Foodtrainers' Summer Finds and winning smoothie recipe

My losing smoothie

Greetings from Vegas! I have to admit, it's a little strange to be here, of all places, when we open up the sign up for our September Squeeze program (a few spots remain). In today's newsletter we mentioned our "work"trip to the wild blueberry barrens of Maine. In Bar Harbor, a little competition took place for the best wild blueberry smoothie. I made a basil blend and Carolyn concocted something with avocado. Full disclosure, it was pretty annoying how into food styling their creations some people were. Carolyn and I did not win but our non annoying, awesome friend Marnie did. Here's her winning recipe.

Wild Blueberry Basil Mojito Smoothie AKA the "Marnito"

recipe via Marnie Schwartz, Nutrition Editor, SHAPE Magazine

1 cup wild blueberries (different than cultivated blueberries)

juice of 1 lime

10 basil leaves

10 mint leaves

1/2 cup full fat plain yogurt

1-2 dates

Add yogurt to a powerful blender, follow with the other ingredients and blend.

Do not spend more than 30 10 seconds on your garnish. 

Enjoy the last days of summer!

Foodtrainers' Summer Finds and winning smoothie recipe

Greetings from Vegas! I have to admit, it's a little strange to be here, of all places, when we open up the sign up for our September Squeeze program (a few spots remain). In today's newsletter we mentioned our "work"trip to the wild blueberry barrens of Maine. In Bar Harbor, a little competition took place for the best wild blueberry smoothie. I made a basil blend and Carolyn concocted something with avocado. Full disclosure, it was pretty annoying how into food styling their creations some people were. Carolyn and I did not win but our non annoying, awesome friend Marnie did. Here's her winning recipe.

Wild Blueberry Basil Mojito Smoothie AKA the "Marnito"

recipe via Marnie Schwartz, Nutrition Editor, SHAPE Magazine

1 cup wild blueberries (different than cultivated blueberries)

juice of 1 lime

10 basil leaves

10 mint leaves

1/2 cup full fat plain yogurt

1-2 dates

Add yogurt to a powerful blender, follow with the other ingredients and blend.

Do not spend more than 30 10 seconds on your garnish. 

Enjoy the last days of summer!

The Horoscope Diet

Do you ever read your horoscope and feel it rings eerily true? Maybe you don't read horoscopes at all but, even if you say that, I'd guess when you see yours you peek. Horoscopes are confusing for me. I'm what they call "on the cusp" between two signs. This makes me insecure as sometimes I'm a Leo and other times a Virgo. I've sided with Virgo mainly because everyone says "you're SUCH a Virgo." What they mean by that is that I'm particular and either neurotic or a control freak or, in my case, both. 

Anyway, I'm on a plane right now. I have my usual seat next to the crying baby and I read Marie Claire magazine in an attempt to distract myself. In about 10 minutes, I found myself on the horoscope page. My horoscope basically said do one thing at a time. Revolutionary? No,  but it was a reminder I needed. For example, yesterday I was in the house for most of the day and found myself making a red white and blue açai bowl, researching a trip to Hawaii, reading the first section of the Times, purging two drawers from my closet...you get the point. At 10pm I realized I hadn't done the 1 thing I needed to do which was packing for the trip I'm on. 

It occurred to me that this acute case of ADD (not making light of ADD) could be seasonal or summer-related. I see a lot of it with my clients. If you're suffering from the summer sloppies - don't say you'll wait until September to get it together!!! At the same time, you're not going to clean everything up. So pretend you're a Virgo and do one thing! Do you need to socialize a little less and cook or bbq at home? Ditch the day drinking? Stop staying up late? Pick one thing and focus on that behavior for now. If you'd like you can do our Sept Squeeze to focus on your food even further (we're announcing the details next week). And if you're wondering about my birthday? I'm sure you're not but I made my own reservation (Virgo) at Senza Gluten.

Are you a horoscope person? Or, can you relate to the need to focus on one thing versus many? 

Easy, Cold-brewed Iced Tea, No Boiling Required

 In a session last week, a client mentioned it was too hot to drink warm tea. Even though I like hot coffee hot, regardless of weather, I agreed regarding tea. I suggested she make iced tea and she looked at me confused “do you just chill hot tea, how do you make iced tea?” As I explained to her what I outlined below I realized iced tea probably baffles a lot of people. We have to fix that.

