Stuff you should be eating: Spaghetti Squash

A squash that produces spaghetti. Seriously.

Actually, spaghetti-like strands of almost tasteless squash that taste reeeeeaaaalllyy good with spaghetti sauce (or alfredo, garlic and olive oil, or even plain.)

This is a low-calorie, low carb way to still eat pasta. (Have you noticed this is like, what, my third post about healthier versions of pasta? Can you tell I'm Italian?)

Nutrition

One cup of cooked spaghetti squash has:

42 calories
0.4 grams of fat
1 gram of protein
10g of carbs
2.2 grams fiber

How to cook a spaghetti squash

• Prick the spaghetti squash all over with a fork so it will not explode while baking.
• Place the whole squash in a shallow baking pan.
• Bake in preheated 375 F oven for 1 hour.
• Remove from oven. When cool enough to handle, cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise.
• Remove the seeds and junk from the center of the squash and throw away.
• Use a fork to shred the squash, starting at the center and working your way outward, into spaghetti strands.
• Add sauce and eat eat eat!

Try this out and let me know if you like it! Its a staple in our house.

Protein sources

To follow up on last week's macronutrients post (and yesterdays posts about the House Menu and Meal Prep), I realized that most of you guys (and myself) aren't getting enough protein. I figured it would be beneficial to post some good ideas for where to get your protein. Add your favorites to your house menu!

Protein shakes

My favorites are vegan plant-based soy-free shake mixes like Vega One and Raw.

They taste alright alone, I mix them with water or almond milk. I've mixed this stuff into zucchini bread, pancakes, and banana bread before, so don't feel like you need to drink it!

Egg whites

Faves: Hard boiled in salads, scrambled with avocado and salsa, omelettes, frittatas, egg and bacon on toast. 

Chicken

Boiled and shredded (sometimes I add franks red hot buffalo sauce-- it's butter-free and delicious!)

Baked, seasoned with mrs dash

Grilled

Ground chicken meatballs

Chicken wraps

Beef

Ground sirloin (burgers, meatballs, tacos, spaghetti sauce)

Sirloin steak

Filet 

Fish

I order fish at restaurants (with no butter) but I'm a weirdo when it comes to making fish at home, so I usually don't- unless it's tilapia fish tacos, or Cebiche. 

Seeds and Nuts

Hemp seeds

In cereal, on peanut butter toast 

Chia seeds

Cereal, toast, smoothies

Raw almonds, cashews, walnuts

Unsalted, unflavored. 

Black Beans!

In burritos, as a side, ground up and mixed with beef to make burgers, in a salad, in salsa. I love love love black beans!

*This is by no means a comprehehensive list, it's only my favorite go-to protein sources

Guilt free root beer float!

I am a dessert freak. I love sweets, I can't help it. I could never everrrrrr stop eating dessert, so I resort to modifying recipes so I can still get away with it without feeling too bad about it.

Today's guilt-free dessert is:

Root beer floats!!!!

I feel like I'm ripping you off because this isn't really a "recipe", and it's stupid simple. I'm banking on you guys just never thinking of this yet! 

Guilt-free Root beer float 

Sugar-free root beer 

Vanilla frozen yogurt

Feels like I'm cheating wayyyy more than I actually am!


Go make this and tell me you loved it!

*Disclaimer: Diet soda contains artificial sweeteners, which are like poison in your body. I stay away from them most of the time, but I take my chances every once in a great while. Root beer floats and Jack & Diet coke. 

Meal Prep Day: Plan for Success

Our lives are far too busy to fly by the seat of our pants every time we have to eat.

Without planning and meal prep, you're at risk for:

-waiting too long in between meals, which slows your metabolism and makes you very tired 

-being pressured into eating fast food or other quick-fix unhealthy foods

-becoming frustrated, discouraged, quitting, and gaining weight.

What is meal prep?

Meal prep starts before you even go to the grocery store. 

First, Make your list of things you're going to eat all week. For inspiration, see your House Menu. Figure in all your snacks, breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Plan each day, using a calendar if necessary. 

