Snack of the Week

Snack Time!!!

Can't Wait for Snack Time!

HERE IS THE TRICK ONLY EAT ONE…ALTHOUGH IT MAYBE A BETTER QUALITY CALORIE. ALL IT TAKES IS 4tsp AND 2 RICE CAKES TO MAKE THIS SNACK A 500 CAL DISASTER

Sardines...Don't Laugh!

Ok … I’ve been grinding the scale is not moving but I AM IN THE LAB. I worked on an anabolic diet and lost 12 pounds but after my refeed of carbs I went back to 6 pounds lost. Now Im 2 days on and 1 day off. I’ll update you in a couple of weeks.

So, I pack my meals in advance (Sundays) in order to prevent slip ups. One of  the more interesting items in my lunch bag are sardines. My wife was shocked, calling them the poor mans fish. She wasnt the only one…co workers, family and even my little daughter is looking at me funny. A little high on the fat and sodium side but a nice change in pace.

I know a lot of you have strong feelings about sardines, but want to know why I love them? Google it!

Sardines (Pacific, wild-caught) are one of the healthiest foods we can consume, according to the health and environmental experts we interviewed for “Sea Change” in our latest issue of EatingWell magazine. These days so many of us are trying to get more omega-3 fats in their diet, because they benefit your heart and your brain. Click here for delicious recipes to help you eat more of these super-healthy omega-3 fats. These nutritional powerhouses are one of the best sources of omega-3 fats, with a whopping 1,950 mg/per 3 oz. (that’s more per serving than salmon, tuna or just about any other food) and they’re packed with vitamin D. And because sardines are small and low on the food chain, they don’t harbor lots of toxins like bigger fish can. Find out why leading scientist Carl Safina thinks eating smaller fish can benefit your health and our oceans. Plus, they’re also one of the most sustainable fish around. Quick to reproduce, Pacific sardines have rebounded from both overfishing and a natural collapse in the 1940’s, so much so that they are one of Seafood Watch’s “Super Green” sustainable choices. (Click here to find out which 6 super-healthy fish and shellfish you should eat and which 6 to avoid.)

If you’re trying sardines for the first time, or you just really want to learn to like them, here are a few tips and a few recipes to stoke your sardine love:

• For the uninitiated, a good place to start is with a boneless, skinless variety. They come packed in water or olive oil. They’re mild, and can be used in recipes in place of canned tuna fish.
• If you’re lucky enough to have fresh sardines available in your supermarket, try them in place of the canned sardines. Lightly dredge them in salt-and-pepper-seasoned flour and sauté them in a little olive oil.
• Sardines also come smoked, and come packed in sauces like tomato and mustard—give one of these a try. Smear them on a cracker or piece of toast for a snack or light lunch.
• For veteran sardine eaters, the sky’s the limit! Sardines with bones and skin are delicious, too, and they look awesome on top of a salad or platter. P.S. The bones and skin are both edible. Those tiny bones deliver calcium too!
• I’m at work and eat them right out the can. I don’t have the balls to do bone in…but at $1 a can with 26gms of protein it might be worth it.

Below are some recipes from Hilary Meyer:

Try sardines in these delicious recipes:
Greek Salad With Sardines The fresh, tangy elements of a Greek salad—tomato, cucumber, feta, olives and lemony vinaigrette—pair well with rich-tasting sardines. Look for sardines with skin and bones (which are edible) as they have more than four times the amount of calcium as skinless, boneless sardines.

Spring Salad with Tarragon Vinaigrette A bold, layered salad that showcases sardines and asparagus, this beautiful dish adds variety to your weekday dining. If you prefer tuna to sardines or have fish from the night before, go ahead and use that instead.

Sardines on Crackers
A protein-packed and portable snack.

Makes: 4 servings
Active time: 5 minutes | Total: 5 minutes

4 whole-grain Scandinavian-style cracker, such as
8-12 canned sardines, preferably packed in olive oil
4 lemon wedges

Top each cracker with 2 to 3 sardines each. Finish with a squeeze of lemon.

Per cracker: 64 calories; 2 g fat (0 g sat, 1 g mono); 20 mg cholesterol; 8 g carbohydrates; 4 g protein; 1 g fiber; 94 mg sodium; 102 mg potassium.

Tomato Toast with Sardines & Mint (pictured above)
Canned sardines make an elegant, yet inexpensive appetizer when served with fresh mint, tomato and onion on toast.

Makes: 12 toasts
Active time: 15 minutes | Total: 30 minutes | To make ahead: Cover and refrigerate the sardine mixture (Step 2) for up to 2 days.

