Mike Tennant has written a guest post on a subject of emotional eating. Check out his article and let me know your thoughts. Have you ever had problems with emotional eating? If so, please share your strategies for coping with this problem.

Best,

Zuzana.

Five Ways to Deal with Stress that Don’t Involve Food

by Mike Tennant

Let’s face it, there are many things working against those of us trying to lose weight these days. Fast food restaurants clog up the streets and gym memberships get more and more expensive by the day. Tight deadlines at work mean little time for worrying about proper nutrition during the day. And on top of that, busy family schedules make fixing a wholesome meal on a regular basis all the more difficult.

There’s also one other major underlying factor in weight gain: stress. Stress can creep in at any moment, and can be caused by almost anything in your life. Work, social events, even your family can cause stress. Not only is the stress itself harmful to your mind and body, but it can also lead to other unhealthy habits. All too often, people turn to unhealthy things like food and drink rather than dealing with the stress itself. We all know all too well just how easy it is to reach for a cheeseburger when things get tough. Of course, you’ll feel better in the short term – but the long-term ramifications are just not worth it.

Following are five simple but effective ways to battle with stress. Next time you’re feeling overwhelmed, try one out instead of reaching for that pizza menu.

Organize something. Often times clutter and disorganization in our lives – either in the physical or mental sense – is a chief contributor to stress. So to combat this stress, try organizing something or some part of your life. Whether it’s your music collection, pictures or DVDs, the act of cleaning something up and organizing it can have a soothing effect on your mind and body.

Get some sleep. Do you get seven to eight hours of sleep on a nightly basis? Chances are you don’t, which can be a contributing factor to high levels of stress. Staying well rested can help keep the mind relaxed yet focused and able to take on whatever the day may hold. Even a short nap can help on a stressful day.

Write it down. Keeping a journal is another good way to deal with stress that many don’t realize. Writing down your feelings helps you to become fully aware of them. Once you’ve done this, it’s a lot easier to figure out just what is causing you stress and then let go of these feelings so you can move on with your day.

Try some yoga. Another form of exercise, yoga stresses the importance of reconnecting your mind and body – a perfect prescription for the stressed. There are all kinds of different classes and yoga sessions, and chances are your school has its own yoga class you can try. If you’re unable to make it to a class, try some simple stretches instead. Focus on your breathing while stretching and just feel your stress float away.

Play a game. Nothing reduces stress like a quick game. Not only can it take your mind off any issues, but it’ll also help you to relax by changing your focus to something fun. Chances are you have a game or two in your closet – even a deck of cards will do. Just a short bout of fun can refresh and reenergize your mind and body. Then you’ll be ready to take on anything.

Mike Tennant is a freelance writer and self-proclaimed workout warrior from Orange County, CA. who has recently lost more than 120 lbs. thanks to proper diet, exercise and stress management. Currently Mike works for Air & Water Inc., where he helps people find the right coffee makers for their homes.

You have been asking me many times what a typical day of eating looks like for me so I made a photo journal and took a picture of every single thing that I ate across the whole day. Just to be very clear – I don’t eat these same things everyday – this just happens to be what I ate yesterday.

I am constantly looking for new recipes on the internet, in magazines and books, everywhere in fact. For me it’s important to eat food that I really enjoy (both preparing and tasting). I wouldn’t eat something that is terrible for my health just because it’s really tasty, but I also wouldn’t eat something plane jane or ugly just because it suppose to be healthy. Food for me is something that should be enjoyed and celebrated – it’s one of the great joys of life. You won’t ever find me getting obsessed over balancing the minute ratios of macro nutrients or calorie counting – I pay attention to my body and do the best I can. The shifting winds of science are blowing this way one year and in the opposite direction the next – it can make you crazy if you let it. I don’t. I try to keep it simple and basic and most of all tasty. Do what works for you :) Click here to see my food photo journal.

As part of my 2 month challenge I wanted to really start to share with you some of the actual recipes and foods that I am preparing and eating each day. I think that it is important that you guys get to see first hand the types of meals and snacks that I am preparing at home so you can get a good sense about the food and grocery choices that I am making. All of my recipes are quick and easy to make, and they tend to have only a few basic ingredients. We keep our grocery shopping very simple, and we spend 95% of our time in the produce section. I believe that keeping it simple is absolutely key. Cut out as much of the garbage as possible and focus your choices down on foods that support your health and fitness goals.

The meals that I prepare at home are vegetarian. That is what is working for us – you guys can always modify and experiment with adding the meat of your choice (although I wouldn’t advise adding meat to todays recipe – haha). As I have mentioned in other videos, Freddy eats veggie at home and makes the choice to eat meat or not when we eat out. He estimates that this approach has cut down his meat consumption by about 90% a decision that he feels pretty good about for a whole host of reasons.

