Healthy Food Subsititutions

A question I receive often in my coaching business is do I really have to give that up?! This could be referring to breads, pastas, alcohol, desserts, or anything for that matter! Change is hard, often times there are a lot of misconceptions with healthy eating and healthy food substitutions. Eating a smaller portion of something that is not healthy, will not get you results or help your overall health. You must eat the correct portion size of a healthy food. 

I am going to share with you a list of food substitutions to make when cooking or to make your every day meals a little healthier.

Ingredient/food:                                               Substitute:

1. Alcohol                                                             Red Wine
2. Rice                                                                   Quinoa
3. Mayo, Sour Cream                                        Plain Greek Yogurt
4. Bread Crumbs                                                Rolled Oats
5. Butter/Vegetable or Canola Oil               Coconut Oil (cooking) or Applesauce (baking)
6. Potato                                                              Sweet Potato
7. Milk                                                                 Almond Milk
8. Salt                                                                   Sea Salt
9. Bread/Wraps                                                 Whole Grain bread/tortilla or Corn Tortilla
10. Ground Beef                                                   Turkey Meat
11. Salad Dressing                                               Oil and Vinegar
12. Sugar                                                               Pure cane sugar or Truvia
13. Flour                                                                Wheat, almond, or coconut flour
14. Pizza Crust                                                      Cauliflower crust
15. Mashed Potatoes                                           Mashed cauliflower
16. Pasta                                                                Spaghetti Squash
17. Syrup                                                               Honey or Pure Maple Syrup
18. Bacon                                                               Turkey Bacon
19. Peanut Butter                                                 Almond Butter or PB2
20. Fruit Juices                                                     Water with fruit
21. French Fries                                                    Sweet Potato Fries
22. Chocolate                                                         Chocolate with 70% or higher cocoa

There are so many easy food substitutions that can be made in the kitchen to help you begin making the change to a healthier lifestyle. These are some of them, but there are so many more you could do! If you are interested in learning more about healthy eating, portion control, and meal planning I would love to chat and help you!

My next online health and fitness groups kicks off soon! Fill out the application below or email me to get more information, healthy eating tips, and to join me! 

Crockpot Chicken Fajita

We love going out to eat at Mexican restaurants, but a few chips and drinks later, I have completely ruined all my progress for the week! Of course we treat ourselves occasionally, this is a cheaper and much healthier alternative!! 

Simple, easy, and healthy this is how I love dinners around our house. Throw all the ingredients together in the morning, turn the crockpot on, and wallah dinner is done!!

Finished product!

Ingredients: 
- 2 lbs. boneless chicken
- 1 can petite diced tomatoes (make sure there is no sugar added)
- 1 red, orange, and green bell pepper
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large yellow onion
- 2.5 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 3/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 tbsp honey

Directions:
- Pour half the can of tomatoes into the bottom and spread into an even layer. Top with half of the peppers and half of the onions. Sprinkle garlic in and then top with chicken.
- In a bowl whisk together chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle half on top of chicken, flip chicken and sprinkle the remainder on. Top with the rest of the tomatoes, peppers, and onion.
- Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low heat for 6 hours. Make sure the chicken is cooked all the way through before serving.
- My chicken shredded itself in the crockpot!!
- Empty out some of the excess juice in the crockpot. Warm up the honey and lime juice mixture then add into crockpot, stir! 
- Ready to serve!

Serve with whole wheat or corn tortillas. I added plain greek yogurt (sour cream substitute) and homemade guacamole on top of mine! Enjoy this healthy Mexican dinner with the whole family!

Free 7 Day Clean Eating Group

It is the season of Thanksgiving and giving back to others. I wanted to give the opportunity to my followers, friends and family to learn healthy eating habits. I have decided to offer a FREE 7 day clean eating group, so many people have said they do not where to start with clean eating or the basics of it.

My life changed when I started clean eating, portion control, and Beachbody programs. I was going to the gym and eating "healthy" so I thought. When I truly began to transform was when I understood clean eating and what I was putting into my body.

Trust me, it is hard to make a lifestyle change, to truly be honest with yourself about what you are eating and how you are treating yourself. It was hard to get rid of my overload of coffee creamer, excessive amounts of peanut butter, and snacks!! But in time and with the desire to change...you can do it! I have found recipes and foods that work for the whole family! I am not deprived of anything, rather I found the healthier versions of everything!

The book that changed it all for me and helped me truly understand what I was putting into my body is called 'The Perfect 10 Diet' by Michael Aziz. I preach not being on diet, and this is not a diet book. It has steps for cutting out the bad food in our lives and tells us what to put into your body to properly nourish it. This book completely changed the way I look at food! 

I would like to help you get started with the process by giving you a 7 day meal plan, grocery list, daily accountability and motivation!

Requirements to join:

1) Make me your official beachbody coach and create a FREE account. This allows me to send you meal plans, tips, grocery lists, and motivation!

2) Participate in the private online group

3) Invite others to join you! We all love having someone to do things with, what better way to start something new than with a friend or two! You are more likely to stick with it when others around you are joining in!