To answer her question, I don’t like making iced tea from hot tea. It tends to have a burnt or harsh taste. Instead, I make it cold-brewed in the fridge.

All you need:

Large Mason jar (or as large as you have) or any container with a lid

Tea- loose or in bags, in the photo I used Bellocq's Green Mint tea

Water

Strainer

Optional: stevia

Add tea to the jar (I use 2 tablespoons of loose tea in a 32 ounce jar) but 1 teaspoon loose tea or 1 bag per six ounces of water is a good ratio. I gravitate toward loose tea as I generally have a lot to use up. And I find the flavor is better with loose tea but use what you have.

Add water, filtered water if you have a water filter (or a top-notch bottled water like Core).

Cover the jar. This is why I use a jar, many people use a pitcher but I’m weird about fridge scents and prefer a closed container. Also, I can take the Mason jar to work. Again…use what you have.

I steep the tea overnight, it needs at least 4 hours of brewing time.

When it’s done, strain it. I put a strainer over a bowl and pour the tea in. Discard the used tea that’s in the strainer, rinse Mason jar if any tea is stuck to it and pour iced tea back into the jar.

If I’m making a green tea, I’ll add stevia. Otherwise add sliced lime or lemons, fresh mint or just drink as is. Easy tea-sy. 

Five tips to avoid gaining weight on your summer vacation

Summer seafood is a great option, my son made these!

Recently, I did a segment for CBS on summer eating. Specifically, the topic was how to avoid weight gain on your summer vacation. I’ll spare you the scary stats on “beach bulk”. Around the same time, I read an article in Cooking Light on this same subject. Their advice was something to the effect of don’t worry about your weight too much, when you’re awa,y as that’ll make you binge. Let’s just say I suggest you think about weight a little and not to worry you’ll still have fun.

A little consciousness will lead to confidence.

What to do:

Delay your Play- away for a week? Don’t lobster roll day one, you’ll end up doing it daily.

Tis the season for overfruiting

Overfruiting is a thing…particularly in the summer. My mother asked me this past weekend, “Is pineapple fattening?” My response? Any fruit can cause you to gain weight if you eat too much. I usually say keep fruit to once per day. On vacation, stick to two fruits a day max.

Don’t let your activity fool you.

At the end of the day what you eat is 75% or more of what you weigh. You can bike and hike and still get heavier. By all means, swim, bike and hike while away, just don’t use these leisurely activities as a license to ice cream.

Ditch the Day Drinking

Sumer and, in particular, summer vacations can be boozy. Save the rose’ or tequila for after sundown…ok sundown is late in summer, 5pm?

Dinner Rule: 2 of 4, No More

 Bread

 Booze

 Dinner carbs

 Dessert

These are the four areas than can get you into trouble.

Pick 1 or 2 per meal away but not all 4

Keep these 5 tips in mind- share them with your family and friends and you’ll sail through summer vacations unscathed.

New! Food Labels and Foodtrainers' must-have item for summer

via CNN

Have you heard? There’s a new Nutrition Facts label but this newness will not be implemented until 2018. FLOTUS announced the changes in Washington on Friday. The labels have the sugar people (how do they sleep at night?) freaking. You see, there’s a new listing for added sugar and a % of daily value. So, using Coke as an example, label would read: 65 grams of added sugar and 130% the amount of sugar you should have in a day.  The Sugar Association/ other sugar bad guys are saying added sugar is not different than naturally occurring sugar. Are they missing the point? We cannot control how much fructose is in an apple (well that’s another story) but apples aren’t this country’s problem.

Personally, I’m not thrilled with grams of sugar. Most people cannot identify with grams; teaspoons would’ve been better. Instead of 65 grams, how about listing over 16 teaspoons in that Coke? And daily values are based on 50 grams a day (12.5 teaspoons) still seems like a lot. While we know Coke is sweet, hopefully this provides incentive for companies to pull sugar from places it doesn’t have to be (salad dressing, bread, tomato sauce etc).

Aside from sugar, serving sizes on new labels will also be different. I have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, it’s good for people to see that nutrition information for 2/3 cup of ice cream; nobody eats the ½ cup serving previously used. However, it’s a slippery slope if we designate serving sizes based on what Americans eat (a pint). Another positive change is that manufacturers will have to list amounts of Vitamin D, as most Americans do not get enough D.

