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Making Holiday Beverages Healthier

We all know it can be challenging to stay healthy and avoid weight gain during the holiday season. With parties approaching, there will most likely be an endless supply of food and drinks, it is difficult to resist the temptation to overindulge; however choosing a few healthier options can go a long way in cutting back some calories. When we think about holiday weight gain, many people’s first thoughts are about all the food we consume from snacks to large meals with family and friends and of course all the tasty desserts. However, a lot of calories come from the popular beverages that are always around for the holidays (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic). Not only are these drinks around at holiday parties, but about every coffee shop advertises their seasonal holiday drinks that can have large amounts of calories, fat, and sugar. Here are a few simple tips to follow to make those tasty holiday beverages a bit healthier!

  • Leave alcohol out of drinks when you can.
  • Skip on the whipped cream- that goes for your favorite Starbucks drink as well as your homemade hot chocolate! Whipped cream can add 60-70 calories to your drink and 6-7 grams of fat.
  • Try and skip out on the caramel drizzle, which can save you around 25 calories as well as added sugar.
  • Skip sugary ingredients in your apple cider drink and try adding that sweetness or spice in other ways with natural, healthier options such as nutmeg, cloves, cranberries, and cinnamon sticks.
  • Eggnog is a holiday classic that many people like to enjoy around the holidays, however what we might not realize is that the average 6-ounce eggnog drink can pack 435 calories and 30g of fat. Make this popular holiday beverage healthier by using low-fat or skim milk, using egg substitute, and opting for liquor free.
  • In drinks that call for chocolate, try and use dark chocolate rather than milk chocolate. Dark chocolate contains more flavonoids which can reduce inflammation. (The higher the cocoa content, the better)
  • Categorize those holiday beverages as desserts rather than drinks and you will be less likely to over indulge and drink more calories than necessary.
  • Mix drinks with low or no calorie options such as seltzer rather than soda, and make sure you stay hydrated by having a glass of water every other drink!

 

Check back this week for a recipe that puts a healthy spin on classic eggnog!

 

By Lisa Cassata

Recipe of the Week: Cranberry-Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes: 36 cookies
Serving Size: 1 cookie
Per serving: Calories 75, Fat 2.6g, Protein 1.4g, Carbs 12.1g

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 1/3 ounces)
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (about 3 1/2 ounces)
  • 3/4 cup regular oats
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate minichips
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 5 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg white
  • Cooking spray

Directions:

  1. Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, oats, baking powder, and the next 5 ingredients (through chips) in a large bowl.
  2. Combine sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add honey, vanilla, egg, and egg white; beat well. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture; beat at low speed until well blended. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
  3. Preheat oven to 350°.
  4. Drop batter by tablespoonfuls onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Cool 2 minutes on pans. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

Getting Passed the “Weight Loss Plateau”

The process of healthy weight loss takes a combination of changing your diet (calories in) and increasing exercise (calories burned). It’s common to see a rapid loss of weight in the early stages of the weight loss process due to diet restrictions, increases in exercise, and losses in water weight. However, after this initial weight loss people tend to hit a wall and the rate of weight lost slows down or stops completely. This “weight loss plateau” effect is caused by the body’s ability to adjust to the changes in diet and exercise intensity. Therefore, the same effort it took to lose the weight initially will not continue to have the same effect going forward.

In order continue the process you must continually alter the factors that contribute to weight loss; i.e. diet and exercise. Here are a few tips to help break through the weight loss plateau.

  • Diet – after the initial stages of weight loss, you may have to further decrease your caloric intake OR maintain caloric intake but modify the ratio of carbohydrates and proteins.
    • Increasing protein intake will aid in the growth of muscle tissue which is responsible for maintaining our metabolism
  • Exercise – an increase in exercise frequency (number of workouts per week) or exercise intensity will be necessary to break the plateau. As our bodies get stronger and more fit we need to continue to challenge ourselves in order to progress.
  • Fluid intake – make sure that enough water is being consumed throughout the day. Dehydration can cause cravings for food and sugary drinks.
  • Sleep and rest – recovery time is pivotal for regulating our hormone activity and keeping our bodies healthy during the weight loss process.

 

By David McCalla

The Right Mindset for the Holidays

The holidays are quickly approaching and we are thinking about all the delicious food that comes with the holidays. It’s important to set your brain up for success, too! It’s time to establish a game plan for keeping your mind and body healthy is during this time of year.

The clients who are the most successful with staying healthy are the ones that plan in advance. Getting your mind to learn how to think healthy is the first step to getting your whole body to be healthy. Break it down into three steps to establish healthy ways of thinking:

  • Anticipate the day or event where you are going to enjoy eating with the family. Keep up with your workout routine before and continue your healthy eating habits. One day of indulging should not ruin all you have accomplished. If you know a big meal is coming, don’t react to a bad meal and then try to workout because you feel guilty about it. You should be able to enjoy the holidays and stay focused on your goals.
  • Plan what you are going to eat for the week in advance. Put your food in containers for the next few days at a time. This is important because it makes it easier to eat healthy and use portion control. If you take two days of your week for an hour each day to prepare your food, the rest of the week is easy. Hold yourself accountable for your actions- you are the only one that can control what you eat. Do your best to maintain a positive and healthy mindset!
  • Enjoy the holidays with your loved ones! The happier you are, the more you will want to take care of yourself. If you do the first two steps, this last step is easy! Don’t feel guilty about enjoying a cookie or two, but don’t eat the whole tray. Savor the foods you enjoy and eat them slowly. Appreciate the time you get to spend with your loved ones. You know how hard you worked up until this point and you deserve to enjoy the holidays!

