No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Balls

Sandi Forsythe

Makes approximately 60 protein balls

Ingredients:

2 cups natural peanut butter, crunchy

1/2 cup agave nectar

2 scoops MHP Probolic-SR Protein, vanilla flavor

Sea salt, to taste

Water, as needed.

2 cups vegan sugar free dark chocolate

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Mix peanut butter, agave nectar, protein powder, sea salt and water in a large bowl.

2. Roll mixture into balls (approx.1 tablespoon per ball) and place in a dish, then refrigerate for 30-45 minutes.

3. In a small pot, melt the chocolate over medium-low heat, stirring often, until smooth. Stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

4. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Remove balls from refrigerator.

5. Dip into melted chocolate and arrange on baking sheet.

6. Let set for 30-45 minutes, then place in the refrigerator for another 30-45 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Facts (per ball): 52 calories, 1.2g protein, 5.3g carbs, 4.3g fat

Running on Empty

What happens when you forget to put gas in your car?  Eventually you run out and are unable to go any further until you refuel.  Our bodies need fuel too.  Without it we are unable to function, and unfortunately we have heard too many accounts recently about skipped meals. 

Food is our fuel or our energy.  The calories in the foods we eat power our brains and our bodies.  We need to consume sufficient calories to meet our resting metabolic rate (the calories needed to maintain all of our body’s internal functions at rest) as well as our physical activity which includes all of our activities of daily living and our purposeful exercise.  Just as your car needs fuel to get you to your destination, your body needs fuel to function and keep moving.

What happens when we don't take in an adequate amount of fuel or calories?  One of the most important negative consequences of inadequate calorie intake is a decreased metabolic rate.  This slow down of metabolism is essentially your body slowing down its internal workings so it can survive with fewer calories. Another detrimental effect of low calorie intake is a loss of lean body mass. If your body isn’t getting adequate calories or protein from food, it will break down your own body tissues (i.e. your muscles, organs, and even your heart!) for energy and/or amino acids. As your lean body mass drops, your resting metabolic rate drops even more, creating a vicious and dangerous cycle.

The damage from skipping meals and insufficient calorie intake is not limited to just physical consequences.  There are cognitive effects as well.  Our brains burn approximately 20% of the calories that we consume each day.  So when we fall short of meeting our caloric needs, we can experience decreased concentration, poor judgement, apathy, depression, anxiety, irritability, and anger.  By negatively impacting our hormones, we also set ourselves up for food cravings.  This is why people who have been on calorie restricted diets often end up binging.

So how much is enough?  First, we will repeat what we have said many times...  DO NOT SKIP BREAKFAST!  You set yourself up for a deficit that will slow down your metabolism and possibly cause you to overeat later in the day.  Try to take in a meal or snack at least every 3-5 hours.  Individuals vary in the amount of time they can go between meals.  Finally, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that caloric intake never drop below 1200 calories per day.  If you are one of our Metabolic Warriors, 1200 calories is not going to provide you with adequate fuel for your workouts, refueling, and building lean muscle. Keep your bodies fueled up with good clean foods and it will perform well for you.

Slow Cooker Kalua Pork

Fitness RX

Serving size: 1/2 cup
Calories 175 | Fat 8g | Carbs 0g | Protein 25g

Ingredients

5 pound Boston butt pork roast (I prefer bone-out)
1-1/2 tablespoons sea salt (or Hawaiian sea salt if you can find it)
5 peeled garlic cloves (optional)
3 bacon slices* (optional)

*Bacon is used to add flavor to the pork during the slow cooking process. This also provides a small amount of fat to the recipe. This can be omitted as a personal preference.

Preparation

(Optional) Line the bottom of the slow cooker with strips of bacon.
Place the pork in the slow cooker.
Evenly salt the pork.
Tuck the garlic cloves into the pork roast.
Cook on low for 16 hours. Don’t add any liquid.
After 16 hours, take the pork out of the cooker and shred with a fork.
Make sure you don’t shred it inside the cooker, as the juices will make it too salty.