Grocery shop and stick to your list. I read somewhere that the center aisles of a grocery store are usually stocked with the processed junk foods that shouldn't be part of anyone's diet. Regardless of where your store keeps their junk foods, stay away! Don't give in to temptation; if you don't buy it, it won't be in your house and you won't be pressured to eat it.

The Prep part.

When you get home, instead of just putting your groceries away, start making all of your pre-planned meals. If you're going to make pasta and meatballs, make it. Cut and clean your fruits and veggies. Shred your romaine, boil your brown rice, bake a week's worth of chicken, hard boil your eggs.

Divy up your portions and package them in ziplocks or tupperware containers for easy access to a single portion. 

By paying it forward (something B has taught me!) you're less likely to relapse into having a crappy, unplanned diet. You're making it wayyyy easier on yourself by doing a meal prep day! 

Some of my go-to meal prep things lately are:

Whole grain pasta, ground turkey zuchini meatballs, and homemade organic tomato sauce

Raw bell peppers (I clean them and slice them up so I can just grab them whenever I'm hungry)
Plums, Kiwis, Grapefruit

Un-fried fried rice 

Boiled chicken
 -with Frank's Red Hot Buffalo
-with cumin (Mexican spice) and then stuffed into a burrito. 

Salsa (for eggs and burritos)
Black Beans

Hard boiled eggs

Romaine (stored in my salad spinner)

Spinach (salads, omelettes)

This might take a few hours (it usually takes me 2 or 3 depending on what I'm making for the week) but it saves tons of time in the long run.

If you don't have a lunchbox, check out these from Built N.Y. They're my favorite!

If you're not doing a meal prep day already, what are you waiting for?? No excuses!!

Let me know what you're making on your meal prep day!

The House Menu!!

Our house menu is in a Lisa Frank notebook

When you shop for meal prep day, how do you plan for it? Do you make a list or do you just go to the store and walk around grabbing stuff? If you make a list, where do your ideas come from? Memory?

If you're anything like me (25 and arguably senile) your memory doesn't always function at maximum capacity all the time. 

If I had to plan my meal prep days from pure memory of what dishes are acceptable and clean, I would probably always do a crappy job and always just eat pb&j and avocados.

Here's what I do to make it easier on myself.

The House Menu!!

Dedicate a small notebook to meal and snack ideas that:

-You enjoy eating (and you will legitimately eat)
-are nutritious, clean and acceptable to eat

You can separate them into macronutrient categories so it's easier to plan for the correct proportions in your daily diet, or you can group them by breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks. Whatever works best for you.

  

Proteins

Fats

Having a House Menu makes meal prep day go wayyyyy easier. Having a list of healthy meals and snacks that you've tried and you enjoy eating is a victory in itself, and now you can easily flip through your House Menu while you're making your weekly Meal Prep list before you hit the grocery store. 

Before I go shopping I make my lists and don't really even have to think about it when I'm in the store. Having the house menu is awesome because I'll get on a kick where I'll eat the same thing for three weeks and totally forget about something else (hard boiled eggs just recently made their way back into my diet after being on an omelette kick!) Don't underestimate your mind's power in forgetting things (especially healthy food!)

Part of your success with changing and maintaining your healthy lifestyle comes from your ability to plan. Not having the time or effort (or memory power) will only hinder your progress, so do what you gotta do! Make those lists!

Bonus points if you make it look pretty like an actual menu!

Show me on Instagram (@mandacrystal) -- I want to see yours! #housemenu

Click here to read more about meal prep!

Want to see what's on my menu? Check back tomorrow!

Recipe: un-fried rice!

This is the best.

Literally, I can't tell you how amazing this rice is. I recently made this (and some Thai Basil Chicken) for B's family and they all got seconds and thirds and then grilled me for the recipe afterward. It's always a hit, it's cheap, and it keeps all week. 

Un-fried rice.

Long grain brown rice (not minute rice.)

Low sodium soy sauce

Frozen peas and carrots (Frozen contain more nutrients than canned)

Cayenne pepper (optional, very spicy)

-Prepare a 16oz package of brown rice as directed. Let it cool, then stick it in the fridge for a couple hours to a full day.

