I work out to eat

I love food. I love a great salad with all the usual ingredients plus a handful of walnuts (we're talking major super food here, one of the best plant sources of protein, rich in fiber, antioxidants, vitamins E, and B, Omega 3 fatty acids which are the good fats that lower the bad LDL cholesterol - whew!). And a salad isn't a salad to me without rich, creamy avocados. After a hard workout at the gym my dinner might be a boneless chicken breast seasoned and drizzled with olive oil then broiled depending on the size maybe 10 minutes each side, and a great salad. Or maybe chicken along with steamed broccoli and Basmati white rice which only takes 20 minutes to cook. ( I've been known to puree rice and broccoli which comes out tasting creamy and delicious.) Either of these combinations may sound like diet food but if you've enjoyed a similarly balanced breakfast and lunch with snacks in between it is really quite filling and decadent - but that's just me :-) The hardest part of the preparation to me is handling the chicken. I buy my chicken from Whole Foods even though I do most of my shopping at the Dekalb Farmers Market. Whole Foods has an organic brand that is packaged with each individual breast in it's own little package. That makes it easy to just open it up, rinse it off and throw it on the broiler pan. A word on organic. I know organic food is not more nutritious than non organic but I prefer my food to be absent of pesticides, hormones and antibiotics.

On the weekend or when I'm entertaining friends and family I go here for my favorite food blog and find a recipe that requires a little more time and may incorporate some guilty pleasures but is your basic fresh, healthy, heart pleasing food. What's missing from most of my meals is bread, dairy and processed food items. Oh, desserts are special occasions only as I try to eliminate processed sugar from my diet along with the bread, dairy, etc. The Cliff Hanger protein bars I recommended have sugar for sure but they also offer a balanced ratio of fat, protein and carbs and is very satisfying to my sweet tooth.

The theme here is eating healthy food numerous times a day which will reduce those nasty cravings that lead us uncontrollably to the aisles in the grocery store burgeoning with all the oh so delicious yet empty calories. I think that's enough for one day even though I'm tempted to talk about blood sugar highs and lows that come from skipping meals. That will be another day and another topic. Hope you're having a great day and thinking about how easy it can be to eat healthy, one day at a time. . . .