1 4-ounce can boneless, skinless sardines packed in olive oil, preferably smoked
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 slices multigrain bread or 12 slices baguette, preferably whole-grain
1/2 medium ripe tomato
1 tablespoon very thinly sliced yellow onion

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Flake sardines with a fork into a mixing bowl. (The pieces should not be mashed, but should be no bigger than a dime.) Add mint, oil and salt; toss gently to combine.
3. If using whole slices of bread, cut off the crusts and cut each into four triangles. Place the triangles or baguette slices on a baking sheet and bake until crispy and golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. As soon as you remove them from the oven, rub each slice with the cut side of the tomato. As you progress, the tomato will break down until only the skin remains; discard any remaining tomato.
4. Top each toast with about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the sardine mixture. Top the sardine mixture with a couple of onion slices and serve immediately.

Per toast: 41 calories; 2 g fat (0 g sat, 1 g mono); 5 mg cholesterol; 3 g carbohydrate; 0 g added sugars; 3 g protein; 1 g fiber; 113 mg sodium; 63 mg potassium.

source:  Hilary Meyer

Reebok Zigtech: Get a Pair

REPOST, COMMENT OR SUBSCRIBE AND BE ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A FREE PAIR OF REBOOK ZIGTECHS!

Sometimes new technology arrives and just blows you away. Take the new Reebok Zigtech for example. Reebok’s newest and most exciting sneaker was unveiled at Super Bowl weekend, much to the amazement of several sneaker heads worldwide.

The Reebok Zigtech is flat out zig-alicious. The new design will hit retailers nationwide, March 11th. It’s sure to make a big splash this Spring. Reebok’s ZigTech footwear was designed with the idea of giving the athlete a soft and springy ride. The innovative zig-zag shaped sole absorbs the impact of heel strike and sends a wave of energy along the length of the shoe to help propel the athlete forward with each step. Reebok has said through a statement that ZigTech technology causes up to 20% less wear and tear on key leg muscles, especially the shins and hamstrings.

Reebok’s ZigTech footwear collection is available for men and women in an array of bold, bright colors that will truly stand out in the gym. Professional athletes, like the always flamboyant Floyd Mayweather, have already jumped on the Zig bandwagon.

These are bold and confident, perfect for an athlete like me.”

If they’re perfect for the money maker, maybe they’re perfect for you as well.

Carrot Pulp Muffins

Did some juicing today…What do I do with the pulp? Muffin Time! I ate four of them when it was all done, those muffins didn’t have a chance. Two with sugar free jelly and the other two with natural PB. I washed it down with beet/ carrot juice and oddly enough didn’t eat anything else for the rest of the day.  Either the fiber or the veggies did it, but no hunger or cravings.

Ingredients:

2 cups carrot pulp
1/2 cup apple pulp
1 cups whole-grain flour
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup oatmeal
6 egg whites
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp baking flour
2 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 cup almond milk and honey
1 cup crushed nuts (trail mix from the gas station lol)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 deg. Mix up the pulp from carrots and apple well. Add egg whites, vanilla and oil to the mix. Sift the flour, baking powder, oatmeal, cinnamon and nutmeg together and add it gradually to mixture, stirring until it’s blended. Mix in the nuts.

Pour the batter into greased muffin cups making sure to leave some room (about 1/4 from the top) for expansion. Bake for 30 minutes.

That’s the beet juice in the background.

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World AIDS Day: AIDS Myths and Facts

Since those bleak days of the AID/HIV pandemic, there’s been real progress against the disease with a higher percentage of people infected by the HIV virus receiving life-extending treatment. UNAIDS recently reported that new HIV infections fell 17 percent over the past eight years. UNAIDS provides an informative interactive map with global data on the pandemic.

With the numbers disproportionately higher with the African American race I thought it would be important to know the top 10 Myths about AIDS and HIV.

Shortly after HIV/AIDS hit the scene, rumors about it flew throughout the world. “You can get it by kissing.” “You can get it by holding hands.” “It is airborne.” Throughout the years, most of the HIV myths have been dispelled, but it seems as though there are still a few rumors afloat. See if you can sort the truth from the most common myths about HIV.

True or False?

1. If you test positive for HIV, you will inevitably die from AIDS.

FALSE. In the early years, an HIV diagnosis often meant the infected person would develop AIDS and die from complications of the disease within a matter of years, but this is no longer true. Medications, combined with lifestyle changes and complementary therapies that support the body’s ability to keep the virus in check, can keep an HIV-infected person from developing AIDS or the fatal complications associated with it for many years, or even a lifetime.

