I understand how life can get overwhelming and time consuming. Sometimes, fitting a simple 20 minute workout may seem close to impossible so when you do find a time slot in your schedule to break a sweat, make sure you maximize it!

Follow the tips listed below and maximize your workout session!

* PROPER NUTRITION is key to boost and sustain energy during your workouts. Instead of 3 large meals during the day, start eating 4-5 mini meals spread a few hours a part to keep your energy levels sustained throughout the day. Pre-workout snacks will help maximize your workout, while post-workout snacks and meals will help re-fuel and recover your muscles.

* PROPER HYDRATION. Staying hydrated is very important to maximize  your workout. When you’re body is fully hydrated, it is able to utilize the nutrients it needs for energy and eliminate toxins. If you’re dehydrated during a workout, you may feel lethargy and dizziness leading to a less than optimum fitness session.

* FULL BODY WORKOUT. If I had 20 minutes to work my body out, I would skip the treadmill and try a full body workout that includes squats and lunges while holding weights. Continuous resistance training will rev your heart beat while building muscle mass.

* PUMP UP THE VOLUME. Studies have shown that music can boost and  sustain a workout better and longer than without music. Download a few up tempo songs and start moving.

* STAY POSITIVE Envision your dream body and go after it. When your mind is telling you that its tired, fight back mentally and push yourself through it. Your mind is so powerful, so learn to shift your thoughts from tiredness to energetic. Imagine yourself in a warrior competition and that you have 20 minutes to prove yourself. Creating fantasy scenarios during my workouts, helps optimize my fitness ability.

* KEEP IT FRESH. If I did cardio everyday, same time, same machine, I would freak! Schedule different activities, classes or workouts for the week so that you can stay motivated to workout.

* PUMP UP YOUR HEART BEAT. Workout within your heart rate range. Stay within your target heart rate during those 20 minutes and maximize the burn. You can figure out your target heart rate by entering your information in most fitness machines, purchasing a heart monitor watch or calculating it yourself. . A quick way of calculating your target heart rate during exercise is to take your pulse for 10 seconds and multiply the number of beats by 6.

So, pull out your daily calendar and mark out 20 minutes for your health. Your exercise options are endless whether its taking a brisk walk, or walking up and down your work stairs holding a few weights during your break. You have 24 hours in a day, so what’s 20 minutes?

You can do it!

In the last few weeks, we learned how to eat breakfast like a Queen, lunch like a Princess and today we’re eating dinner like a poor Peasant!

All your meals are equally as important and will provide you with the proper fuel needed to stay healthy and energized while keeping your waistline in check.  Breakfast should contain more nutritious calories than your other meals to kick start your day, lunch should be a little less to maintain your energy, and dinner should be the lightest meal to help you maintain your weight, prepare your body for sleep and keep it working throughout the night.

Our metabolism naturally slows down 8 hours after waking up. At the end of the day, the amount of calories consumed will determine your weight, but eating healthier options at night can boost your metabolism and get your body ready for the next day.

When eating dinner, I always consider yummy meals that are well-balanced and full of nutrition. Eating a healthy dinner provides me with energy to stay up for a few hours, curb late night cravings and maintain my weight. timing is just as important as what you eat. Try eating dinner a few hours before bed time to let your body digest the food and to set yourself up for better sleep. My routine dinner schedule is optimally around 7 pm.  Do not skip dinner or any meal for that matter! Skipping meals can cause your body to release stress hormones that can lead to belly fat, and conserve calories that will slow your metabolism even more.

Let’s check out a few healthy dinner options!

I love making this simple dish that combines a lean piece of grilled chicken with a side of baked sweet potato. For veggies, I’ll hook up a fresh salad or cup of spinach.

I remember the first time I tried sushi. I did not care for it, but a few weeks later I craved it. Since then, I’ve been hooked. I always find the sushi spots that offer brown rice rolls to maximize the health value of my meal. I usually order a large asian salad with ginger dressing, and a 6 piece roll of spicy tuna, california or salmon roll.