-Put all your rice and a bag of frozen peas and carrots in a glass baking dish and mix with half a bottle of low sodium soy sauce. Add cayenne pepper (optional) to taste.

-Bake uncovered at 350* for 25 minutes.

Baking it uncovered dries the rice out which imitates the dryness of fried rice. I don't know if I can tell the difference!

Pair your un-fried rice with a chicken and veggie stir fry or just eat it alone (healthy grains and veggies!) We have a constant supply of this at our house, usually a giant pyrex dish that takes up an entire shelf of the fridge. Both B and I acquired the spicy gene in Thailand, so ours is always melt-your-face-off spicy (cayenne is good for your metabolism!)

If you're feeling saucy, add fresh or ground ginger, scrambled egg, pineapple chunks or stuff this in a burrito. Mmmmmm.

Cheers!

Happy Friday-eve.

Seriously, it's been a long week.

Macronutrients: How to calculate yours to lose body fat.

I thought about writing I wrote a super long, science-y, in depth post about what each macronutrient does in your body, why you need each, and how to calculate it (with math). Then I highlighted it, deleted it, and decided to condense it to make it easier to understand and less time consuming on your part.

(believe me, this is the shorter version, I swear.)

Here goes!

If you're eating your daily recommended calorie intake but you're still not losing weight, you need to check out your macronutrient ratios. If your macro levels are out of whack, your body won't burn fat the way it should. Eating too much in any category causes similar fat gain.

What is a macronutrient?

The nutrients that come from food. Everything (besides alcohol) breaks down into one of these three categories: Carbohydrates, Fats, and Proteins.

Every day, you need each one of these things in your diet. Muy importante. This explains why.

The Recommended Daily Allowances are as follows:
Carbohydrates: 45%-65%
Proteins: 10-35%
Fats: 20-35%

RDA's are good guidelines for a well-balanced diet, but researchers don't know exactly everything there is to know about these ratios yet. For example, we now know that if you're trying to build muscle mass you need to drastically increase your protein intake, often over the "35% limit " that is "recommended".

The RDA's are recommended, not necessarily the golden rule. You should never ever ever eliminate a macronutrient from your diet, it's unhealthy, bad for your metabolism, and dangerous. You can, however, change these numbers a little. Don't stray too far from the RDA's! (The Atkins Diet, which catches a ton of heat nowadays, only allowed 10% carbs -- Not good!)

The best ratio I've found to be effective for regular exercisers is 40% Carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat. This builds lean muscle, sparks fat loss, and fuels your body with safe macronutrient ranges. This is a popular and recognized percentage range.

How to calculate YOUR macro grams!

Percentages can be confusing and "eyeballing it" like ChooseMyPlate.gov suggests isn't incredibly accurate, so lucky for us (I will save you the math equation) there are calculators to convert your chosen macronutrient percentages into grams.

Calculator can be found here.

All you need to do is:
-- Plug in your daily calories (If you don't know how to find that number, start here.)
--Add your custom calorie number and change the percentages on the Macronutrient Calculator. (Ask your trainer/doctor/nutritionist for what ratio might work best for you, or try the 40%/30%/30% ratio if you're a regular exerciser)
--On the right side, it gives you how many grams of each macronutrient you'll need per day. Write these numbers down.

Here is an example:

Not done yet!

Use this information coupled with the MyFitnessPal app (Free, available in the app store if you have a smart phone) to log everything you put into your mouth.*

*Literally, everything. Buy a kitchen scale if you have to. Pay it forward and just do it. I know it's annoying to have to log everything, but if you do it for a few weeks and planning your meals around your calorie and macronutrient levels will become a whooooole lot easier. You'll learn what your favorite foods provide you with, and it'll become second nature for you to accurately estimate a day's calorie and macronutrient intake.

On Fitness pal, tap "Daily" instead of summary to keep track of your macronutrient intakes as you log them.

Pay attention to your totals, not the FitnessPal pre-set "goal". This is based off of different percentages. They're safe percentages, but not personalized to you and your goals, so keep your Fats, Carbs, and Proteins within your pre-determined ranges that you found from the macronutrient calculator.

