easy Homemade Muesli

3-4 c rolled oats, uncooked
1 c mixed unsalted nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, etc.)
1 c raw, unsalted seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, hemp, sesame, chia)
1/2 - 1 c dried fruit (raisins, currants, dried cherries, chopped apricots, etc.)
cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves (to taste, optional)


Combine all the ingredients in an airtight container.  Serve with plain yogurt or almond milk.  For more sweetness,  add a bit of honey or real maple syrup.




Image courtesy of Michelle Meiklejohn

The Health Food You May Not be Eating

I’m a huge fan of meals in a bowl.  They can be soups, stews, hearty grain dishes, or even salads.  In fact, more and more, I prepare my salads chopped–meaning that the ingredients are cut small and tossed together to make more of a slaw than a chunky salad.  Which is one reason I also like the vegetable grater for veggies like carrots, beets, and zucchini.  Tonight, I took the grater to another vegetable, the daikon radish.  Shown above, it’s much larger than the typical round, red radish.  I’ve seen them over a foot long.  This one was not so big. 

Why eat daikon versus red radishes? I actually prefer them to red radishes because they have less of a bite.  The taste is similar, just less intense. And to me, this is one vegetable where looks can be deceiving because rather than a vibrant red or orange or green color, they’re white and I always associate bright colors with beneficial nutrients.  Yet for few calories, they’re loaded with vitamin C, folate, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, and lots of fiber.   And shredding really brings out the water in them, so they’re juicy and a little crunchy at the same time. 

Just wash, peel, and shred with the large grater.  Tonight, I ate them alone as a side dish with some greens and pumpkin soup.  But they’re great in a salad too and I like to cut them into sticks for dipping into hummus or guacamole.  If you normally shy away from radishes, I encourage you to try daikon.   It’s a simple healthy food you don’t want to miss out on…

Pumpkin Mousse Parfaits

Why is it good this time of the year to have roasted pumpkin or squash ready to go in the fridge at a moment’s notice?   Because it can be used in so many tasty ways.  It can be added to a smoothie, it can be used to make a quick blended soup, it can be warmed up as a side dish and it can even be used to make dessert. 

A few days ago, I was about to try this easy and great sounding cookie recipe and instead, I used similar ingredients to make a pumpkin mousse parfait.  What was so wonderful about this recipe besides the flavor?  It took minutes to make–because I had roasted butternut squash in the fridge, and because it didn’t require cream to be whipped.

If you love the flavor of pumpkin pie, then you’ll love this easy, creamy, decadent, pumpkin mousse.  It’s actually a squash mousse, but that doesn’t sound so good : )  And besides, this can easily be made with fresh or canned pumpkin and I will try it some day.   I will also make the original cookie recipe, because if I like the taste of this mousse, I’m sure I’ll like the taste of the cookies.

Warning…I wrote about the fact that nut butters, like almond butter are calorie dense and should be eaten in moderation.  This recipe uses an all-natural nut butter as well, so this mousse would compare to a traditional whole-cream-based mousse with regard to calories.  It’s meant to be eaten slowly and deliberately so that you can enjoy every bite. 

Pumpkin Mousse

1 c roasted squash or pumpkin

½ c all natural nut butter (peanut, almond, cashew, etc.)

¼ c  plus 2 T maple syrup

2 t cinnamon

1 t nutmeg, cardamom

½ t ginger

¼ t cloves

1 t sea salt

plain Greek yogurt

Add the first eight ingredients (minus the 2T maple syrup) to a food processor and process until smooth and well blended.   Mix the remaining maple syrup, or enough to taste, into the yogurt to cut the tangy-ness. 

Into serving glasses or bowls, add a layer of mousse then a layer of yogurt then a second layer of mousse.  Top the desert with a dollop of yogurt.  Add raisins or chocolate nibs or shavings if desired.   Serve immediately.

Rutabaga, Cabbage, and Leek Soup

This was a simple soup I made the other day that was inspired by a recipe that a friend made the last time I visited.  Hers was also a combination of cruciferous and root vegetables–made with only a few ingredients.  You would never know by the taste though and I wanted to achieve a similar intensity of flavor.   I think it came pretty close.  I like to use nutmeg a lot this time of year, too, so I also added it for a different flavor.

Rutabaga, Cabbage, and Leek Soup

Grapeseed oil

1 large leek, washed, dried, and sliced cross-wise into thin slices

½ medium head savoy cabbage, chopped into small pieces

½ large rutabaga, peeled and cut into small chunks

1 t nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Wash and dry the leek then remove the bottom and slice crosswise into thin slices.  Heat a Dutch oven to medium then add one tablespoon oil and the leeks.  Saute until then get tender and start to caramelize.   Deglaze the pan with 2 tablespoons of water.

While the leek is cooking, heat a medium saucepan to medium and add 1 teaspoon oil.  Saute the cabbage until it’s wilted and tender.  Add the leaks and rutabaga chunks to the pan and add enough boiling water to bring it about 1 inch from the top of the vegetables.

Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the rutabagas are soft.    Add 1 t nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.

Working in small batches, blend the soup in a blender or use an immersion blender.  Return it to the pot and check the seasonings.   Ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle with additional nutmeg if desired. 

Apple Zucchini Muffins

What to do when you’ve got a giant zucchini in the fridge?  Well, two of my favorite things to make with zucchini are quick bread and quiche.  Both require the zucchini to be shredded, which is a great workout for the arms–but it goes surprisingly quickly.  In fact, I still have some shredded zucchini leftover from the recipe below, which may indeed be added to a quiche tomorrow. 

This recipe combines both zucchini and apples, since they are in season, with gluten-free flours.  I like to play around with different combinations of gluten-free flours to taste the differences.  I’ve also added lemon rind and plain yogurt, but you could probably substitute apple sauce for the dairy.   In addition, I left these on the less-than-sweet side.  I would rather have the option of spreading on some pumpkin butter, or preserves, or eat them plain with the slight sweetness of the apples. 

Apple Zucchini Muffins

1 c buckwheat flour

1 c gluten-free flour (Bob’s Red Mill)

1.5 t baking soda

¼ t xanthan gum

½ t salt

1 t cinnamon

½ t nutmeg

1/3 c sugar (I used organic, raw sugar)

¼ c grapeseed oil

1 egg and one egg white

1 t vanilla

¼ cup plain yogurt

1 T grated lemon rind

2 c grated, drained zucchini

1 apple, peeled and chopped

½ c chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, or almonds)

In a medium bowl, combine the first six dry ingredients and mix well with a wire whisk. 

In a second large bowl, combine the sugar and oil and mix well.  Add in the egg and egg white and whisk until the eggs are well beaten and combined. 

Mix in the vanilla, yogurt, and lemon rind, then the zucchini and apples. 

Fold in the dry ingredients until just mixed in, then gently fold in the nuts.

Spoon the mixture by ¼-cup fulls into greased muffin tins.  Bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes, or until the muffins spring back to the touch. 

Let cool for a few minutes, then use a knife to loosen around the edges of each muffin and remove it from the pan.  Place on a wire rack and let cool completely (or dig in while they’re warm!).  Store in an airtight container.