Cheers to a Happy and Healthy 2015!

One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to loose weight or to start a new healthy routine  which may seem daunting at times but even small changes can do wonders for your body and mind.  With so much information out there and fad diets, it’s hard to decipher what really is the best option for you and your lifestyle.  I read an online article and pulled this quote from it that I humbly will try to live by in 2015 but I think summarizes how we can all achieve a healthier self through a few simple, time-tested rules:

Lisa Dierks, a dietician at the Mayo Clinic, “likes to remind her patients that what we know about healthy living is rather simple and very difficult for diet gurus to make money off of: eat mostly plants, do some exercise, don’t smoke and don’t drink too much.  These recommendations have survived study after study, and worked for generations of people all over the world.  They’re pretty much bulletproof.”

Article: “The Bulletproof Diet is everything wrong with eating in America”

Author: Julia Belluz

With this notion in mind, I came up with a quick list of healthy options you can include in your home so that you can enjoy a happy and healthy 2015.  Also, hopefully by incorporating some of these ideas, you won’t feel so guilty about all of the lobster rolls you eat with us this summer!  I love a good lobster roll (guilty as charged)... who doesn't?!

Eat More Vegetables

Source: http://pixabay.com/p-353926/?no_redirect

It’s simple but it’s true and very obtainable.  Try to incorporate snacks or entire meals were veggies are the main focus.  Here are some links to easy, veggie inspired main dishes:

Portobello Mushroom Burgers<-- click me!

Instead of fries, serve with a side of grilled vegetables (like red peppers, zucchini and eggplant) or even a side of collard greens (my new favorite vegetable side dish).

Vegetable Curry<-- click me!

Add as many extra vegetables as you would like!  I like to add sweet corn, red peppers and broccoli to my curry.  You can sub out the white rice for brown rice, which will add extra fiber, vitamins and minerals to this dish.

Source: http://www.marthastewart.com/331819/simple-vegetable-curry

Spicy Vegetable Soup<-- click me!

While this recipe is great, my main point to including it is to show an example of an easy vegetable inspired soup dish.  Have left over vegetables from a previous recipe?  Don’t let them go to waste, make a soup and use up your leftover veggies!  I keep a healthy supply of vegetable and chicken broth as well as diced tomatoes and tomato paste at my home so that I can easily make a soup with my crockpot with not too much planning ahead.

Source: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/spicy_vegetable_soup.html

Also, eating more vegetables is an easy way to support local business.  One business that I started using is called Casco Bay Organics, which is a weekly produce delivery system that strives to use as many local resources as they can.  The beauty of Casco Bay Organics is that you can decide how big of a box you would like to receive and what weeks you would like to receive a box with no strings or long-term commitments.  Every other week when I get my Casco Bay Organics box in the mail I am super excited about the options that I will receive this week and design my menus for the week to include the produce, making what I eat at home contain lots of fresh veggies!  Casco Bay Organics is also running a promotion until the end of January for $10 your first two deliveries by using the Promo Code: 2015FORME

Casco Bay Organics love referrals!  Feel free to jot down my name as a referral if you choose (Krysten Reilly from blackpointinn.blogspot.com) and then recommend your friends and have them add you as a referral!

If you’re like me, the fresh produce area in the supermarket may be overwhelming and you might not be sure how to even introduce certain items into your diet.  I found this really helpful chart from The University of California Berkeley Wellness Department, which goes into great detail about the most nutritious ways to cook your veggies.

Slim Down Your Cocktails

High calorie beers and cocktails are sometimes hard to avoid (trust me, I know).  Cocktails and beers these days are more full-flavored than ever but with that comes hidden calories that you might not even know you’re consuming.  Luckily, there are some easy ways you can slim down your cocktails to help you stick to a healthy diet:

Slim Down Your Mixers

Ask for zero calorie mixers instead of the regular juice or soda that is used in the recipe.  For instance, if a recipe calls for Coca-Cola, ask for it to be made with Diet instead.  Even just using soda water with some fresh lime or lemon can go a long way to add as a mixer to a cocktail with adding virtually no extra calories.