As another rule (as if you need any more, right?) Keep your sugar intake under 25 grams per day.

What to eat.

COMPLEX carbohydrates (click to read more about complex carbs)
HEALTHY fats, and
LEAN proteins.

Trying to get your macronutrient requirements from unhealthy foods like burgers, chips, cupcakes, and fried food is going to put you wayyyy over your calorie limit, thus causing weight gain.

I swear to you, with these two things, you can't go wrong. All it takes is some pain-in-the-ass effort for a few weeks and then it'll start making a little more sense and you wont have to use MyFitnessPal anymore.

Good luck guys!!!

Whole Wheat Oat Pancakes

I'm always trying to improve my recipes in the kitchen. I invent stuff and kind of assume it's going to suck so I don't write down the recipe as I create it. And I don't measure stuff either, so if something comes out awesome sometime's it's a fluke and I can't re-create it.

As of late I've been doing some weird stuff with my old oat pancakes and not writing any of it down. It's been a rollercoaster of weird and deliciously different health pancakes every saturday morning at our house; Random spoonfuls of applesauce, crushed ripe banana, ground flax, and coconut oil are some of the new ingredients I've been adding to pancakes.

This morning before breakfast B was cutting the grass and I decided to finally tackle cleaning out my baking cupboard (yeah, I used to be a full-time baker, can you believe it?) One of the first things I stumbled upon was an opened bag of stone ground whole wheat flour. Naturally I changed my priorities immediately and started concocting a new pancake recipe around this old, possibly stale flour. Can flour go stale?

You can literally see the steam coming off of these little beauties. 

It felt right before I even started, so I measured and wrote down everything I put in here (on the back of an electric bill).  Let me tell you, I don't know what I was missing out on. These things are so perfect, so oh my god goooooood that you don't need any other recipe. These pancakes are better than Bob Evans whole grain pancakes, and a LOT healthier too.

Are you ready for this??

Recipe

1 cup Old Fashioned Oats (measured out whole, put into a blender / Ninja and turned into flour)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup milled flax
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
small "handful" of chia seeds (sorry, I know.)
pinch of sea salt

Whisk all of these dry ingredients together and then add...

1 1/2 cups milk (skim, almond, soy, coconut, whatev.)
1/3 cup egg whites
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp (or just a teeny tiny dash of it if you don't have a 1/8 tsp) almond extract. 

Trust me on that almond extract. It makes a world of difference.

Whisk it all together and let it sit for 3-5 minutes. The oats and chia seeds will soak up the milk and it'll get thicker. If you have to, add a little more milk. The batter should stay fairly smooth like normal pancake batter, but never super watery. (I think if it were watery it would turn into a crepe, right??)

Cook over medium heat until the tops of the pancakes bubble (which they only sometimes do), or until your sixth sense tells you it's time to flip it. Try not to flip them more than once because it makes them tough.

I make two batches at a time and store them in a covered pyrex dish in the fridge so I can reheat them sunday morning too.

They're awesome, you'll love them, and you'll be super pumped you can now eat pancakes and not feel guilty.

Add some raw organic agave or real maple syrup and boom, healthy amazing awesome delicious pancakes. Doesn't get much better than this.

Carbs and Sugar!

What do you know about carbs?

I mean, really, what do you know about them?

Before becoming a nutrition- and food-obsessed trainer, I knew that carbs give you energy, can make you fat, and that the Atkins diet treated them like the devil. I also knew that I was addicted to them, and that anything that tasted good was, for me, a carbohydrate. Cereal, bread, pasta, rice, breaded chicken, cookies and cakes, you name it, I craved it. 

Let's backtrack. I always exercised. When I was at YSU I'd spend 2 hours a day at the Rec Center on the Elliptical, Treadmill, and weight machines. I took tons of aerobics classes and even started Spinning on the regular, but I didn't see huge weight loss until I got my carb intake under control... don't freak out, I'm not going to tell you you have to cut carbs. Believe me, I'd probably die!! But step one in carb-addicts anonymous is understanding what a carbohydrate is and how your body deals with them.