A healthy mind set is just thinking about you and your health before you think about quick and easy. The saying goes “nothing worth having comes easy;” with hard work and consistency, you will truly appreciate the goals you achieve vs. having something handed to you.

The holidays are not a hard time to stay healthy if you truly want to be. Hold yourself accountable and be positive about your ability to control what you eat and do. If you exercise through the holidays you will feel so good about yourself and your New Years will be better then ever.

 

-Corynne Pereira, MS, CSCS

 

Recipe of the Week: Sweet Potato Pecan Casserole

Ingredients:

  • Cooking spray
  • 3 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 5 medium), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
  • Kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mist an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.
  2. Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a pot with a large steamer basket in place. Put the sweet potatoes in the basket, cover and steam until tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the potatoes to a bowl and let cool slightly. Add the honey, egg, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, the nutmeg, ginger and 1/2 teaspoon salt; whip with an electric mixer until smooth. Spread the sweet potato mixture in the prepared baking dish.
  3. Mix the brown sugar, pecans and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a bowl; sprinkle over the potatoes. Bake until hot and beginning to brown around the edges, 40 to 45 minutes.

Nutrition:
Serves: 8
Per serving: Calories 160; Fat 4 g; Sodium 180 mg; Carbohydrate 31 g; Protein 3 g

Original recipe can be found here!

Thank You!

A huge thank you to all our gym members, physical therapy patients, and staff that donated their leftover Halloween candy! Thanks to you, we are shipping out over 125 lbs. of candy to our troops overseas.

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Jump-Start Your New Year’s Resolution

Rule #1: Don’t tell yourself you’re going to start in the New Year!

The holidays are a busy time of year; it can be hard to stay both motivated and strict with your eating and exercise. Between cooking, holiday shopping, and parties, it may seem like there is less time for the gym. We have put together some tips to maximize your efforts and stay on track right through December. This is a perfect opportunity to get a jump start on that “New Year’s Resolution” you’ve been talking about since last January.

  • Scheduling ahead. Make a brief schedule with an overview of specific events you have coming up, this way you can plan around it. Make note of the days you have off from work and use that extra time to fit in a workout. People often tend to forget they have company coming over or an event to attend which leads to canceled workouts. If you’ve planned ahead on your calendar, then you have already made time to do both, and can avoid missing a workout.
  • Increase training intensity. If you are squeezing in a workout, maximize the time you are spending in the gym. Most of us are familiar with high-intensity cardio, but you can also add some intensity to your weightlifting sessions. To increase the intensity of your workouts, decrease the rest periods; add heart pumping movements like step ups, air squats, burpees, or mountain climbers between sets. Try implementing low-rest circuits that challenge your muscles and energy systems. This will help give you accomplish more with limited time. Talk to your exercise physiologist about changing up your exercise routine!
  • Self control. The holidays are a good test of mental toughness, if you can be “good” now, you can continue that self control anytime of the year. Use this as a chance to tell yourself that your goals are worth more to you than extra desserts. You will feel much better about yourself knowing that you made progress during these few weeks rather than having to start over on January 1st.

 

By Tyler Palmquist

 

Recipe of the Week: Sausage, Sage and Apple Stuffing

INGREDIENTS

  • 8 cups sourdough bread, 1-inch cubes
  • 6 oz. mild Italian sausage
  • 1½ cups onion, chopped
  • 1¼ cups fennel bulb, chopped
  • 1 cup celery, chopped
  • 3 cups chopped, peeled Golden Delicious apple (about 2)
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped
  • ? cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 1¼ cups chicken stock
  • ¼ cup apple cider
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • ½ tsp. black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Bake bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet for about 20 minutes or until golden. Cool and place in a large bowl. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and cook sausage until browned and crumbled. Add sausage to bread in bowl.
  3. Return skillet to medium-high heat and add onion, fennel and celery to pan. Saute for about 7 minutes until crisp and tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in apple and garlic; saute for 5 minutes until veggies are tender. Add sage and cook for an additional minute, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat and stir in chopped parsley. Add onion mixture to bread mixture and toss well to combine.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together chicken stock, apple cider, eggs and black pepper. Gently combine egg mixture with bread mixture. Spoon stuffing into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray and bake at 350 degrees F for about 45 minutes until top is browned. Enjoy!

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Serves: 12 servings
Serving Size: ¾ cup
Per serving: Calories: 166 • Fat: 6 g • Carbs: 22.1 g • Fiber: 2.3 g • Protein: 7 g
Original recipe can be found here!