In other news, we have summer on our minds. Have you seen our new tote bags?

In case you think we’re being hypocritical, 1 glass (3.5oz) of rosè comes in at a little over 1 g (1/4 teaspoon) of sugar. We like a small pour but even if you’re saying that serving size needs adjusting it’s still not high in sugar. Another fun fact, cheaper wine has more RS (residual sugar). Look, it’s not a health food but summer weekends? EAT PLAY ROSÈ.

What do you think of new food labels? Or what about our bags? Let us know.

Don't miss out on our Pre-Summer Squeeze

We had our first taste of summer yesterday with 80-degree weather in NYC. We also sent our April newsletter featuring some new Foodtrainers’ favorite products. Snickerdoodle almond butter sound interesting?

In the newsletter, we announced our May Pre-Summer Squeeze Program

These programs have been an unexpected hit. We pride ourselves on providing reasonable, doable, livable advice. What we’ve found is that while that works week in and week out there is a time for a push. And there has to be something better than a juice cleanse. After our most recent program, we asked participants for words to describe how they felt. They said:

“virtuous, healthy and slim”

“disciplined, energized, proud”

“in control, leaner and lighter”

“empowered, more in tune with myself”

“back on track”

“much, much better”

We are offering two 10-day Squeeze sessions this May. You don’t have to be in NYC as it’s all email based

May 9^th -18^th Carolyn will Squeeze you

May 16^th-24^th Lauren will Squeeze you

If you’d like a jump-start before summer or need to add some newness to your routine, let's Squeeze. Email info@foodtrainers.net with subject line “Squeeze me” for more information.

What are 3 words to describe how you feel right now? 

How do you feel right now? Give me three words...

 Today we kicked off our 3-week Summer Squeeze.  This is not a super-strict, quick fix regime (that would be our Whipping Week). This was designed to get habits in line and establish an eating system before summer officially starts.  In order to get an idea of where participants are at we asked, “give us three words for how you feel right now”.  Responses included stressed/large/blah/flabby and tired, can you relate? And then we wondered, “how do you want to feel?”. Our Squeezers said “healthy” “under control” “back to myself” “confident” “calmer” and “energetic”. 

I attended a memorial for a great man yesterday. It wasn’t your traditional funeral. We were in Central Park. A group gathered mid day, a few friends and family members spoke. They remembered a kind man, a “gentle soul”.  He never raised his voice and always thought of others. One friend said, “he always found the perfect presents” and “always showed up with too much food.” We were invited to take a stone with some of his virtues on them.

So where am I going with this? How does this relate to food and weight? It’s that we spend so much time on getting ready for the swimsuit and white jeans, as Lena Dunham says “the ass”.  And I’ll go on record again and say the ass, belly, thighs, arms matter, they do. But we make progress or can make long-term progress with our weight and food when we are connected to the feelings. Last week my wise therapist said to me “you have a good handle on the physical now let’s focus on your mental diet”. It’s also healthy to focus on what we’re “showing” others. The man I spoke about above was so, so handsome (and that was discussed) but there were no stones in the basket that said “hot”.

So, give me three words to describe how you feel right now. How do you want to feel? What would you want your “rock” to say?

Need to look better ASAP? Try this recipe

 

I don’t know about you but about this time every summer I start to feel like a before picture. You know what I mean, in all those fitness makeovers there’s the mushy, slouched “before” and then the lean and proud after? There are just so many restaurant meals and glasses of rose this rigid structured nutritionist can take before she cries uncle. If that makes me a killjoy, I'm sorry. But I’m guessing I’m not alone.

Where there are issues there are solutions and I have the answer to your debloating dreams. Carolyn and I posted a video featuring advice from the Little Book of Thin’s Drastic chapter.  So sad we couldn’t use the actual scary Jaws music but it’s still a fin watch.

In the video we featured this Drastic Salad with avocado dressing. It’s delicious enough to serve to houseguests but there is strategy at work with these ingredients. Try it and let's all be "afters" before Labor Day.
Do you find is easier or harder to eat well in the summer? What do you do when you want to feel better fast? Have you tried this salad?