Simple Carbs

Simple carbs are easily digestible foods that raise your blood sugar quickly. When blood sugar rises, your body stops burning (and starts storing) fat. It uses the extra sugar in your blood for energy instead of what it normally uses for energy: fat. But we'll get to that soon!

What are simple carbs? Processed/refined, high sugar content foods. Anything in a box with a lot of ingredients usually contains simple carbs. Here are a few more that might surprise you:

-Fruit*
-White flour (and anything containing it)
-honey
-milk
-yogurt
-jam/jelly
-ice cream

*Though fruit is usually considered a simple carbohydrate, the sugar in fruit is fructose and glucose, which are slowly released into the bloodstream, preventing the blood-sugar spike. (This is the science behind the glycemic index.) Some fruits, like apricots, oranges, plums, pears, grapefruits and prunes contain complex carbs. Fruit also has tons of fiber and vitamins which make it a super healthy part of your diet. Don't stop eating fruit!

What does this mean for me and you?

Sugar doesn't have as many calories as fat, and it doesn't directly make you fat, necessarily... but it does cause you to store more and burn less, so by eating sugar, you are getting fatter. Make sense?

Whenever your body is functioning at a normal rate, you're metabolizing (or burning) fat for fuel. Your stored fat is the gas that keeps your body's engine running. 

When you eat too much sugar (or too many carbs, which raise your blood sugar) your body conserves it's fat-fuel and starts instead burning sugar-fuel. So, when you're normally supposed to be burning fat, you're burning sugar instead.

This is one of the reasons you can't out-train a poor diet. Say you eat a cupcake and then go to a cardio class with the intention of "working it off." Your body isn't burning fat -- it's burning the sugar and carbs from the cupcake, so you don't see any differences as far as body composition.

Complex Carbohydrates

Complex carbs are just that: complex. It takes your body more time and effort to gradually break down a complex carb, so eating them keeps your blood sugar normal. This means complex carbs don't affect your body's ability to burn fat. So although a banana and a cookie might have the same number of calories, they react differently in your body. One gives you energy, the other puts a temporary stop on fat loss. If you're a serial-simple-carb-eater, your body is constantly holding on to and storing extra fat and burning sugar for energy.

And it's not just fat-loss that carbs affect, it's your mood and energy levels, too.

Energy Levels

Yes, a simple carb will give you a jolt of energy, but whenever your blood sugar rapidly increases and inevitably decreases, you are left feeling tired, lethargic, and crappy. The fluctuation of high/low blood sugar makes you feel like trash. Keeping your blood sugar stable (eating complex carbs instead of simple carbs) ensures that you're metabolizing fat at the quickest rate possible and you don't have a horrible energy crash.

When your body burns muscle instead of fat.

Simple and complex carbs also have a lot to do with why we're advised to eat every 3 hours -- waiting more than 4 hours between meals causes your body to feel weak, irritable, and tired. Low blood sugar (as problematic as high blood sugar) causes your body to secrete cortisol, a hormone that boosts blood sugar back to normal. The way it does this is by converting muscle protein to sugar i.e. "burning muscle."

I bet you just had an Aha! moment, right?? 

So, not eating for long periods of time causes your body to burn muscle instead of fat.

How to spot complex carbs:

Vegetables. 

Whole grains like oats, whole wheat, brown rice, wild rice, Ezekiel bread, bulgar, etc. 

Legumes like beans, lentils, peanuts.
Suprisingly, dill pickles and soy milk are also complex carbs. (weird, right?)

The bottom line

You need carbs for proper mental and physical function, but if you're eating simple carbs you're making it super hard for your body to lose fat.

Simple carbs are fine and dandy for a cheat meal, but if your goal is to lose weight, cheat meals aren't the way to go.

The Orgreenic Pan

You've probably seen these green "non-stick" pans on tv or in the grocery store. They're supposed to be so non-stick that you don't need any oil at all to fry things on it. While I haven't had awesome luck with the zero-cooking-spray thing, I can say that I use MUCH less spray olive oil than I did when I cooked with Teflon covered pans, and literally nothing sticks.