Today’s recipe is a snack that I just absolutely love. It’s quick, easy and tastes INCREDIBLE. We eat all kinds of different snacks, and I will be sharing them with you as the weeks go by. We are really enjoying making these diet videos, and I hope you guys are enjoying the recipes :)

Just a quick note – for today’s recipe important to pick the right bread. The bread we buy in our local bakery is like some kind of magic delicacy – the mere smell of it makes me go weak in the knees. I actually nicknamed it “cake” even tho it is a regular whole wheat loaf. So for this recipe see if you can go out of your way and pick up some magic bread of your own. While I am giving away extra tips here, I should also mention that the apple is pretty damn key as well. Make sure it is the best darn apple you can find. I know people tend to grate older apples that they don’t want to bite into, but this is not the way to go with this snack. Pick an apple that is sweet, crispy and crunchy. Sniff your apples in the grocery store. Try to bite it when no one is looking and if it’s not up to scratch then quickly put it back on the shelf before anyone sees you. That’s what we do. Ok I’m totally kidding about the last part but it made you think about it no? :)

Enjoy your snack and let me know if you have any ideas about making it even more tasty.

Best,

Zuzana & Freddy

We have been sharing our workouts with you and now we want to start sharing what we are actually eating on a daily basis so that you can get a handle on the types of food choices we make. We want to put this out there so that you guys can start to follow along at home as part of our 2 month SUS (shape up for Spain) challenge. We are not trying to be obsessive when it comes to our diet – what we are trying to do is establish some basic eating habits. This is what we will eat during our typical day from the time we wake up:

7.30 am Breakfast – Fresh Fruit

10.30 am Snack #1

1.30 pm Lunch – Salad

4.30 pm Snack #2

7.30 pm Dinner – Home Cooked Meal

We usually go to sleep around 12am so if I get hungry after my dinner, I will have a very light snack. Drinking enough water is also important so I will try to do my best.

We will be sharing all of the recipes and types of snacks that we eat during the next 2 month. One of our main goals is to avoid processed food as much as possible. I do realize that this won’t be always possible and I really don’t want to be too obsessive. It is important to stay sane when you are establishing some basic rules in your diet.

Today I have a super tasty and healthy recipe for you. This recipe is so simple to make that even someone  with zero experience in the kitchen will be able to prepare it. We had it for dinner tonight and we both loved it. These are the ingredients:

3 large portobello mushrooms

8 garlic cloves

2 green bell peppers

Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Balsamic Vinegar

Black pepper

Salt

Pasta

1) Cut the mushrooms into pieces about the size of your thumb

2) Peal and chop 5 garlic cloves into small pieces

3) Heat about 3 table spoons of olive oil in a large skillet over low heat. Add the mushrooms and garlic. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender.

4)  Cut the bell peppers into similar size pieces as the mushrooms and add them into the skillet. Add a little bit of salt and black pepper.

5) Chop the rest of the garlic into small pieces and set it aside.

6) Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil, then add the pasta and cook according to the package directions.

7) About 5 minutes before the pasta is cooked, add the remaining garlic into the skillet of mushrooms and about 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Mix well and cover with the pot lid.

8) Drain the past when it’s ready and add it into the skillet. Mix all the ingredients together and then serve immediately.

9) Grate fresh Parmigiano cheese over your portion.

Enjoy your dinner and let me know how you liked it. The step by step video recipe will be up tomorrow so check back for that.

Best,

Zuzana.

P.S. For day 2 of my SUS challenge I did one of my older workout routines: 18 Minute S&M Workout

It’s been a while since I have shared a recipe with you so I thought that I would start with this one. It’s absolutely delicious and really fast and easy to prepare. As always I like to cook with very simple ingredients and turn them into something light and tasty. Freddy and I really enjoyed this for our dinner, but I think it would work equally well for lunch.

Before I give you the break down of the recipe I just wanted to share that we have started a new eating routine – it’s something that we started when we got back from our trip to Italy. We have fruit for breakfast, salad for lunch and a home cooked meal for supper. Sometimes I reverse this a little bit and cook for lunch, but this is the basic pattern that we have been following. Of course we have snacks in between the main meals, so we are still eating 5-6 times per day. I am going to be sharing more of our actual meals with you guys here in the form of these recipe videos so that you can give our meals a try at home.