Healthy, hearty, full of veggies and comforting. Chicken soup is a great dinner option that contains lean protein and nutritious veggies. Have a hot bowl with a whole grain roll. Feel free to add a salad too.

Unless you’re allergic to seafood, a piece of grilled salmon with a side of roasted veggies always hit the spot. Sprinkle some dill and squeeze some fresh lemon juice on top, and dig in!

I love a good burrito!

Try a whole grain wrapped stuffed with 1/4 cup brown rice, grilled chicken, 1/2 cup black beans, lettuce, tomatoes and salsa. Slice up some oranges for a little dessert.

 Since we discussed healthy lunches in the beginning of the week, I thought why not showcase an easy-to-make lunch time sandwich that you can enjoy with your sweetie. I noticed that the open-faced roasted vegetable sandwich that was showcased on Monday caused the most drools, so we’re going to learn how to make it!

This delicious vegetable sandwich will take 15 minutes to cut and prep, and 30 minutes to cook up. You’ll love it!

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant
• 1 red sweet pepper
• 2 portabella mushrooms
• 4 stalks of asparagus
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• Salt n peppa
• Hummus
• Sliced whole grain bread

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Slice your eggplant, sweet peppers and mushrooms long wise and keep your asparagus as is. You may have to chop the bottom of the asparagus if too hard.
• In a pan, place your veggies and drizzle your olive oil and mix around
• Season with Salt n Peppa
• Throw in your full garlic cloves
• Bake for 25-30 minutes
• After your veggies are roasted, pull them out and let them cool for a few minutes
• Spread some hummus on your sliced bread and top it with your favorite veggies.

How easy was that! And wait until you taste it!

Compliment this great sandwich with a cup of hearty soup or a fresh mixed green salad. 

Yay for lunch!

I was driving to work the other morning and turned on the radio to hear that a talk show was discussing female relationships. I usually tune in to this particular station to get a good laugh in the morning, but what I heard that day was quite disturbing.

The show had a constant flow of negative calls from women ranting about how females were bitchy, untrustworthy, catty and that they preferred to have male friends instead.

With today’s constant pressure to be the full-package of beauty and brains, women feel in competition with one another to be the prettiest, greatest and who can score the best guy. What a stressful life!

A 2006 survey showed that female relationships have declined meaning that we are becoming more isolated as women and as a society. Studies have shown that women who have strong female relationships have higher self-esteem, reduced stress and live longer than those who don’t.

Personally, I went through a period in my life (high school days) when I felt disconnected with other females and felt negatively about them. I labeled myself as a tom boy and wanted little to do with chicks. But after years of real life experiences, I realized how much I loved being around other women. Now, I consider my great friends as my sisters whom I share my life with. They all exude their own unique beauty that makes them special.

With today’s hectic world full of work, work and more work, it’s hard to maintain relationships with friends and family, so more effort is needed to hold them together.

Ladies, enough with the hating and let’s start loving and supporting one another!

Hang Out! Just like scheduling meetings for work, we need to “make” time and schedule dates with our loved ones. I live an extremely busy life so I force myself to pull out my calendar every now and then to pencil in my favorite girls. Our get together usually involve meeting at a chill coffee shop so we can catch up, or even a girls’ night out at a salsa club.

Pick up the Phone! If I can’t get together, then I schedule phone calls, text messages, messenger chats and emails. It’s not as good as meeting up, but it’s definitely better than nothing at all.

Be a Good Friend! Treat your girls like you want to be treated. Don’t call your girl just because you’re having boy issues even though she’ll probably listen. Call her because you love her.

I hope that this post triggered loving emotions about your girlfriends and that you’ll take more time from your schedule to show them you care whether its through chit chatting over a cup of Joe, or a simple “I miss you” text message.

I love you Smallworld Beauties!