What do get when you join?

1) 7 day meal plan

2) grocery list

3) daily tips 

4) a place to check in, ask questions, and get support

5) strategies to handle life and how to stay on track

Are you ready to get started? The group will kick off Monday November 9th, so reserve your spot today!

Email me at asoderberg32@gmail.com, send me a message on my facebook page www.facebook.com/ansoderberg or fill out the application below to enroll in the free group!

Baked Ziti

We love pasta in our household even the little guy loves it! But honestly, who doesn't love carbs?!? I have made this recipe a few times for dinner and it is now a favorite. This recipe is simple, clean and 21 day fix approved. All of the musts in our kitchen!

Finished Baked Ziti Dish

Ingredients:
-1 box of whole wheat pasta
-1 red (3/4 c.) container Ricotta Cheese 
-1 jar natural/clean tomato sauce
-1/2 lb. lean ground turkey
-1/2 c. shredded cheese
-1 tsp balsamic vinegar
-1 tsp honey (I do not add honey since I give it to my little guy)
-1 tbsp of each: garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, oregano, basil, parsley, and black pepper

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350
-Cook the noodles until done. While cooking the pasta, brown the turkey meat. Drain both the noodles and meat when finished.
-In a large bowl combine the ricotta, pasta sauce, honey, all the seasonings, turkey meat (cooked), noodles (cooked). Stir until ingredients are mixed well. 
- Spray 13x9 baking pan with cooking spray of choice. Pour mixture into pan and sprinkle shredded cheese on top. 
-Bake on 350 for 20 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.

Makes 6-8 Servings (Use your Green (1 c.) container to measure your portion size.)

If you are following the 21 Day Fix program, per serving: 1 Yellow, 1 Red, 1 Green, 1 Blue

Enjoy!

Turkey Meatballs

One of our favorite dinner recipes that the whole family loves! These are easy to make and great to have as leftovers throughout the week. This recipe is 21 day fix approved and clean! For the 21 day fix or fix extreme you can eat 5 meatballs for 1 protein (red) serving and 1/2 (carb) yellow serving.

Turkey Meatball Recipe:

Ingredients:

* Nonstick cooking spray

* 1 1/2 lbs. raw 93% lean ground turkey  breast

* 1 tsp. sea salt

* 1 tsp. dry mustard

* 1 tsp. smoked paprika

* 1 large egg, lightly beaten

* 3/4 cup quick cooking rolled oats

* 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (I used minced garlic)

* 12 fresh parsley springs, finely chopped

* 2 Tbsp. tomato sauce, no sugar added

Directions:

*Preheat oven to 400 degree F.

*Lightly coat large baking sheet with spray and set aside.

*Combine turkey, salt, mustard, paprika, egg, oats, garlic, parsley, and tomato sauce in a large bowl and mix well by hand.  

*Roll mixture into 30 1-inch meatballs and place on the prepared baking sheet.

*Bake for about 20 minutes or until they are no longer pink in the middle. 

If wanting spaghetti and meatballs make sure to use whole grain noodles. These can also be easily stored in the freezer for future use! Enjoy!

My health journey

Happy Wednesday!

I wanted to start a blog to share my fitness journey and hopefully inspire/help others along the way!

I started my fitness journey 4 months after having my sweet baby boy Krayton. I was uncomfortable in my own skin and did not have any self confidence whatsoever. I was fit before my baby, worked out every morning before work and ate relatively "healthy" or so I thought. After having Krayton I tried going to the gym, I tried counting calories, I tried eating healthy and I was running out of options to lose the extra baby weight. I did not want to go to the gym for an hour or more each day and spend less time at home with my husband and baby. So what was I going to do??

I was sitting on facebook scrolling aimlessly when I stumbled upon a friends post about the 21 day fix. Curious I messaged her and thought to myself could this at-home workout/nurtrition really work? NO WAY! But there was a little voice inside my head telling me to give it a shot. I ordered the 21 day fix and never looked back once I started the program. 

       

       

The program consist of 30 minute workouts with a different workout for each day, portion control containers, eating guide and shakeolgy. When I got the portion control containers I thought to myself I am going to starve!! I was wrong again...this was more than enough food and I had been doing it wrong all along! It takes the guess work out of losing weight and makes meal planning/eating so easy. And shakeology is simply amazing and my favorite meal of the day (we will save my love for it for another post)! I went full force with this program for 21 days and my results blew me away! 

I have continued with the 21 day fix nutrition and have tried out Insanity Max:30 and 21 day fix extreme from Beachbody. I have loved every single program and have continued to lose weight and tone up. Since starting the programs in November I have lost a total of 18 lbs and 11 inches! I am lower than my pre-baby weight, more toned, and feel better! I will continue to eat clean and do at home workouts. There is no turning back for this momma!

Left picture: 4 months post baby. Right picture: 9 months post baby

Don't let anyone tell you that you can't have your pre-baby body back or that you can't get fit! We all start somewhere and if we want to change we can make it happen. Are you ready for a change?

 If you want more information or want to join my next challenge group check out my page or email me!