Nutrition Workshopping Success!

I gave my first nutrition workshop a few hours ago and it seemed to be a success. The only problem is that I only had two hours to talk. I ended up making 54 slides and I talked for the entire two hours. Here’s a breakdown of what I did:

First, I introduced myself and gave a volunteer a package of six Snickers bars. Yep, six Snickers bars. I gave another volunteer six bananas. I told them to eat at their leisure and stop before they felt sick.

Next, I gave the group a bit of my personal history with my weight struggles and the story about how I suddenly realized that eating real food was WAY better than eating the junky packaged diet food.

I launched a discussion about how we eat not only to receive nutrients and fill an empty belly, but for the five senses, especially taste, and how we make choices based on cost, convenience, and habit.

We talked about whole grains (and what a whole grain actually is), sources of protein, dairy, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and seafood. I debunked a few myths about these foods. For example, I talked about how just because something says “multi-grain” or “made with whole grains” doesn’t mean it’s completely whole grain, how pasta has an unfair bad rap, how red meat has an unfair bad rap, and how eggs are nature’s perfect food and not the cholesterol nightmare that people think they are.

I talked about fat, sugar, and salt combos and how these tap into the dopamine receptors in our brains and manage to rewire our tastebuds and how to cut down on sugar, to avoid artificial sweeteners, to drop soda as a daily habit, and to use good fats instead of going fat free.

I checked in with the Snickers bar guy and the banana guy. The Snickers bar guy only got through two. He said he came in the room with energy, but then crashed and felt like he was going to go home and take a nap. The banana guy ate all the bananas (which I didn’t expect) and said he felt pretty good and could do a few pushups! Experiment success!

Finally, I talked about exercise and ways to get into it. Find an exercise buddy, do exercise that you actually like, and weight train. I also suggested using a food journal. I recommended MyDailyPlate and CalorieCount.com.

People asked questions during the presentation and I was glad to know the answers to their questions. I felt really confident. I was so glad to see students engaged in a conversation about healthy eating. I just wish that I’d had more time! I had a lot more to say and I really wanted to let people ask questions at the end and I wanted to talk about some easy recipes for them to try, but time didn’t allow. Next time I do the workshop I’m going to have to cut some stuff so there’s time for the rest. I’m already thinking about how to tweak it for next time.

Here’s a little highlight reel:

I love those Storm Troopers. They’re the best.

After the workshop I felt that I had to practice what I preached, so I ate some of my leftover Cooking Light Jambalaya that I made yesterday, then I went to Body Pump and pumped my ass off, then I made a salad with tuna and lots of veggies for dinner.

Fin.

Eat It Up: Applegate Farms Coupon Giveaway!

The contest is over and closed to entries.  The winners will be announced shortly!  Thanks for entering!

I’m pleased and excited to announce my very first giveaway ever!

Since I gave up vegetarianism a few months ago, my life has become delightfully meaty.  I’ve been cooking a lot and I’ve been introducing myself to new foods.  However, I do not always want to cook.  Who does?  I was thinking about how easy it used to be when I could throw together a quick meal with some kind of frozen veggie burger or “chik’n” and vegetables, but I’ve given up all soy-based products completely and I’ve been unenthused by the ingredients lists on packages of frozen meat.  Tell me, why does a bag of frozen grilled chicken strips with claims on the bag advertising “100% natural!” and “no preservatives or fillers!” contain malodextrin and “natural flavors”?  Anyone?  Anyone at all?

Bueller?

I really do care about where my meat comes from and about eating as cleanly as possible.  So, I was shopping at Publix the other day, perusing the frozen section when I noticed some pretty, clean-looking white boxes with cute apple and arrow logos.  Applegate Farms Organic Turkey Burgers. Organic, eh?  I know better than to believe claims on boxes.  So I took a look at the back of the box to check out the ingredients list. 

All it said was Organic Turkey and Organic Rosemary Extract.  That’s it. Source.

I was so surprised, I bought the Applegate Farms Organic Turkey Burgers, took them home, and cooked one right away.  The turkey burgers are raw and carefully wrapped in delicate paper.  I cooked mine on the stovetop with a little salt and pepper and it was absolutely awesome!  I was thrilled.  Then I realized that I’d purchased some Applegate Farms Sunday Bacon on my last shopping trip and that it had easily been the best bacon I’ve had since I started, uh, eating bacon.

So, I hopped on ye olde Internet to do a little research about Applegate Farms and I learned that they’re totally awesome.  First of all, the company was started by Steve McDonnell, a former vegetarian.  One of my very own!  In addition, Applegate supports over 300 small family farms, they treat their animals humanely (like, actually humanely–their cattle live on pasture and eat their natural diet of grass, their hogs are able to root and nest, and their chickens and turkeys have space to roam freely), and they never use hormones, antibiotics, or growth promotants.  Their products are minimally processed.  They use celery juice and sea salt as natural preservatives.  They never use nitrates.  Their deli meat, hot dogs, burgers, and BACON are gluten and casein-free.  They support the Health Lunch Reform program by supporting programs that teach children about the politics, production, and consumption of healthy, sustainable food. They’re also working on a tracking system that will allow consumers to use UPC codes on their website to track food from the farm to the table.