They're cool-looking because they're green, you don't have to worry about accidentally scratching them and then being poisoned like with Teflon, and they clean SOOOOOO ridiculously easy. I can't say enough how I love these things. Every cooking utensil should be covered in orgreenic green magic, it's the best.

Walmart sells these for $15 and I think the larger one is $25. Totally worth it.

The drink that boosts your metabolism (and aids in digestion!)

Warm water and lemon. 

Hear me out.

The lemon has tons of benefits. It has strong antibacterial, antiviral, and immune boosting powers, it is alkalizing (meaning it balances your body's pH levels), it cleanses your liver, clears your skin, aids in digestion, boosts your metabolism, and keeps you feeling fuller longer.

If you start your day with coffee or tea, know that caffeine doesn't offer any of the benefits that warm lemon water does. In fact, caffeine dehydrates you, exhausts your liver, and increases your levels of the hormone cortisol which can lead to an inability to eliminate toxins or efficiently burn fat.

Try it out.

Just warm some bottled water and squeeze the juice of half a lemon (not fake bottled lemon juice) into it and drink the whole cup before you do/ eat / drink anything else. Some recipes even incorporate one teaspoon of raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar also, which supercharges this natural drink. I haven't tried it with the vinegar; I actually enjoy the lemon water and think the vinegar might be kind of gross, but that's your call. 

Let me know if you guys like it! I've been doing it for a few weeks and I LOVE it.

Resource: MindBodyGreen & Tasty Yummies

How to be less busy!

Found this article in Time, thought you guys might enjoy it!

The Mistake Busy People Make

Manda Bee's Headband Giveaway!

Just launched the new logo for Manda Bee's! To celebrate, I'm giving away free headbands! There are a few ways you can win:
On Pinterest (just repin to be entered)
On Facebook (Photo contest for if you already own a Manda Bee headband)

“Yoga found this basic thing, that breathing is deeper than thinking. If you can change your breathing, you can change your thinking. And once you know the key– that breathing has the key– you can create any climate you want, it is up to you.  It depends on the way you breathe.” — Osho

ToeSox!

Ok these are the coolest things I've seen in a while. B didn't really see the point, but I think they'd make your feet grippy like a tree-frog during yoga. I'm obsessed with my Vibrams, so naturally I am loving these!

Bella ToeSox, $17.

Recipe: Turkey Zucchini Meatballs

Have you ever eaten zucchini bread? Does it taste like zucchini?

Nope!

Neither do these meatballs!

This recipe came from RandiKennedy_ on instagram. They kind of look like Red Lobster's cheddar biscuits, right?


Extra lean ground turkey breast, egg white, a shredded zucchini and a little Mrs. Dash are the only ingredients in these bad boys. I'm an Italian-food addict, so for someone with a meatball addiction these are a staple on meal prep day. They're also packed with lean protein (what muscles are made of) so if you're a carb-cycler like I am, these are great for low carb days also. Yesterday was a low carb day for me and I ate 6 of these for dinner. Delicious!

Here's the recipe. Be warned, it's REALLY easy!

2 lbs extra lean (99% fat free) ground turkey breast. (Giant Eagle and Walmart both sell 1lb packs for 5 bucks)
1 medium or large sized zucchini (Preferably organic since it's a Dirty Dozen veggie!)
1 egg white
Mrs. Dash

1. Shred zucchini with a cheese grater.
2. Mix egg white, zucchini, and 2 lbs of turkey in a large bowl
3. Roll into meatballs (I make mine pretty big.)
4. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Note: If you peek at them before they're done you'll see a ton of water in the bottom of your baking sheet. Don't worry, it's just the liquid from the zucchini and it's supposed to be like that.

After they're baked I put homemade marinara and some fresh parmesan cheese all over them, but you can eat them with pasta, in a sandwich, or just plain! I store mine in a giant ziploc in the freezer.

Enjoy! And stay tuned for more shredded zucchini recipes, you literally can't taste it in a recipe so it's great to cook with! :)