Kaitlyn's Clean Turkey Meatloaf

Since I am training for a Figure Show, my five year old daughter is cooking my clean meals.
This is her Clean Turkey Meatloaf. Very simple and easy. Remember this is a 5yr old so measurements are not always used. This is meant to be fun.

• 1.25lb Organic 99% lean ground turkey *
• 4 egg whites *
• 1/2 cup uncooked organic oats
• salsa, not measured just poured
• diced onions, celery, and carrots (again not measured, just use a lot. I cooked this with some vegetable broth first)
• black pepper and garlic powder sprinkled
• organic ketchup
• dash of mustard

Preheat oven to 350 and mix together everything except the ketchup. Place in a Corning or Pyrex pan. Spread ketchup on top. Bake for 1 hour. Enjoy

Serves about 5. Approx 178 calories, 14g carb, 27g protein, 1g fat

* I do not let my daughter handle raw meat of eggs with her hands. She uses a fork and a mixing spoon.

Back to school time!

Wow, it has been a LONG time since I last posted! I apologize for that. When there is no school, it is difficult to fit in teaching my classes, training clients, learning Les Mills choreography, working on my Yoga teacher hours, and writing!

I am also training for a fitness competition and will compete in April. I just started working with an amazing coach as well, Joe Franco at http://www.teamfrancobodybuilding.com/. After just three weeks with him, I have seen nice results already. I will continue to post updates about my progress in the next 7 1/2 months before my show. I look forward to the 'finished product', but I am also enjoying this journey.

Since we are 'Back to School', I would like to talk about healthy lunch/snack choices to pack for the children. To keep it simple, I like to think of my daughters meals and snack as having three components; a protein, a fibrous carb, and a starchy carb. Of course children need healthy fats as well. Most schools do not allow nuts so I prefer to give her nuts and seeds at home. Avocado is also a great fat for children, which I feed her at home as well, but it could easily be added to a sandwich. But for simplicity sake today, we will just pick the three main lunch components.

Here are a few idea. Remember to also keep it fun!

1)Protein:
String cheese
Yogurt
Sliced turkey or ham
Edamame
Cubed Tofu
Grilled Chicken but into pieces
Hummus (also a healthy fat)

2)Fibrous Carbs: (add as many as you would like)
Apples
Grapes
Banana
Pear
Cucumber slices (goes nice with Hummus)
Baby carrots
Grape tomatoes

3)Starchy Carbs: (this can also be a little 'treat' since they *are* children)
Pretzels
Crackers
Granola bar
Rice Cakes
Sweet Potato baked and cubed
Cereal in a baggie

These are just a few ideas. I am sure you can get the picture. Make sure to give them a healthy breakfast to start the day right. Dinner can be a more 'traditional' meal. Lunch at school should be easy and fun. And when you think of it as 1-2-3, it becomes even easier for you.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Back to School
XOX

Kooking with Kaitlyn

 I may need to thank Nick Jr. TV station for my daughter’s healthy eating. My daughter is four and she loves a show on that station called ‘iCarly’. It is about a girl who, along with her friends, hosts an Internet show. My daughter thought that sounded so cool, so I suggested that she have her own show. And the idea of ‘Kooking with Kaitlyn’ was born.

Full disclosure, this is not a real show. We do not stream live. We don’t even have a webpage. We use my Facebook personal and business pages. I take a picture of her cooking her recipe and post it on my personal page. She gets so excited about that and loves to see it up on the computer. Then later in the evening, after we taste-test the recipe, with feedback from her, Daddy, and me, we post the recipe on my Sharon Sherry Fitness page.

This is fun for her and she looks forward to it most weeks. Even the week our beloved family cat died, she insisted on ‘doing Kooking with Kaitlyn’ because ‘everyone wants to see the show and that is what Barney (the cat) would want me to do’. Her show helped her heal her heart.

Each time we make a new recipe, we first talk about what we are going to make. We usually get ideas from friends. (her own original recipe is posted below) Then we go to the store and she picks out which veggies she will use. Yes, that is right, she is excited about the vegetables because she chooses them herself. I also let her choose the spices we use as well.

The meals we make are healthy, ‘clean’, gluten-free, low-carb, low in saturated fat, very low sodium, and full of many vegetables. Due to her age, I do not allow her to handle any raw meat, poultry or fish, no knives, and no open flames. She does everything else except for those items.