2. You can catch HIV from a toilet seat.

FALSE. The HIV virus cannot be transmitted by casual contact, from a toilet seat, a doorknob, a fork, or a handshake, for that matter. The only known HIV transmission methods include unprotected sex, intravenous drug use, exposure to blood or bodily fluids from an infected person, from mother to child in pregnancy, and through blood transfusions if the blood came from an HIV infected person. (Transmission of the virus did happen through blood transfusions or blood products in the 1980s before HIV testing became routine for all donated blood, but is highly unlikely to happen in a modern medical facility.)

3. There is no cure for HIV.

TRUE. There are medications available to suppress the virus in infected individuals and to lower their viral load. Such treatments can prolong or prevent the development of AIDS for years or even a lifetime. However, researchers have not found a cure for HIV that would eliminate the virus from an infected person’s body entirely.

4. People have been infected with HIV from taking the HIV test itself.

FALSE. Some claim that the HIV test itself can give you the virus. But unless a clinic reuses a needle that was previously used on someone with HIV (a highly unlikely scenario that has never been reported), there is no way that testing for HIV could cause the infection.

5. You can spread or get HIV through oral sex.

TRUE. One myth HIV experts often hear is that HIV can’t be spread or contracted through oral sex. This is not true. If the person performing oral sex has a cut or abrasion in their mouth and comes in contact with HIV-infected bodily fluids, they can become infected with the virus just as they could having unprotected vaginal or anal sex. Using a dental dam or condom during oral sex greatly diminishes this risk.

6. If both you and your partner have HIV, it’s safe to have unprotected sex with one another.

FALSE. If you and your partner both test positive for the HIV virus, that doesn’t mean you can ignore the diagnosis or live life just as you did before your diagnosis. To best decrease your odds of developing AIDS, you should both work closely with a medical professional to manage the illness. You also both need to take whatever precautions you can to prevent exposing others to the HIV virus. This includes not having unprotected sex or sharing needles with anyone, taking proper precautions to contain and warn others about exposure to your bodily fluids (such as when you’re bleeding), and following any other advice from your HIV care team. Nobody with HIV can afford to ignore his or her diagnosis for their own sake, or for the sake of others who could be exposed to the virus.

7. Mosquitoes can spread HIV.

FALSE. While mosquitoes can spread a number of illnesses such as West Nile Virus or malaria, there are no known cases of HIV transmission through mosquito bites. If mosquitoes could transmit the HIV virus, there would be many more cases among young children, adolescents and other people who would otherwise be at low risk for HIV exposure.

8. You could have HIV and not know it.

TRUE. People who are infected with HIV don’t necessarily “feel” sick; it’s possible to have the HIV virus for some time before developing any symptoms. HIV testing is the only way to determine whether someone has HIV or not.

9. If you’re taking medication for HIV, you can’t spread the virus.

FALSE. Even while taking medication, a person with HIV can still infect others if they have unprotected sex, share needles, or expose others to their blood or other bodily fluids.

10. HIV and AIDS may not be caused by the same virus.

FALSE. Some claim HIV and AIDS are not caused by the same virus. This is not true. Without treatment, the HIV virus will probably progress to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), which is essentially a collapse of the immune system. However, with HIV treatment, most people living with the virus are able to prolong or prevent the development of AIDS.

source: www.blackdoctor.org

Alvin Ailey: Black Fitness

We all have to define Black Fitness in our own way. Alvin Ailey’s genius artistic impression of dance is Black Fitness at its finest. Ailey always seem to generate joy, grace or any other good feel explicative. Just like a finely tune athlete you can see the hard work in ever calculated move. As calculated as it may seem they make it look so easy and natural.

A friend mentioned it to me on “So You Think You Can Dance?” I don’t watch much TV but you can see the difference between a seasoned vet vs. the contestants. This is BLACK FITNESS!

PomWonderful Iced Coffee

The folks over at PomWonderful are at it again and have been kind enough to send me some samples of POMx, their new iced coffee. No it is not pomegranate and coffee blended! This chilled treat I am tasting is a delightfully refreshing and energizing iced coffee from PomWonderful. This drink is very healthy, containing a special pomegranate extract full of antioxidants. It is also low in fat and cholesterol free.

My favorite is the chocolate iced coffee, offering a balanced blend between chocolate, coffee, and milk, resulting in a wonderful mocha flavor. It’s a more chocolate smooth feel than an icy coffee feel if that makes sense.

I actually blended it with some protein, ice and plain yogurt to make a smoothie.  I hear there is a vanilla flavor. I don’t even know if these are available at your local grocer but if it is go get it!

I have 2 left over, subscribe, link or respond to this blog and I’ll send you what I have.