Monday, September 14, 2015

Foodtrainers' Holiday Helper Rosh Rules (and YK too)

Well, actually don't
We’ve just shifted out of summer mode and the holidays are upon us.
While it can feel like September presents one thing after another, we're hoping that since  many of us are still casting off our summer holiday treatsare slightly less alluring (maybe?)

Here are Foodtrainers’ tips for a “sweet” new year. The only thing sweeter than honey cake is feeling svelte when September ends. Agree? Thought so.

 Rosh Rules (and YK too)

 Create room for holiday meals. If you’re familiar with Foodtraining through the holidays .you know that we believe in utilizing pre and post holiday days. For every holiday meal, have 1 day where you skip anything sweet (wine and fruit are sweet).
 Secret Holiday Weapons: have lemon squeezed in water before your holiday meal, this will prevent your blood sugar from rising sky high and may displace a glass of wine. The morning after holidays, try our magic green elixir.
 Employ our “traditional” 1 plate rule: make a plate with 1/2 veggies, 1/4 protein, 1/4 carb. If you can skip the carb and try making your plate ¾ veg, even better. No seconds (that would be 2 plates).
 Pick 1 treat per holiday: kugel, matzo balls and next week bagels-OY (if your clothes aren’t fitting really well, nothing about these foods will help, just a “sweet’ reminder). We cannot have it all and not expect post-holiday matzo balls in unfortunate, unwanted places…
*note this isn’t 1 treat per holiday meal, got it? One treat for RH and one for YK max, if you forego other treats we’ll sound our office shofar for you.
  So what should you eat? We say GO Gefilte or via sauce removal “naked” brisket, these are good protein choices. Roasted veggies (carrots being a “sweeter” veg is the least of your worries) are fair game. Also, a little known fact some feel spinach (silka) was one of the original signs of Rosh Hashanah. In terms of carbs, gourds (pumpkins and squashes) have symbolic meaning and are your best starch selection.
 BYOT (bring your own tea) Rosh Hashanah food is super sweet. Chances are the above-mentioned honey cake is redundant. Basically Rosh Hashanah dinner is dessert. So skip the sweets post meal, Tazo makes a great, organic cinnamon apple tea. 
 Don’t binge before you fast. If you fast for YK avoid the temptation to overdue it beforehand. This actually makes fasting more difficult. Stick to the one plate rule and the 1-carb per plate rule as well. 
 Bagels are a break up food , break fast or not.  Speaking of The Little Book of Thin, the holiday chapter is a great primer for the holidays (just saying).
 You are not alone! You can also #TIDEI (via twitter) if you need extra support. For example "my aunt is guilting me into eating _________" 
 Insta your plate @Foodtrainers @onesmartbrownie, one properly composed plate will receive some "secret post holiday weapons".
And of course we wish you a year filled with health and happiness.
Did you have a holiday meal already? How was it? Which of these "rules" resonates with you? 
Do you find September a difficult month?
*Congrats to our first week of September Squeezers who took the month by storm and put in 7 days of great eating and focus.


Thursday, September 10, 2015

There's something about mayo


 I love mayo. I love tuna salad and egg salad and of course lobster salad (but even borderline mayo folks like lobster salad). I know there are people who shun anything creamy or mushy  but I say 'bring it". Mayo is one of those foods I feel I shouldn’t love as much as I do but I can't help it.  Of course we have Hellman’s “real” mayo in our fridge but I can’t completely ignore mayo’s truth.  It contains EDTA (pretty much poison), soybean oil- soy is sort of GMO’s mvp and don’t get me started on Unileaver who owns Hellman’s.  Oy, not so "real" after all.


So I’ve found a mayo substitute I really like (and usually I don’t like any sort of food substitute) Avocado Mayo (avocado oil, eggs, vinegar and salt). One of my favorite easy lunches is 2 hard-boiled eggs (I make these 6 at a time and usually have on hand) mashed with avocado mayo over greens. In this photo I used my boys’ fave pea shoots. The egg salad is satisfying and feels a little indulgent. And this is a mayo that’s ok to love.
Are you a closet (or open) mayo fan? Have you tried Avocado Mayo? What are your favorite, easy lunches?