The video gives you a pretty good overview of how this recipe comes together, and here is the step by step guide and ingredient list:

2 or 3 red skin potatoes

1 root parsley

1 root celery ( I used turnip as a last minute substitute which gave the recipe a completely different flavour – I could not find a root celery in the local supermarkets)

2 large carrots

1 to 3 thin slices of lemon

1 stem of fresh Rosemary

1 can of chick peas

1 large onion

sea salt

3 bay leaves

black pepper

chilli powder

basmati rice

1. Peal the potatoes, cut them in quarters and boil them.

2. While the potatoes are boiling, grate the carrots, root parsley and root celery into a bowl.

3. Peal and chop the onion.

4. Heat up 2 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil in a big pot and then add the grated vegetables. Saute the veggies on a low heat for about 5 minutes. Add about 2 glasses of water, bay leaves, lemon slices, and rosemary. Boil the vegetables until they are completely soft.

5. On a small skillet heat up about 1 table spoon of extra virgin olive oil. Add the chopped onion and saute it for about 3 minutes. Add the boiled potatoes and keep stirring until the onions start to get slightly brown. Puree the potatoes and onions in a blender with 1/4 of teaspoon of chilli powder, and a pinch of black pepper. Salt to taste.

6. When the vegetables are soft, remove the lemon slices, bay leaves and rosemary stem.

7. Mix the potato puree into the veggies and add the chickpeas. Mix it all well and taste it. I found it a little too sour so I sweetened it with brown sugar that I melted first on a skillet.

8. Switch off the heat and have the sauce sit while you boil the basmati rice.

We had some left overs and I must say that the sauce was even better the next day.

As always you can taste as you go and modify the recipe to your liking, and if you have any ideas about how to make this more tasty please share in the comments below.

I hope that you enjoy this recipe,

Zuzana

P.S.

Today I did one of my older workout routines - STEREO LOVE WORKOUT

I will be back tomorrow with a completely NEW workout routine.

These are the ingredients that you will need:

1 average size brocolli

1 leek

1 slice of pineapple (about 2 cm high)

3 cloves of garlic

Fresh Ginger – cut 3 small pieces to match the amount of garlic

1 can of Chickpeas

1 large onion

4 tbsp of Olive Oil

Spice:

3 tbsp of Mustard Seeds

1 dried chilli pepper

1 tsp of Ground Cumin

1 tbsp of Corriander Seeds

1 tsp of Turmeric Powder

2 cloves

1 piece of Cinnamon Bark (about 2 cm) or 1 tsp of Ground Cinnamon

2 Bay Leaves

salt

3 tsp of Brown Sugar

2 – 3 tbsp of Lime Juice

Side Dish:

Indian Basmati Rice

Step by step guide:

1) Cut the broccoli and leek in small pieces and set them aside in a bowl. Start boiling water for the rice.

2) Chop the onion, garlic and ginger into smaller parts and grind them in a food processor or a blender.

3) Add cumin, coriander, cloves, chilli pepper, and cinnamon to the blender and make a smoothie.

4) Heat the oil in a bigger pot and fry the mustard seeds until they start getting slightly brown.

5) Mix in the onion smoothie and fry for a little bit longer.

6) Lower the heat and add bay leaves, turmeric, broccoli and leek.

7) Fry the mixture over medium heat until the broccoli is half cooked.

8) Add the chopped pineapple, 1 1/2 cup of water and chickpeas in with the broccoli. Mix it well and cover with a lid. Cook over a low heat until the veggies are cooked.

9) You will have to taste it and adjust the flavour by adding salt, sugar, and/or lime juice.

The whole process shouldn’t take longer than 30 minutes. I hope that you will enjoy this meal and if you come up with an idea how to make this dish even better, please share in the comments below.

I will also appreciate any of your own indian recipes that you have tried, because I really like this type of food very much, but I don’t have much experience with Indian cuisine.

Enjoy your dinner,

Zuzana.

1 large onion

5 shallots

1 leek

4 stalks of celery

2 large potatoes

2 handfulls of chopped mushrooms

1 handful of chopped baby carrots

1 table spoon of olive oil

Chop all of the ingredients into a large pot with water. Add a spoon of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of oregano, 1/2 teaspoon of basil, 1/2 teaspoon of rosemary and a little bit of salt. When the vegetable is cooked, mix in about 2 to 3 handfuls of rolled oats (depending on how thick you like your soup), 3 to 4 egg whites, and the last ingredient is garlic – one of my most favourite ingredients:) I used 4 cloves to make this pot. It is important to test the flavour frequently and add the spices according to your own taste.

I promise that for the next time I will come up with something a little bit  more exciting and special ;) If you have any ideas or variations for this recipe please share them with everyone in the comments below.

Enjoy your soup.