Her ‘show’ Kooking with Kaitlyn has turned her into a very healthy eater. But more than anything, it greatly built up her self-esteem and confidence. Plus it is a ton of fun for me! If you have read my past articles and know my definition of ‘cooking’, you will also understand how much my husband and I love having home-cooked gourmet meals made with love by our daughter.

Now go play with your children!!! ;-)

Sharon

XOX

Kaitlyn’s Own Chicken Recipe 

4 breast of chicken


minced garlic


1/2 yellow onion chopped


1 eggplant cubed


2 yellow peppers cut


1/2 bag of Trader Joes organic frozen chopped spinach


Trader Joes flower pepper


Stew Leonards Italian seasoning spice mix


Trader Joes organic low-sodium vegetable broth


Place chicken in slow-cooker with garlic and pepper on top, add onions, add veggies, sprinkle seasoning, add a bit of broth to wet
Cook on low for 7 hours but put on high for first 30-40 minutes. Mix and fork-shred chicken before serving


Nutrition per each serving (makes 4) 250 calories, 23g carbs, 36g protein, 2g fat


I love this recipe since Kaitlyn took her time in the store choosing which vegetables she wanted and was able to place everything into the pot.

XOX

This blog is for informational purposes only.  It’s not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health problem, nor is it intended to replace the advice of a physician.  No action should be taken solely on the contents of this website.  Always consult your physician or qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health. It is advised see your physician before changing your diet, starting an exercise program, or taking any supplements of any kind.

Who the F**k are Ana and Mia???

Well, these chicks better stay far away from my daughter or I will have to flex my mommy-muscles! But, this is not a perfect world and I can’t protect my daughter from everything. What I can do, however, is empower her to be strong and protect herself. I am going to teach her to be much more powerful than Ana or Mia can ever be.

‘Ana’ is short for Anorexia and ‘Mia’ is Bulimia. If you were a teenage, or pre-teen girl then you would most likely already know this vernacular. Unfortunately, even some much younger girls are being introduced as well. With all of the social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and others, girls are now being exposed to ‘Group’ such as ‘Pro-Ana’ and ‘Pro-Mia’. These ‘groups’ allow girls to communicate with others and share how many calories they eat, tricks for controlling hunger, various ways to use diuretics and vomiting, etc. They often talk about ‘thinspiration’ and even use pictures of overly skinny models as their online avatar.

This is beyond dangerous, and unfortunately it is very real. We live in a world ruled by ‘extremes’. We go from super-sized to super-skinny. It is so sad that the pendulum swings so strong in our culture. The youth are so impressionable and can easily fall victim to this.

My goal is that when Ana tries to approach my daughter, she will see my daughter on either the soccer field or track. She will notice how fast my daughter can run, how beautiful her muscles are, and how shiny her hair is. Ana will never have that beauty because she doesn’t eat enough protein and healthy fats. She will walk away and try to find someone else to seduce.

Mia will approach my daughter next. My daughter will look at Mia’s yellow teeth and notice how bad her breath is. My daughter takes great pride in her teeth and will be disgusted by Mia. Bulimia rots away tooth enamel and causes horrible breath. And, oh yeah, it can also kill you! My daughter loves her life too much, but she is sweet so will try to get Mia to find help for herself.

That is my ideal for my daughter and I am going to work hard to make her strong enough to stay away from Ana and Mia. Here is what we can do as parents:

Moms: Lead by example! If you are not at a healthy weight (and I said ‘healthy’ not ‘skinny’), then get to it! Discretely. Privately. Do not share any of your weight struggles or diets with your daughter. Exercise and take care of yourself. Praise your daughter constantly for all of the wonderful, magical things she does each day. Build her self-esteem.

Dads: Do not make comments about your daughter’s body. Ever. Do not make comments about your wife’s body in front of your daughter. Or, in front of anybody. Do not make comments about any woman’s body. Your daughter learns her self-worth from you. Every woman is some-body’s daughter. Got it.

Hopefully, by the time my daughter is older, there will be no more pro-Ana and pro-Mia social media groups. Hopefully everyone will realize that Strong is the new Sexy. Healthy is Hot. No more extremes, and no more dangerous behaviors. One can hope.

Love yourself and your children.

Sharon

XOX

XOX

This blog is for informational purposes only.  It’s not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health problem, nor is it intended to replace the advice of a physician.  No action should be taken solely on the contents of this website.  Always consult your physician or qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health. It is advised see your physician before changing your diet, starting an exercise program, or taking any supplements of any kind.

Fasting Part 2: Follow-up to last post

I hope the New Year finds everyone happy and healthy. I had a wonderful 2011 and look forward to what 2012 brings me!