Use Agave Nectar

Seek out Agave Nectar in replacement of Simple Syrup or sugar.  Agave Nectar is on the sweeter side so you don’t need as much to sweeten up a cocktail!

Ask for Help

Don’t be afraid to ask!  Your bartender may have some really creative "skinny" cocktail ideas that they would love to make for you, if you just ask (nicely).  Most cocktails on a menu can be modified to be healthier or at least can be the starting point to something a little bit more on the healthy side of things.

Infuse Your Own Liquor

Store bought liquors that are already flavored pack in the calories but you can simply get creative at home by adding some jalapeno slices to your favorite tequila or raspberries to a vodka or even vanilla to a whiskey.  Get creative and have fun here!  Remember, the more flavorful and infused the liquor becomes means the less mixers and sugars you’ll have to add to it to make a great cocktail.  If you’re at a bar or restaurant and they infuse their own liquors, ask if they add sugar to the mix.  If they don’t, they’re probably a great low-calorie option.

Splurge on One

If you’re like me, than you’re really into craft beer and living in Maine means that there is A LOT of it to drink.  Part of the fun of being a craft beer “nerd” is trying as many different types of new beers as you can (not all in one night, of course).  It's hard to not realize how many calories can be jam-packed in a single beer (i.e. Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale with 176 calories).  So if you’ve eaten really well all day but you’re headed out and you know you’re going to be drinking beer, have one specialty beer to splurge on and then if you have a second beer (or more), choose a lighter option, such as a Guinness (125 calories) or an Amstel Light (95 calories).  If you need some extra help figuring out just how many calories are actually in the beer your consuming, check out this Beer of Tomorrow article.

Need some extra inspiration?  Here’s a great reference site to low-calorie cocktails that you can try out at home!

Snack Smart

Source: http://wonderly.com/five-delicious-afternoon-snacks-that-require-little-effort/

Having healthy options at home and at work, especially for snacks, goes a long way.  Choose items that are easy to make and that you will truly enjoy.  Healthy eating is rarely obtained by someone who chooses items that they wouldn’t normally enjoy.  Think about the kinds of snacks that you would eat on a regular basis if you could and then modify them to be healthier (cut sugar, substitute ingredients, etc...).

Veggies & Hummus

An easy snack you can take with you to work (which I’m in love with these days) are raw vegetables and hummus.  I usually spend a portion of my Sunday cutting up broccoli, yellow squash, cauliflower, zucchini and green beans and portioning them out with a couple of tablespoons of hummus.  It’s a quick and easy snack that’ll give you an extra serving of veggies and will keep you full! 

Chocolate Covered Bananas

I’m also in LOVE with chocolate covered banana bites.  You can easily make this at home by melting down some semi-sweet chocolate chips and dipping slices of banana into them and then placing them in the freezer.  Add some sea salt or coconut shavings while the chocolate is still warm for some extra pizzazz.

Homemade Popcorn

Making popcorn at home is so easy and you can easily create a full-flavored experience by just using a few ingredients.  Take a normal brown paper bag (like the kind our parents sent us to school with) and put a layer of yellow popcorn seeds inside, just so that it covers the bottom of the bag.  Give the seeds a quick spray with a nonstick cooking spray and then add in whatever kind of spices or herbs you would like.  I enjoy spicy foods so I usually throw some sea salt and some chili powder onto my seeds.  Then, fold the top of the bag over twice to lightly secure the bag and cook in the microwave for about three minutes until the popping dies down.  Make sure you carefully monitor this process - the smell of burnt popcorn is the worst.  And voilà! – Homemade popcorn.

If you need some more ideas for healthy snacks, check them out here! 

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My area of expertise is not exercise so I won't go into detail about exercising best practices but I do think that a balanced diet and exercise go hand in hand.  So with that, I’ll leave you with a quote from one of my favorite Podcasts, “Freakonomics,” and I quote from their “What’s the ‘Best’ Exercise” episode:

“Whatever you do is certainly the best exercise… do something that you actually enjoy, do something that makes you better.”

And... Some of my personal mantras for 2015: