Blog Entry 8.19

Food Tip: Get Rid of Your Plates

You are overweight because you eat too much. Sounds harsh? But it’s true. So make all the justifications you want, you just eat too much. It’s not your fault. Your mother ( if she was a good mother and not Octomom) told you to finish your meals. It was inbred in you. So blame your mother. Its her fault.

Ok…I am kidding and love you Mom (she reads this you know). The problem is not Oedipal but it is in you portion size. Here is the trick. Get rid of your dinner plates. They are too big and you should never eat a meal on a dinner plate because there is just too much room on them. Keep them for holidays. For every day meals, switch to a stylish salad plate. This will hold the correct amount of food for one sitting. Plus it gives you a justification to go shopping.

Fitness Tip: Rest.
So here is a tip. Make sure you do not overtrain when it comes to strength-training. I cannot tell you how many people I see doing the same workout everyday. It pains me to no end. Plus, its boring watching you. I mean if I have to spend forty hours in a gym I need another channel to watch if you know what I mean.

So in fit expert terms, never work the same muscle group two days in a row. In fact, if you are working your upper body one day, work your lower body the next day. Rest is where muscle is built. Your body needs at least twenty-four hours to recover from strength-training. If you overtrain your muscles, your body will be in a constant state of recovery and will never repair and grow muscle (which is the key to loosing a few). Just because you know a routine does not mean it is good to repeat it. If you need some diversity, hire me.

Recipe: Moroccan-Inspired Flank Steak Over Smashed Cannellini Beans
(Btw my recipes serve three people because between my hubby and me, we will always have a friend come over….normally hungry and often, empty-handed)
Ok so If you want mashed potatoes but can’t justify the calories and starch, here is a high-fiber way to eat them!.
2 cans Cannellini Beans
1 tbsp Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp rosemary dried
1 tsp chili flake
Add olive oil to pan on low heat. Add chili flake, garlic and rosemary. Get the garlic slightly brown and add one can cannellini beans drained and one can with liquid. Turn up the heat to medium and cook down for ten minutes or until beans are slightly mushy. Take a slotted spoon and mash the beans so they are slightly lumpy. It looks like masked potatoes, but its got good protein, high-fiber and they can certainly replace potatoes.

Steak:
Ah, here is the rub (to quote Hamlet‘s soliloquy)
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp chili flake
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried rosemary
6 or so peppercorns
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt
Place in coffee grinder, a food processor or a Magic Bullet is for are lucky like me. (Ok a blender will do, so will a bowl and some elbow grease.)
　
Take a two pound Flank Steak. Remove the excess fat (there should not be much!) Apply the rub and have sit in refrigerator for four hours or more. Off to the grill! Cook to your favorite temperature, Let rest for a few minutes to redistribute the juices, serve with side of beans!