Last month I wrote about Intermittent Fasting and I promised to write a follow-up. For the last month, as I pledged, I fasted for 24-hours twice a week. During the fasts I had water, tea, and some coffee but no food. I discovered the following benefits:

1. During the holiday season, I was able to indulge quite a bit more without gaining weight. However, I did not lose any weight either (for the record, I was not trying).
2. It prevented any over-indulging since I was unable to eat during the fasts, even if the most delicious gluten-free cookies were placed in front of me! That also creates a sense of ‘power’.
3. I proved that it is not possible to ‘starve’ during a 24-hour period. I did my usual activity and taught my classes. My energy levels were fine.
4. I enjoyed the ‘mental clarity’ that comes with a fast. There is a reason most religions use this practice.

The question now is, do I continue this? Well, that is tough. After the holidays I feel as though I never want to look (let alone taste) desserts or chips again. Sometimes when you have the freedom to indulge, after awhile it becomes repulsive! I feel so much better eating healthy again. But now my diet seems to be around 1200-1500 calories a day. At that amount, it doesn’t justify fasting for two full days. The whole point of intermittent fasting is to balance out your calories to allow for higher calorie days.

But, as I stated, I did enjoy the calm feeling that comes with fasting. For now, my compromise will be to do a 24-hour ‘pseudo-fast’ of eating just veggies and some fruit once a week. That can be very cleansing both mentally and physically. If I do have a week when I eat out or indulge in desserts, I can easily turn that day into a real 24-hour fast.

My latest endeavor though is practicing what I preach about eating healthy and not too much. I suggest www.myfitnesspal.com to my friends and my clients. To prove how much I support this site/app, I am going to log my calories and activity for a year! I started already on December 27^th.

So, who is with me on this one?

Wishing all of you a warm and fulfilling 2012.

Yours in wellness,

Sharon

XOX

XOX

This blog is for informational purposes only.  It’s not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health problem, nor is it intended to replace the advice of a physician.  No action should be taken solely on the contents of this website.  Always consult your physician or qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health. It is advised see your physician before changing your diet, starting an exercise program, or taking any supplements of any kind.

Can You Fast to Slow Your Aging?

Lately I have been seeing quite a few magazine articles and Facebook posts about ‘Intermittent Fasting’ (IF). It seems to be pretty popular now. IF is a way of eating which alternates between periods of fasting (but water and other non-calorie beverages are allowed), and eating normally. I am going to come clean and admit that I have been practicing this on and off for about 4 years. I just didn’t call it by any name back then, nor did I tell anyone.

Four years ago I was 38, recently had a baby, and was staring 40 in the face! I also had a breast cancer scare (thankfully nothing was wrong) and I found out that I had genetic high cholesterol (despite having a low body weight, lot’s of exercise, and a mostly vegetarian diet). I was looking for a ‘fountain of youth’ and started my research. I came across quite a few articles about the benefits of fasting from a longevity and disease-prevention view. Here is an article worth reading, http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/regular-fasting-may-boost-heart-health/. My research also led me to some spiritual benefits of fasting as well. For example Buddhist Monks stop eating for the day at noon. Ayurveda also believes that digestion is strongest at mid-day so it can be healthy to fast during the second part of your day.

For a long time, I did a 24-hour fast every Monday. It felt great. After awhile I no longer felt hungry and I definitely didn’t feel weak. I find it so funny how people think they will shut down if they go a few hours without food! That is psychological. Towards the end of my fast I would do some gentle yoga and meditate. I was calmer and also a bit leaner too. Recently, as my daughter got older and started to ask questions, I was concerned about giving her the wrong message about food. Also, it was difficult trying to come up with reasons to not have lunch plans with friends. Remember, this wasn’t ‘mainstream’ back then so I kept it to myself. Also, I started teaching a lot more classes and training more clients, so I was concerned about my energy level (that was really unfounded because my energy was still very strong). I used to fast from breakfast on Monday until breakfast on Tuesday. Eventually I gave it up.

Suddenly I see articles about IF everywhere I look, and I realize that I miss it. I am starting it again, but this time my fast will be from lunch to lunch. It fits into my lifestyle much better as I can have lunch with my daughter and friends even on the fasting days.

Now that this practice has become a popular diet plan, there are two main ‘schools’ of Intermittent Fasting. Brad Pilon, author of ‘Eat Stop Eat’ (http://bradpilon.com/) suggests two 24-hour fasts during the week. Martin Berkhan of Lean Gains, (http://www.leangains.com/) has a program popular with the bodybuilder crowd, which is a daily IF of 16 hours followed by an 8-hour window to eat. He also recommends amino supplements, which is not my scene. While reading these sites, do not forget to read about the actual science behind these theories, http://www.ajcn.org/content/86/1/7.full.