When eating out, I always consider restaurants that offer self-serve salad bars. Two of my favorite salad bars are Fogo de Chao’s and Ruby Tuesday’s. Creating my own salad allows me to control the nutrients, calories and portion size.

Even though I enjoy dining out, I prefer to prepare most of my meals at home to save money.

Since I adore colorful salad bars, I have created one at home! 

Sunday is my shopping and food prep day. I only purchase fruits and veggies to last me until my next grocery visit to avoid any food from going bad. I use this day to bake, grill, saute, steam, prep and tupperware my mini meals for the week.

Creating my salad bar is so much fun and appetizing! Here’s what you’ll need to start.

• Tupperware: If you haven’t invested in food storage containers, then I suggest you do. I have quite a few in different shapes and sizes.
• Cutlery: I always have a sharp knife to make chopping and slicing easier
• Cutting board
• (optional) I love my food chopper! It makes chopping onions so much easier.

Check out my favorite salad bar items:

VEGGIES: Mixed green salad mix, sweet peppers (red, green, yellow), cucumber, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, baby carrots, artichoke, beets, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms and olives.

 

LEAN PROTEIN: Hard boiled eggs, turkey slices, grilled chicken, egg whites, cottage cheese, canned tuna and poached salmon.

 

DRESSING: olive oil, vinegar, lemon and lime juice.

 

OTHER: sun flower seeds, raw sliced almonds, chick peas, flax seed, and hemp seeds.

The food items listed above are way more than a week worth of meals, so I pick and choose different items from week to week to keep my salad tasting new and exciting. By having salad bar items in your fridge, you’ll feel both motivated and obligated to eat them.

So, get your grocery list out and jot down what you need to get for your at-home salad bar. Remember that calories count, so keep your portions under control. Load up on the veggies, eat fist-sized lean protein, drizzle tablespoon of dressing and sprinkle a teaspoon of nuts or seeds.

Last Monday, I wrote about the importance of starting the day with a  Queen-sized breakfast! This week, I’m going to discuss the importance of consuming a healthy lunch. I will also showcase a few tasty, nutritious examples that are easy to make or buy.

Eating breakfast like a Queen will help kick start your day, and eating lunch like a Princess will boost and sustain your energy levels to get you through your work day.

Like I mentioned in previous posts, think of your body as an engine that needs continuous refueling to keep it running at its optimum. Instead of eating three large meals spaced many hours apart, try feeding your body mini meals 2-3 hours apart.

When people start a diet, they quickly jump to the assumption that they have to eat bland foods and lettuce leaves. Wrong! There are endless tasty lunch items that are nutritious and figure-friendly…

Suggestions:

• When preparing any meal, always shoot for creating a well-balanced dish containing lean protein, veggies, whole grains and healthy fats to provide you with nutrients and keep you satisfied for longer.
• Preparing your meals at home can help keep your portions and calories in check as well as save you some money.

You ready to fall in love with lunch? Good. Let’s Eat!

Personally, my favorite lunch choice  is a crisp salad and some lean protein. I love me a large salad full of mixed greens, sweet peppers, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes dressed in a little olive oil and vinegar, and a side of 2 soft boiled eggs for my lean protein. If you’re new to eating healthy, this may sound boring but in time you’ll learn to truly enjoy the delicious flavors that veggies provide.  

Toss that Wonder bread out the window, and opt for whole grain instead. Fill a whole grain wrap with lean grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato and honey mustard and serve it up with a side cut crisp carrots.

Sometimes, my belly craves a hearty bowl of soup. A spicy cup of beef chili is a great lunch option. The chili spices are great for boosting metabolism and keeping you full for longer. Try this soup with a whole grain roll or a side salad, or both!

Turkey burgers are always delicious! Try Jennie O’s low fat frozen burger or make them from scratch at home. I like to make mine at home using lean ground turkey with onions, parsley, honey mustard, a little natural ketchup and salt and pepper. Within 15 minutes, I have perfectly grilled burgers. Turkey burgers are yummy on whole grain rolls and topped with a some salsa. Go cheese-less and cut some calories.