Today we went for dinner Freddy’s dad. In case you forgot, today is father’s day :)  We took the camera with us just to show you what we eat when we go to a restaurant and give you a little update on our diet approach. Almost 2 weeks ago Freddy and I decided that we were going to try a vegetarian diet. Frederick realized that this diet approach was not for him after just a day or two, and decided instead that he would rather cut down on his meat consumption instead of giving it up completely. He has eaten chicken and fish while completely avoiding beef and pork. I on the other hand have had no cravings for meat like chicken, pork or beef. The only meat that I have had since starting this experiment is salmon (and just a tiny piece), but I guess that this counts :) I must admit that I don’t really want to give up on fish completely, but as I said in the video, I want to find out for myself if giving up on meat will have some positive impact. So far I have been enjoying eating a lot of salads, veggie soups, fruits, nuts and grains. I stick to my new diet rules even when we go to our favourite restaurant. They have an amazing greek salad with fresh vegetables and dressing from olive oil and vinegar which leaves me completely satisfied. I don’t  know why, but summer is always the time when I enjoy eating salads the most, so if you have some great salad recipes, feel free to share them with us in the comments below. That’s it for now – we just wanted to give you guys a quick update.

Best,

Zuzana

This is the third day of my 5 day workout challenge. I did my workout for today, but because we are behind with the video it won’t be up until tomorrow. I thought that I would at least share with you some news about our diet.

Lately I have been eating a lot more fruits and veggies and less meat. I noticed that I have become leaner and slimmer over the past few weeks. I feel lighter, and I seem to have more energy. Yesterday, Amanda sent us a link to the video that we have embedded above. Both Freddy and I were intrigued, so we took an hour out and watched it. The video and the information presented in it really made us take a hard look at our own approach to what we eat. I guess you can say that we have been flirting with the idea of becoming Vegetarians, and this video really gave us the shove that we needed to fully commit. Before watching this video neither Freddy or I could really imagine giving up meat completely. This video presents some very basic health information, and when we looked at it from the perspective of our health, the environment and our lifestyle it just all came together and made sense. This is going to be a huge transition for us, but we are going to give it a try. We are both really looking forward to seeing and experiencing all of the positive changes that will occur with this new diet and lifestyle approach. If you guys have any of your own experiences with this transition from omnivore to vegetarian we would love to hear your stories. We will be sure to keep you updated with our progress and you can look out for the new recipes that we discover along the way.

Best,

Zuzana & Frederick

P.S.

A big thanks to Amanda for sharing this video with us :)

Since I mentioned that I have a healthier version of Butter Chicken you guys have been asking me to share the recipe here on the site. If you have ever been to a good Indian restaurant you must know how delicious Butter Chicken is :) At the restaurant they make it with butter and cream, my version gets you pretty close to the authentic taste, but keeps it light and way less fatty. Freddy actually introduced me to this dish in Canada at this incredible Indian restaurant in Kingston, and it has been a favorite of ours ever since. Here is the recipe, and I hope that you will enjoy it as much as we did.

Best,

Zuzana.

These are the ingredients that I used in my recipe:

600g of chicken breasts, 6 onions, 3 tomatoes, one big white yogurt, 1 full cup of coconut, fresh ginger, fresh lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, half a cup of keshu, peanuts, or almonds, nutmeg, bay leaf, curry powder, and chili pepper. You might also need a little bit of milk and sweet paprika.

First of all chop all of the onions. What helps keep me from crying when I am chopping the onions is chewing a gum. I still had some tears, but not nearly as much as if I didn’t have the gum.

Put 3 of the onions in the pot and the rest of them in the frying pan.

Squish / press 3 garlic cloves and grate one small piece of ginger.

Mix it together and add one small teaspoon of chili paprika, 1 small teaspoon of nutmeg and one bay leaf.

Saute the onions in the pot. Use about 2 to 3 table spoons of olive oil.

Chop the tomatoes.

When the onions get softer, sprinkle them with 2 tablespoons of curry powder, then add the garlic/ginger paste and tomatoes into the pot and stir until the tomatoes get soft.

When the tomatoes are soft, you can add the nuts and yogurt.

Now add one cup of coconut, mix it well and taste the sauce. On the video, you can see that I added the lemon juice at the beginning. It’s a much better idea to add the lemon juice as the last ingredient, because like this you can easily adjust the taste. If you find your sauce too sour, you can add a little bit of milk and sweet paprika to make it sweeter.

While the sauce is sitting on a low heat, you can chop the meat and cook it on the frying pan with the rest of the onions. When the chicken and onions are done, you mix it with the sauce.

We had burgol as a side dish and it was really delicious.