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome.

Go Applegate!

I also love their mission statement:

Our Mission: To change the way America eats meat 

We always embrace three important principles:

Taste. Strive to make the best tasting products with no shortcuts and only natural ingredients.

Truth. Conduct our farming practices with integrity and treat our animals and land with respect.

Trust. Tell all of our story. Provide transparency into our industry and to our consumers.

I got so excited about Applegate products that I emailed their Customer Service team to tell them how impressed I was and I took a chance and asked if they’d be interested in donating some coupons for me to give away on my blog and spread the word.  This is a big deal.  When I started this blog I promised myself that if I ever got fancy enough to do giveaways I would only endorse things that I actually like and believe in. Customer Service got back to me immediately and pointed me to the Digital Social Media Manager who also replied right away and excitedly agreed to send me the coupons to give away on my blog!  Everything about this has been so wonderful that I feel like my cold, dead heart perhaps got a tiny bit bigger.

So, (finally, I know. I’m long-winded) now I introduce my very first giveaway!

Three of you will win one coupon each for $1.00 off an Applegate product!  Wooooooo!

But that’s not all!

Two of you will win one coupon each for a FREE Applegate Product with a maximum value of $8.99!

The turkey burgs I bought were $6.99 and the Sunday Bacon was $4.59.  The stuff isn’t cheap, but it’s SO AWESOME that it’s totally worth the few extra dollars, especially for a company that has such great values.  You get what you pay for, people

In the end there will be 5 winners! I’m giving away all the coupons they sent me because I want to introduce other people to this great company.  I didn’t even keep one for myself.  I’m a giver.

To enter, just leave a comment below telling me about the worst thing you ever ate. It could be nitrate-laden hot dogs.  It could be your granny’s beef brisket with gristle.  It could be elementary school lunch (remember those boneless riblets…actually, those were pretty good, but they definitely weren’t meat).  It could be something crazy from a foreign country.  Whatever it is, I want to know about it, then I want to send you a coupon for something you’re sure to like!

You have until 12:00 noon EST on Thursday April 14th to enter. I’ll randomly generate winners and announce them by Monday.  Good luck!

The Best Thing I Ate This Week: Salt & Pepper Shrimp and Spinach

Wednesdays are one of my super heavy workout days—I go spinning and I do Next Level interval training, which is pretty much as hard as it can get in one day.

After the grueling hour and a half of exercise (which totally ruined my awesome hair that I got cut and colored today), I came home and cleaned my apartment.  My apartment is fairly small, but cleaning it usually takes a good hour, what with the vacuuming, Swiffering, Swiffer Wet Jetting, dusting, wiping, and rug-beating.

No?

By the time I was done with all that noise I was an extra smelly and disgusting mess, so I cleaned myself up and then had to face the task of making dinner.  I had shrimp I knew I needed to use, but I also needed something green.  And I needed it fast.  This had to be a get-protein-and-greens-in-your-mouth-immediately-so-you-can-settle-down-and-watch-Big-Love-and-eat-dessert kind of meal. I browsed the fridge.  I had some organic baby spinach, which was perfect, and I was looking to use my new tub of Kerrygold Irish Butter.  I added salt, pepper, olive oil, and fresh lemon to the mix and The Best Thing I Ate This Week was unexpectedly born.

This is the half of the bowl I hadn't plowed through yet when I remembered to take a picture.

The whole thing took about 10 minutes (not counting deveining time—ugh) and was a perfectly satisfying combination of protein, greens, and healthy fats.  I highly recommend this, as I tend to do with my own creations.

For one serving you’ll need:

1/2 lb medium white shrimp, peeled and deveined

A big handful of baby spinach (or more if you’re feeling spinachy)

About 1-2 tsp of butter (I recommend Kerrygold Irish Butter—amazing!)

About 1 1/2 tsp of olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 lemon

Minced garlic if you want some spice

Make it!

In a large pan melt the butter on medium high heat and add the olive oil.  Swirl ‘em around.  Generously salt and pepper the bottom of the pan.  Place the shrimp around the pan one by one, working your way around the pan from the outside in—the shrimp that make it to the middle of the pan probably won’t need as much cook time since they’ll be on direct heat.  Salt and pepper the tops of the shrimp, then flip after a minute or two.  The shrimp will curl and turn pinkish opaque—-you know!  Remove the shrimp from the pan onto a plate and throw the spinach in the leftover butter and oil.  Add a bit of minced garlic if you’d like some spice—I did!  When the spinach has wilted, remove it from the heat into a bowl, top with the shrimp, and squeeze half a lemon over the whole thing.

Yes.

What’s the best thing you ate this week?