This heart healthy dish incorporates so much nutrition. Treat yourself to a grilled salmon served on a 1/2 cup of whole grain brown rice and 2 cups of spinach. With this dish, you’re getting your lean protein, essential fatty acids, whole grains and fibrous veggies.

 Is your mouth watering right now? Mine is. This open faced roasted vegetable sandwich is packed with vitamins and minerals. Spread some protein-packed hummus on a slice of whole grain bread and top it with your favorite roasted veggies. I love eggplant, sweet peppers, mushrooms and asparagus roasted in olive oil.

Here’s a classic turkey sandwich with a little twist. Spread some fat-free mayo on whole grain bread and fill it with low-sodium turkey meat, green apple slices and a thin slice of brie cheese. If you’re still hungry, eat this with a fresh side salad.

Yay! I LOVE lunch time!

What’s your favorite healthy lunch item?

While attending a Plastic Surgery conference for work, I overheard a doctor discussing “Chromium GTF” and how it was the next best thing for stabilizing blood sugar. My ease dropping magnified and my curiosity struck. I couldn’t wait to get back to my room to research this supplement.

Here’s what I found:

Chromium GTF is an essential mineral that supports the body’s natural metabolism, while promoting proper insulin levels. Insulin is part of the fundamental biological processes of moving glucose out of the blood stream and into cells.

Traces of Chromium can be found in whole grains and meat sources.

The RDA for GTF is 50-200 mcg per day.

After researching Chromium GTF, I decided to add it to my supplement regimen. I have been taking 1 pill a day for the last  month to stabilize my blood sugar, even though I feel that I don’t need it since I’m very disciplined in my eating habits. I really only need this pill on my cheat days.

If you eat a well-balanced diet that consists of lean meats and whole grains, then your body is getting its proper dose of chromium. If you’re a carb and sugar lover, then I suggest trying this.

Yes, supplements are great aids, but at the end of the day, healthy eating and exercise are the best ways to regulate blood sugar and manage weight.

Love,

Ghada

We’ve all experienced those out-of-control days when our appetite freaks out! Your mind keeps tempting you to open that fridge door and eat more! You stare at the fridge for a few minutes hoping you’ll get it together, but your self-control fails and you attack!

After your binge on those no-no cookies, guilt strikes and you quickly rush to your computer to search the latest diet pills that will cure your appetite frenzy.

Research shows that there are many factors that contribute to why we eat. Hunger is one of them of course, but other factors also can play a role in eating like the sight and smell of food, refined carbs that trigger more cravings, too much free time, temperature and alcohol consumption.

My appetite usually turns animalistic around my menstrual cycle, so I have to prep myself ahead of time.

Before wasting your money on diet pills that may not work, try these “natural” appetite suppressants first.

• Water: Being dehydrated can trick you into thinking that you’re hungry, so I suggest doing a drink test before eating. Drink a glass of water, wait a few minutes and then gage if you’re mind is telling the truth. Most of the time, the glass fills me up and I end up eating less.
• Hot Tea: This natural beverage may be considered one of the best appetite suppressants. When hunger strikes, you can have a cup before your meal to cut down your calorie intake, and/or after your meal to kill the hunger pains.
• Coffee: Here’s another great drink to have before and after a meal. Caffeine has been shown to increase metabolism to help burn fat while reducing appetite. Plus, not many things taste as good after bitter black coffee. If you’re craving dessert, then add some skim milk and splenda to your coffee and eliminate the sugar craving.
• Salad: Snack on fiber-filled veggies. Salad is water packed and if you give it some time, your belly will signal your brain that its full. I love keeping cut veggies in the fridge like sliced carrots, cucumbers, baby tomatoes and sweet peppers.
• A serving of fruit: fruits are full of fiber and water and will fill you up and cut down on sugar and carb cravings. My favorite fiber-packed fruits are apples because of their high fiber content and low glycemic index.
• Exercise: Research has shown over and over that exercise is beneficial. By moving your body, it allows natural endorphins to be produced leading to a decrease in appetite. Eating dinner after a brisk walk or your gym session will definitely cut the calories you eat.
• Protein: Oooo.. I love protein! Protein digestion in the body takes a longer time and will keep you feeling full longer too. Protein is also great for weight loss and stabilizing blood sugar.
• Chewing gum: chewing a piece of piercing peppermint gum will reduce your food cravings and give you more time until your scheduled meal. Not many foods taste good after peppermint or cinnamon flavored gum.
• Brush your teeth: Similar to gum, brushing your teeth will leave them feeling fresh and clean leaving you with little desire to dirty them. Once again, not many foods will taste good after this either.
• Make a promise: I made this one up. I find that when I make a promise to myself, I never break it. For example, I will often repeat “I promise that I won’t eat that chocolate cake”. And it always works.

