It was an Upset

The challenge turned out good but started terribly for me! I went to take my butternut squash out of the container and it was GROWING MOLD! Can you believe it? It's not like I had it sitting for a while, I just bought it Tuesday night!
I was SO looking forward to this meal! 


So, I had to find something to take it's place...
thank goodness for my polenta----->




So here's what I came up with...
Same ingredients sans butternut squash!

Not too shabby, right?

We've got parmesan polenta, pan seared turkey burger and sauteed spinach with sun-dried tomato and onion.
Parmesan Polenta:
Bring water to boil, add polenta, stir vigorously (it's pretty much a workout in it's self!) and add in Parmesan once cooked.
Sauteed Spinach:

Splash pan with a little canola oil (not much because the sun-dried tomatoes are packed in oil too), brown onion, add sun-dried tomato and let them soak a bit. Add spinach and let it ride from there!

Turkey Burg:

My burger was frozen so I took it straight from freezer to pan. Cooked it for about 20 minutes total, flipping it every so often. I added some Worcestershire sauce for extra bang! 


This meal is coming in under 500 calories (approximately, from my good judgment and according to portions and product nutrition fact labels)




Let's Talk Tips!

Lately, I have been struggling with the clock. I am a big stickler when it comes to people saying they have "No time!" I hate that excuse and sadly, I have found myself thinking it lately. Everyone has time; we all have the same amount of hours in the day it's just called time management.
It's a huge part of success when it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle! Finding time for yourself; to plan your meals or get to the gym, de-stress or enjoy a hobby.
Some tips for finding that time [especially for physical activity]...

- Break it up! If you have 10 minutes in the morning you can walk around the block, do a short exercise video or hop on your exercise machine, do it! 10 minutes is better than nothing!

- Add it up! 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes at lunch, 10 minutes at night...and you've already done 30 minutes of physical activity for the day.

- Beat the clock! Go in the AM before work/school. This will guarantee a workout! So much happens during the day that something may come up (or you may decide to hit happy hour with some work buddies) and you can't make it that evening. If that means you may have to forgo your favorite prime time show because you need to get to bed earlier, then make it happen. Hello! That's why we have DVR these days :)

-Find time! Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park further away in the parking lot, you get the point ;)

No matter when it is and how much it is...it just matters that it gets done!

A little bit can go a long way.

Be your own food detective

Hi! We are getting straight to business tonight...

I know I have taught you some key tools (ie. label lingo, prepackaged meal labels) in label reading to help you in choosing your healthy, smart snacks...so now it's time to put them to work. Yes, be your OWN food detetctive- decode your food label and figure out what heck it is that your eating!




Take this jar of pickles for instance...

Smart Snacker vs. Pickles

I like to pick at pickles here and there (who doesn't?) because they are low cal and delicious, of course! Well, the other day I was decoding the label and yes they are in fact low cal (2 spears or slices [in my case] = 10 calories)...

Smart Snacker- 1  Pickles- 0

Come to find out [if I glance down a couple rows and HOLY COW] the sodium reads 420 mg per serving! So yeah yeah do the math; you snack on 5 of those puppies in a sitting [or throughout the day] and how about you've racked up a whopping 2100 mg of sodium!

Smart Snacker- 1 Pickles-1

That smart snacker hates to have a tie :(

I have mentioned sodium quite a bit...check out some of the guidelines set by the American Heart Association to see where you should aim for your daily sodium intakes to be based on your personal needs and conditions.


Have you played detective and decoded a frightening find too? please share :)

Label Lingo

Hey Smart Snacker's in-training...ever read food labels?
Well, I hope so (trick question because you should be)! 
So, when studying your labels ( again, you should be...wishful thinking on my part ;) ) have you noticed the left-hand side that reads "% Daily Value (%DV)?"

Curious what those %'s even mean? Well, the trusty food industry is using this system to inform you of whether or not the particular nutrients found in that product are a good source of fat, carbohydrates and/or any vitamin/ mineral present?
Trick of the trade: This is also a good way to tally your daily cholesterol, saturated fat and sodium intakes (yikes!).


So, I'm here to help breakdown what you need to know...Smart Snackin' basics :)

If your %DV reads:
20% or higher: the food is a good source of that nutrient
10-20%: the food is a moderate source for that nutrient
less than 10%: the food is a low source for that nutrient



Nifty little system now isn't it?