Tuesday, September 8, 2015

If you're mourning summer, try this

Sept Squeeze program people, skip that fruit
Everyone is so dramatic. Everywhere I looked yesterday I read about a "last glass of rose'" or "last bonfire". I'm here to say we're passed Labor Day and you made it, it'll be ok. And in fact summer isn't technically over, in NYC it's still hot as hell. We're not ready just yet to soup and sweater, for us it's still smoothie season. If that intro annoyed you, if you're a little sad today (I get it I'm sad Bachelor in Paradise is over, silly things affect us) try one of our favorite smoothie recipes this Lemon Basil Smoothie. It's gluten free, dairy free and friggin' delicious. Everyone in the room not only accepted a sample but genuinely liked it (not always the case). See what you think. 
 And as you can see the Foodtrainers' blog is back. One client asked me, "did you stop blogging?" Nope, just generally unproductive this summer but hopefully that tide is turning. Any topics you want to see covered? Anything foodwise you're looking forward to? Anyone else watch that silly show Paradise? Someone say yes.
Carolyn made me cry and then changed her shirt

Monday, August 17, 2015

Foodtrainers: September Squeeze Details & Video

Ready for some squeezing?


Summer is fun and now summer is almost done. If you're returning with any summer “souvenirs”, over rose’-ed or just need a nudge, let’s take action. We're talking one week to post- summer sanity. Snag a spot for our September Squeeze TODAY!


We have 2 sessions of Squeezing: 
Week 1 September 8-14th
Week 2 September 16-22nd
*Note Rosh starts 9/13.

Email us ASAP at both carolyn@foodtrainers.net and info@foodtrainers.net for details, spots are quickly filling up! 


Monday, August 10, 2015

This secret weapon is my favorite

I discovered this magic green concoction during the winter. I had purchased a few things from Anima Mundi but hadn't cracked the waxy seal on this one. Then it was December in Vermont and I needed a healthy boost and figured I'd try it. It was just what I needed and a POTENT debloater. I'm really excited to have this "magic elixir" as it's called in the Foodtrainers store.

A client also said "so you're not blogging over the summer?" It wasn't intentional but just so you know I wasn't entirely unproductive (even though I sort of was and need a break) here is a fun Summer Secret Weapon video Carolyn and I shot. We have a new format, please let us know what you think. We're always honest so feel free to be...but I think you'll like it. This one is a little long but we didn't want to sell you short on any of our Quick Fixes.
As the summer winds to an end (not just yet but you know) how are you feeling? Do you think it's more difficult to eat well in the summer or winter? Which secret weapon are you most excited about?
What do you think of the video?

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

The truth about smoothie bowls


Smoothie bowls have been popping up everywhere. And while Carolyn and I are happy to test-drive any (ok most) trends we hesitated with these big bowls. We explained our "cold feet" in this month's Monthy Morsels newsletter  along with what to do and skip when it comes to these creations. 

Here's our featured recipe (pictured above)
Cocomint Smoothie Bowl
Handful ice
Handful fresh mint
Banana or frozen banana
1 tbs each of philosophie green dream, gelatin and coconut oil
splash harmless harvest
dash Pantea matcha
pinch Himalayan salt
Nustevia drops (I like lemon nustevia with this)
 Choose your toppings- cocochia, gojis shown here    
Add ingredients to Vitamix (yup we declared ourselves blender bitches but need a strong gizmo), blend and pour into ramekin or small bowl.
Do you make smoothie bowls? Favorite ingredients? What are you having or did you have for breakfast today? Are you a blender bitch (or blender snob)?

Monday, July 13, 2015

#AKTSummer Healthy Lunch with Anna Kaiser

Another fun segment with Anna Kaiser of AKT #AKTsummer, here is one of our Foodtrainers favorite salads that you can make in 5 minutes or less.



What's your favorite summer salad?