I hope that these natural suppressants work for you! Feel free to share any others that you think we should all be incorporating into our lifestyle.

Ok, my little piglets! I Love you!

Ghada

Did you know that people who eat breakfast everyday, are more likely to eat less calories overall throughout the day, exercise more and have lower fat intake overall?

 

So with just that little bit of information, why wouldn’t you want to have breakfast? Let’s start making more time for both making and enjoying breakfast!

 When we’re sleeping, we’re actually putting our body through a fast so upon wakening we need to “break” the fast to get our engines running properly. Breakfast will rev up your metabolism and begin the production of enzymes needed to metabolize fat. Not to mention, nutritious food will give you a mental and physical boost to kick start your day!  

 Since breakfast is a very important meal, I want you to start being creative with nutritious foods like fruits, veggies, low fat dairy, nuts and whole grains. There are endless delicious breakfast options that will leave your taste buds satisfied and your body fueled.

Below, I have listed some of my favorite breakfast choices! WARNING.. the images may cause you to really LOVE breakfast.

This is a healthy version of Eggs Florentine. Toast a whole grain piece of toast, top with steamed spinach and a sunny side up egg and season with a little drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.

 

If you’re in a hurry, then toast a whole grain english muffin, spread a tbsp of peanut butter and top it with a medium banana.

Who doesn’t love fruit smoothies!

I like to add 1 scoop of protein, 1/2 cup of berries, 1/2 cup of spinach and ice. Trust me, the spinach is tasteless and you’ll get your serving of veggies to start your day.

This is a great filling breakfast: Roasted pepper and mushroom egg wrapped in a spinach tortilla. Add a tbsp of hummus and start drueling.

I’m sure most of us love to dine Mexican. Most people stick with the safe options like fajitas, tacos, guacamole and corn chips. Not I! I love to order the craziest, most unfamiliar meals to most. This is my favorite item on a Mexican Menu: The Chilled Seafood Ceviche. Dressed in lots of lime juice and topped with cilantro, this chilled dish is scrumptious. This is great if you’re looking for a low carb, high protein choice when eating out with friends.

The ceviche is just too easy to make. Here we go:

Ingredients:

• ½ lb of already cooked seafood mix: Shrimp, Scallops, Crab & Calamari (You can find this near the fresh fish section at your grocery store, but you can always cook it yourself too
• 1 1/2 cups lime juice
• 2 chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt n Peppa
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 sliced avocado
• 2 tbsp cilantro

Preparation:

• Take the seafood and marinate it in the lime juice and refrigerate for 5 hours
• Add chopped tomatoes, olive oil, and Salt n Peppa. Refrigerate another hour
• Take your dish out and let it sit for 15 minutes to let the oil return to its state since it might get harder due to the cold temperature in the fridge
• Top your seafood mix with chopped onions, sliced avocados and cilantro

If you want to get creative, serve the ceviche in a cocktail glass. Serve a little guacamole and crispy crackers on the side, and enjoy a refreshing protein packed meal.

I love Mexicans!

Love,

Ghada