I am not a big fan of any mass-marketed ‘diet plan’ since many of these are gimmicks to make money. If you are interested in IF, read about it from as many sources as you can and then develop a plan that fits your lifestyle. Here is a great summary article from Livestrong.com, http://www.livestrong.com/article/286088-intermittent-fasting-to-lose-weight/.

For me, this works well both physically and mentally. It gives me a sense of calm, it is a bit meditative, it frees my body to listen to natural hunger cues, it prevents mindless snacking, creates a calorie deficit for the week so I can still enjoy restaurant meals on weekends, it is easy, and it even saves money!

So, starting this week I am going to do two 24-hour fasts. The first one will start Monday after lunch and end Tuesday at lunch. The second will begin Thursday at lunch and end Friday at lunch. On the weekends I will do a 16/8 IF for both days since it fits well with my lifestyle. I will eventually drop the second 24-hour fast on Thursday-Friday since once a week is best for the long-term. Next month I will post about this and at that point decide if it works for me or not. I think it will since I do remember how wonderful I felt in the past.

Anyone else up for this challenge?

XOX

This blog is for informational purposes only.  It’s not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health problem, nor is it intended to replace the advice of a physician.  No action should be taken solely on the contents of this website.  Always consult your physician or qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health. It is advised see your physician before changing your diet, starting an exercise program, or taking any supplements of any kind.

Miracle or Just Grape'd Up?

I am usually pretty skeptical when a supplement comes on the market and promises miracles. It took me awhile to get onboard with fish oil and vitamin D, but after tons of my own research, I now take both regularly. But, I know many people who started taking acai pills even though they couldn’t even pronounce it (ah-sigh-ee). There is also a huge market for weight-loss shakes. We Americans seem to always be searching for the fountain of youth or a quick-fix.

I have read articles about the benefits of resveratrol for quite a few years now. Resveratrol is a compound found in red grapes, mulberries, peanuts, and other plants (however, studies focus around resveratrol found in the skins of red grapes) that is thought to provide powerful health benefits such as life extension and disease prevention. Resveratrol was first studied for its antioxidant effects, but then was found to be much more powerful than just an antioxidant. Resveratrol can actually modify genes.

I considered resvertrol to be just another ‘supplement-du-jour' until I came across an article in Huffington Post written by David Katz, MD, who is the Director or Yale Prevention Research Center. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-katz-md/resveratrol-health_b_1070639.html?ref=healthy-living Well, that caught my attention! I like David Katz and find him to be exceptionally smart. Not the type of person to promote nutrition hype or jump on a bandwagon. He is actually recommending taking resveratrol. Well, to be exact he is not ‘recommending it’ but stating that he started taking it himself. That works for me!

Dr. Katz based his decision on a research study in the scientific journal, Cell Metabolism. The study had 11 obese, but otherwise healthy, men take a placebo for 30 days and then for 30 days given 150 mg of resveratrol daily in random order. The study was double-blinded; meaning neither the participants nor the researchers knew who was taking what when. The study set out to prove, based on a prior study of mice, that resveratrol supplementation would mimic the effects of calorie restriction (reducing calorie intake by 30% of healthy levels). And it did!

Taking resveratrol daily for a month mimicked most effects of calorie restriction, improving energy metabolism in muscle, improving insulin sensitivity, lowering blood pressure, and even enhancing fitness levels. There were no adverse effects of resveratrol. Calorie restriction, on the other hand, does have adverse effects such as zero libido, among others.

There is still a chance that in the future resveratrol will prove to be just a waste of money. But, somehow, I think this is the real deal. There are no adverse effects so I am not willing to let this opportunity pass me by. There is nothing to lose (except the cost of the pills), but so much to gain (longevity, disease prevention, stronger muscles, less wrinkles, etc).

At first I thought I could skip the pills and just drink more red wine. But wine really doesn’t contain very much resveratrol. So, I went to Vitamin Shoppe and picked up some pills… which I will take with red wine!

Cheers!

 XOX

This blog is for informational purposes only.  It’s not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health problem, nor is it intended to replace the advice of a physician.  No action should be taken solely on the contents of this website.  Always consult your physician or qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health. It is advised see your physician before changing your diet, starting an exercise program, or taking any supplements of any kind.