It’s not like I’m eating chocolate cake (or is it)

 Tuesday morning, my first client walks into the office. This is someone who manages to exercise and cook despite a demanding job etc. She’s not a slouch by any means. She hands over her food journal with the “not my best” disclaimer. She gets on the scale (we don’t talk numbers at Foodtrainers) and I see she’s down a little. I communicate this and she says, “I don’t get it, it’s not like I’m eating chocolate cake.” And I can confirm there was no chocolate cake on her food log but there were bread crusts and dessert bites and extra cocktails. Which eventually add up to chocolate cake even though we view them differently.

Oddly, a couple sessions later a client describes summery treats and like my other client says “but I’m not downing chocolate cake or anything.” What’s with these chocolate cake references? I’m not sure how this sweet became the posterfood for overindulging but I’ll tell you how that chocolate cake thinking can screw you up. 

We don’t lose weight for what we do not eat. I do not eat bagels or pie or chocolate cake (except mint chocolate cake from Babycakes bakery on my birthday but that’s different) and my weight is stable because cake isn’t really one of my variables. Patting myself on the back for avoiding something that’s not on my radar takes me away from thinking about cheese, chocolate or chips. Those are the foods I have the potential to overdo. For each of us, our body is used to certain baseline behaviors and anything above that usually has us gaining weight. We have to improve upon our “normal” to lose.Going into this weekend think about what trips you up. It’s a great time for #TIDEI (tweet it don’t eat it) @Foodtrainers or give yourself budgets for drinks and treats. Whether it is chocolate cake or cheese try to pick 1 indulgence and keep it to that. 

Happy 4th.

Five Tips to Prevent Weekend Weight Gain

Let’s say a person (perhaps you) develops a stellar eating routine that involves cooking, hydrating and eating lots of green things. By Friday that person (perhaps you) feels accomplished, clothes are looser, energy is through the roof- you get the picture. Then, person (you?) goes to Connecticut or Fire Island or stays put, after all it’s summer and things are carefree wherever you are. Person enjoys the weekend (a little too much) with extra cocktails and barbeques and fun, fun, fun. What’s the big deal you say? No big deal if your weight loss from Monday to Friday is erased and you’re good with bloat and more.

OK have a good day you’re screwed. No, no of course there’s a way to balance cocktails with consciousness, even a way to make progress over the summer. Truthfully, sure it’s nice out now but weekends are tricky all year round let’s sort them out.

Make room for the weekend

There are 52 weekends a year so what goes on from Friday to Sunday shouldn’t be all that shocking. Use Thursday to your advantage. Thursday is a day where you skip your grains and skip your cocktails so that your weekends can be slightly (I said slightly) looser.

Pre-eat

It’s not only the alcohol calories (that your body burns before it gets to any love handle or back fat), it’s the food we consume once we’ve had the drink and sadly the food we may think makes us feel better the next day. You must pre-eat. Have asparagus (breaks down alcohol and debloats you, how’s that for a twofer?) or a little good fat (walnuts or olives work well) before you imbibe. Alcohol will affect you 3x slower if you do this and that’s a good thing.

Meals Matter

There’s much more winging it on the weekends. Instead of defined meals, more time around the house often leads to grazing or what I like to call pupu platter eating. Pupu platter eating isn’t pretty. I suggest a “walk through” on weekend mornings. Take a minute to think about where you’re going to be and what you will eat. Think in terms of distinct meals and snacks. Even if your day starts later I’d suggest 3 meals. This is better than two meals and ten snacks.

Move it (not just for workout)

Maybe you went to a spin class, that’s awesome. But sitting on the beach, by the pool or at brunch (grrrr) for hours isn’t in your best interest. I’ve written about my fitbit. A tracker is a great thing on the weekends. You’re not chained to a desk; let’s see what you got.

Make sure you’re set up

Be super careful if you do go away on the weekends that you’re set up for the week. Food shop on your way home or have groceries delivered. You need your tools and a menu for the week ahead.

So if you’re feeling puffier today than on Friday, put your plan in place. There are 13 more weekends until Labor Day.

Do you eat differently on the weekends? What’s you’re biggest challenge? What do you do to keep things clean? What’s your favorite thing you did (or ate) this past weekend?