No Pasta Salad Recipe

We’re all about taking a traditional dish and making a healthy twist to it. This pasta dish, made with zucchini squash, allows you to enjoy the traditional flavors that a pasta salad brings, without the guilt. Make it for a BBQ or as a main dish – add in some chicken or fish to get protein.

Ingredients

  • 1 medium zucchini squash
  • 1 medium yellow squash
  • 1 can black olives
  • 1/2 can garbanzo beans
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Directions

What Causes Food Cravings?

Put your food cravings to an end.

Many of us have commented that we have an intense, urgent or abnormal desire for a particular food. A study in The Journal of Nutrition found that 97 percent of women and 67 percent of men reported episodes of food cravings. Scientists have looked at what foods people desire and tried to unravel why it is we crave particular foods. Is the desire driven by actual physical needs – I’m low on iron so I crave a steak? Or, is a particular food lust all in our head?

Rewards, the Brain and…Read More »

The Top 5 Most Addictive Fat-Storing Foods

Have you ever felt that certain foods have control over you? You crave these foods.

University of Michigan designed two studies to examine which foods were deemed most addictive. The first study involved 120 undergraduate students. Participants in this group had a mean age of 19 and varied in age from 18 to 23. Students used a self-reporting tool that examined addictive-like eating behaviors through a series of questions and the foods associated with those behaviors.

For example, one question was, “Over time, I have found that I need to eat more and more of certain foods to get the…Read More »

Low-Carb Alcohol Choices: Fact or Fiction

Let’s cut to the chase, alcohol plays a big role in your weight.

People that want to follow a low-carb diet are often told to drink red wine or spirits (vodka, whiskey, rum, bourbon or tequila) and soda water instead of beer. They are told to drink wine and spirits because beer has so many carbs. Let’s look at this party question a little closer.

Low-Carb Alcohol Choices

A good place to start is to take a look at the nutrient profile of beer. A single bottle of craft brew, Odell’s 90 Shilling, contains 160 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0…Read More »

Do You Need a Sports Drink As Summer Heats Up?

If you are a person interested in losing some weight, would you think it’s a good idea to mix up a glass of sugar water and drink it to quench your thirst? Of course not.

I’m certain you are thinking, “That’s ridiculous! One of the easiest ways to add unwanted inches to your waistline is to drink sugar water.”

That is precisely what a sport drink is: sugar water.

Unfortunately, many people have the misunderstanding that sport drinks are necessary for survival in hot weather or when any kind of physical activity is taking place. For the majority of people, most of…Read More »

Mother’s Day Breakfast: Sausage, Egg Whites and Greens

This prep-ahead breakfast bake is perfect for Mother’s Day brunch. All of the prep work can be done the day before, which allows more time to enjoy activities with mom.

The first time that my husband Del was doing the preparation for this breakfast bake I have to admit I turned up my nose. I had a bad attitude about eating leeks for breakfast. Somehow leeks didn’t seem like breakfast food. I am happy to admit that this dish is now one of my favorites. I think it’s good for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It saves well in the fridge,…Read More »

Metabolism-Boosting Meal in 30 Minutes

At the end of a busy day, I want to eat a healthy meal – and I don’t want to spend two hours preparing it. By keeping carbohydrates restricted at dinner time, as you’ve learned in the book, I can boost my body’s Fat-Burning metabolism. My go-to dinner is Gale’s Health Salad and Easy Oven Salmon. I use the easy salad dressing found in the Health Salad recipe or Danielle’s fantastic Lemon Dressing.

Give it a try and let me your favorite seasoning to use on the salmon. Do you have a favorite Fat-Burning Machine recipe? Send it our way;…Read More »

April Fools! 3 Foods You Think are Healthy – But are Not

We’ve been conditioned to think that particular foods are “healthy” due to wording on the label. Some of our beliefs about labeling might be misleading us into eating foods that are not healthy for us, when we thought the opposite.

In this column, I’ll give you 3 foods you might think are healthy – but they’re not. I’ll call out particular brands, but I want you to know that the brand is called out as one example of many. Focus less on the brand and more on the information you glean from the examples.

Dannon® Light & Fit Greek Yogurt, 80…Read More »

5 Tips on How to Regain Control of Your Eating

For most people who have become successful Fat-Burning Machines, the occasional out-of-bounds meal or snack is not a problem. What I mean by “occasional” is about once per week. These successful Fat-Burners simply get back to their routine at the next meal and no harm has been done.

The real trouble often comes when there is a weeklong departure from your proven Fat-Burning habits… often caused by a business trip or vacation. One slipped meal turns into two, then three, and before you know it you’re returning to the old bad behaviors that made you heavy in the first place. Ugh.

I…Read More »

What Diet is Best: Low Carb or Low Fat?

Most people begin a new diet to lose weight. Some also want to improve their health. So which diet is more effective at weight loss and improving health, a low-carb or a low-fat diet?

In a research study published in the 2014 Annals of Internal Medicine, scientists looked at the effects of a low-carbohydrate diet — compared to a low-fat diet — on body weight and cardiovascular risk factors. What they found is that the low-carbohydrate diet was better for weight loss and it reduced cardiovascular risk factors.

This is great news for those who follow the principles outlined in Become a…Read More »