Author Archives: jparker

Motivation Monday – An Against The Grain Look

I’m going to go against the grain a bit on “Motivation Monday”. Motivation Monday, a common motivational approach to getting people to get into a habit of working out, eating healthier, or in general to break bad trends. Like a New Years resolution, I feel with many people, Motivation Monday is almost like a fad start to something, which is why you hear about so many people falling off their resolution band wagons. If you focus on a start of a week approach, you’ve compartmentalized your focus to a week, and may find yourself fighting to stay on track for the rest of the week. It can become cyclical, every Monday picking yourself up for the previous week where you slid a bit.

Try looking at your overall health and nutritional goals as a life experience, not bound by a calendar, or a scale, or any other mental restriction. Being healthy is something you should strive for everyday, for life (thus the term Healthy Lifestyle). Dedicating yourself to anything, whether it be your health, or your work, or anything else, requires some tough mental work to be successful. The key is to continue to train yourself mentally with your approach, until that magical moment in time when whatever you are working at flips from being a chore to being a regular part of your daily routine. It took me over 5 years of continually working at this approach with regards to my health, but it’s been now 20 years where exercising (and more recently smart nutrition) has become something I barely have to think about anymore. It’s almost as if I’m on auto pilot, and that’s because I understood that the healthy lifestyle has no end point (well, until the ultimate end point of my life). I will sound repetitive, but my mantra is if you live the healthy lifestyle, your body will follow.

If you’re looking for motivation and inspiration to get yourself out of a rut, or to lose some weight, or just to generally feel better, try to look at the bigger picture. Sit back and take a more patient approach, and begin to piece together your healthy lifestyle one day at a time. Don’t be discouraged if a date on a calendar passes and you didn’t reach a weight you set for yourself (that’s just a number). The key is to be able to look in the rear view mirror and see that you continue to push yourself each day to exercise and eat healthy. There will be blips. Your chart of progress will probably look like the stock market (ups and downs), but over a length of time as long as the trend is up, that’s all that really matters.

Hummus Recipe

I always have Hummus in the house. I use it as a dip when snacking on carrots and other vegetables, or as a spread on sandwiches. I was almost out of Hummus, and I remembered I had purchased some garbanzo beans a while back. So I asked my wife if she knew how to make Hummus – a stupid question to ask the manager of a high school kitchen 🙂 . She made it, and I like it better than any store bought one I’ve ever had. Looks like from now on only homemade Hummus in my household.

Here is her recipe:

  • 2 cans garbanzo beans (chick peas)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon peanut butter, I use PB2 powder (dry)
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder.

You need a really good mixer or food processor to blend the ingredients. We have the HealthMaster Elite blender which makes the Hummus nice and smooth (we also have a Ninja blender, but the HealthMaster does a far better job of blending smooth). Refrigerate right away. Lasts in refrigerator for up to 1 1/2 weeks. Delicious on sandwiches or as dip. And just like the Sabra or Joseph’s brands found in a supermarket, you can add things like roasted red pepper, garlic, etc. to change the flavor profile.

Making Your Meal – Be Adventurous

Call me the “wing it” cook. I don’t follow recipe books, nor do I watch cooking shows to learn. One day I probably will (and should) do the aforementioned in order to get a true understanding of seasonings and various cooking methods in order to take my healthy food preparation to a whole new level.

The other night for dinner I didn’t feel like cooking one of my standard 3-course meals (fish/meat/chicken; sweet potato/rice; vegetables). So I opened up the freezer and refrigerator and winged it by just grabbing some “stuff”.

  • Honey Grain Bagel – untoasted
  • Turkey (I cook whole turkeys and freeze the meat)
  • Sliced onion
  • Avocado
  • Sliced Tomato
  • Sprinkling of the Hormel real bacon bits
  • Fresh basil from the garden (I take no credit – my wife does 100% of the vegetable and herb garden)
  • For the spreads – Tzatziki (mayo replacement), garlic hummus, spicy mustard
  • Side of steamed asparagus topped with parmesan cheese

Simple to whip up, and it was tasty & filling.20130722_195512

You end up with some unique tastes when you just whip things together without over thinking the preparation process.

Give it a try – be creative.

A Chocoholics Excuse To Eat Chocolate – It’s Healthy?

OK, there are some caveats to the whole “chocolate is healthy” comment, but in fact it’s true.

We’re talking dark chocolate here (not milk or white), and from what I’ve read the chocolate should have a minimum of 70% cacao content, and in several readings I’ve seen this number be even higher.

Back in 2003, WebMD had an article relating to the health benefits of dark chocolate: http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20030827/dark-chocolate-is-healthy-chocolate. Here’s just another example of an article highlighting dark chocolate’s benefits: http://dralexrinehart.com/nutrition-benefits/health-benefits-of-dark-chocolate/. Daily calorie intake needs to be considered, and also it’s not a license to “pig out”. Moderation is the key with any food, more so with sweets/chocolate. If you eat too much, you won’t leave room for more healthier and nutritious snacks such as fruits and vegetables.

Some of the benefits of dark chocolate I’ve run across as mentioned in these and other articles: controls blood sugar, full of antioxidants, high in vitamins & minerals (such as iron, potassium, copper, magnesium) which can help prevent cardiovascular ailments such as a stroke, helps stop food cravings, been shown to reduce stress, good for the brain….the list goes on. The key element in dark chocolate is flavonoids, but because it’s bitter, what you find on store shelves is usually processed to reduce the bitterness. For my daily snack/meal replacement shake (Shakeology), I add one tablespoon of natural unsweetened cacao powder to further accent the chocolate shake a little more. The higher the % of cacao content, the lower the amount of sugar.

Here’s a story about chocolate:http://www.thestoryofchocolate.com/index.cfm .

So this is why I always keep dark chocolate in the house. Sure I sometimes I have to fight the urge to over-indulge, but I have a small amount almost everyday to satisfy my sweet tooth, and reap the benefits dark chocolate has to offer. It’s a win-win in my book.

Chocolate