Slimming Down While Sick
A documented journey of a Heart Failure paient's attempt to lose weight, and become as healthy as possiible.
Thoughts about looks vs. nutrition
Woman #1: Has a defined 6 pack, arms to kill, and looks to be the vision of health
Woman #2: Softer tummy with a little definition, toned thighs but not rock hard, looks to be pretty average.
Chances are, you would look at these two people and automatically assume that woman #1 is the healthier of the two.
You know what the funny thing is? Genetics aside, the second girl is most likely healthier. Now of course we have to go into their diets:
To maintain the shape of Woman #1, there would have to be a VERY high protein to carb ratio (carb cycling) and dehydration. Like I said, genetics aside, most women are not made to look like that.
Worse than dehydration and running extremely low on carbs is if the woman gets all of her protein from animal foods. That’s a LOT of saturated fat, cholesterol, and toxins entering the body. Not to mention there is very little (to no) fiber in animal protein products.
This woman is also probably cutting, aka cutting calories. This puts a lot of stress on the body!
What looks like a healthy individual from the outside could be cancer in the making inside.
On the flip side,
Woman #2 most likely has a more relaxed diet. She is fully hydrated and eats whole grains with her meals. She makes it a point to eat lots of vegetables and fruit and beans with a little meat every now and then (or maybe she’s a vegetarian.. or a vegan.. or whatever!)
She eats enough calories to fuel her day but isn’t obsessively counting cals, macros, whatever to make sure she keeps that 6 pack tight and cut.
From the outside this woman might not be extremely toned, but on the inside, her body might be happy as a clam & super healthy :)
This is just another viewpoint and I realize this is not the case for everyone! HOWEVER, just another thing to think about :) Your physical appearance does not always determine how healthy you are — so don’t judge others too quickly. Too often even I have looked at a fitblr and thought “OMG THEIR BODY IS AMAZING. THEY MUST BE SO HEALTHY” only to realize their diet is severely lacking in some areas and abundant in other (not so good) areas.
Love this. Couldn’t agree more! I hate it when people (and hell even doctors!) think that just because I am overweight that I am going to have high cholesterol and all that. Guess what!? All my numbers are in the optimal range!
People just don’t understand how important nutrition is! In the end it is waaay more important to look good on the inside than the outside people!
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/3 cup well mashed ripe banana
2 tablespoons virgin coconut oil
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla
3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup almond meal (almond flour)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chipsHeat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In medium bowl stir together mashed banana, coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla until well blended.
Add oats, almond meal, cinnamon, ginger and salt; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips.
Use small cookie scoop or a tablespoon measure to drop mounds of cookie dough onto parchment-lined baking baking sheet. Flatten cookies with your fingers. (This helps the cookies bake more evenly.)
Bake 13 to 18 minutes until bottoms are browned. (Ovens vary, so adjust bake time as needed. It’s better to slightly overbake than underbake these cookies.) Cool completely on baking sheet.
May
Healthier Mozzarella Sticks!
What you need
- 12 sticks of string cheese in your choice of cheese, go for the low sodium kind if you want to be extra healthy
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp of flour
- 5 tbsp of bread crumbs
- 2 tbsp of parmesan cheese
- A dollop of olive oil, or cooking spray
Preparation
- Cut the cheese sticks in half, making 24 slices, then freeze the slices in the freezer until completely frozen
- Beat the egg in a small bowl. Use a separate bowl to combine the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese
- To bread the cheese sticks: First dip the frozen cheese stick into the flower, then into the egg, then into the bread crumb mixture
- Once all of the 24 sticks are coated, place them on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil coated with a few drops of olive oil or sprayed with cooking spray (this will keep cleanup to a minimum, and keep the sticks from sticking!)
- Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 4 minutes, or until crisp. They need to be watched closely so they don’t melt completely!
(via doing-it-for-me)
Raw Pasta with Guac
Ingredients for Raw Pasta with Guac:
- 2-3 Large Pickling Cucumbers
- 1-3 Avocados (There are Two Ways to Make This, and One is Higher Fat Content than the Other)
- Large Handful Cherry/Grape/Beefsteak Tomatoes
- Small Bit of Green Onion or Yellow Onion
- Juice of Half a Lemon (More if Desired)
- 1 Clove of Garlic
- Small Handful of Cilantro
- Sprig of Mint or Basil
Directions:
- Use a spiral slicer or a julienne/carrot peeler to create your pickle noodles!
- Place the noodles on a plate and prep a hole for your GUAC!
- Scoop out your ripe avocadoes with a spoon, and place them in a mixing bowl.
- Chop up all other indgredients as desired (grind up the garlic especially), and mix them in the bowl VERY WELL so that they almost look marinated together.
- When the GUAC is ready, scoop it onto your noodles!
- Cut up tomatoes and throw them on top to add more juiciness!
- Top with a sprig of mint or basil. Enjoy!
(via onto-step2)