Zero Calories and Other Misleading Advertising

I recently read about a person who gained weight eating a diet of air popped popcorn with a butter flavored zero-calorie cooking spray.  Let's do a little math.  Three cups of air popped popcorn has 93 calories.  Zero calorie cooking spray has zero calories.  Most nutritionists recommend that women consume no fewer than 1200 calories per day when dieting to lose weight.  To consume just 1200 calories per day on this diet, she would have to eat 38.7 cups of popcorn.  It would be reasonable to assume that if someone was going to actually gain weight on this diet, she would need to consume considerably more than 38 cups of popcorn. 

So what is wrong with this story?  Zero calorie is not necessarily zero calorie.  If there are less than 5 calories or 0.5 grams of fat in a single serving of something, the company is legally allowed to advertise that product as zero-calorie and fat-free.  So cooking sprays usually define a single serving as a 1/4 or 1/3 second spray.  We are guessing that even our Metabolic Warriors don't have fingers that quick!  In reality most cooking sprays have about 7 calories per 1 second spray.  Still not too bad... until you consider that the person in the above story was using almost an entire can of butter flavored "zero calorie" cooking spray on a single serving of popcorn (3 cups).  So the 93 calorie serving just grew to around 800 calories. 

Extreme and maybe ridiculous example? Yes, but the point is that many food companies use legal but misleading food labeling to trick consumers into believing that a food is healthy.   This can then lead consumers to make misinformed choices.  For example, a study conducted by the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland found that people will usually serve themselves more of a food that claims to be "reduced fat" or "low-fat" or in some other way "healthier" than the standard fare.  People often believe that foods labeled as "healthier" in some way can be consumed guilt-free in large quantities without weight gain or other consequences.  However, another consideration with foods that are labeled as "low-fat" or "reduced fat" is that they often make up for the fat by adding more sugar, or other fillers to simulate the taste or texture that people are used to in the standard version. Again this can lead to eating larger quantities of food to feel satisfied. 

It is far better to eat a diet of real foods and to allow yourself an occasionl indulgence of the real version of your favorite treat rather than eating large quantities of unhealthful foods.

WILD RICE SALAD WITH SMOKED SALMON & FIGS

Try this hearty salad after a long run or heavy workout; you’ll reap the benefits of energizing carbohydrates, healthy fats and muscle-building protein.

By Charmaine Broughton

WILD RICE SALAD WITH SMOKED SALMON & FIGS
Ready in approximately 1 hour • Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 cup wild rice or wild rice blend
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp grainy Dijon mustard
2 tsp pure maple syrup
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp pepper
8 dried Black Mission figs, chopped
1/2 cup red pepper, diced
1/2 cup frozen green peas (thawed)
1/3 cup chopped fresh dill
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
3oz smoked salmon, thinly sliced

Instructions:
1.    Cook rice according to package directions. Cool and set aside.
2.    Whisk together lemon juice, oil, mustard, maple syrup, paprika and pepper.
3.    Toss dressing with cooled rice, figs, peppers, peas, dill, mint and smoked salmon. Serve.

Nutrients per serving:

Total Calories: 250, Total Fats: 7g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0g, Cholesterol: 35mg, Sodium: 110mg, Total Carbohydrates: 33g, Dietary Fiber: 4g, Sugars: 13g, Protein: 18g, Iron: 1.5mg

Diet Soda Dangers

If it will clean the limescale off your toilet...  maybe that is the best use for it.

I'm guilty.  I drank an average of two diet sodas per day for the last 20 or more years.  Even when reports came out that diet soda can cause weight gain I ignored them.  I don't need to lose weight.  Why should I care if diet soda can actually cause weight gain?  Finally, after reading numerous articles in nutrition and fitness publications, I was convinced that diet soda has no place in a healthful diet.  I eliminated diet soda from my daily diet and now rarely drink it...  perhaps two times per month.  Surprisingly, it wasn't hard to cut it out and I rarely miss it.

So what is so bad about a drink that has zero calories and zero fat?  First, diet soda has been linked to weight gain in numerous studies.  The artificial sweeteners used in diet soda are many times sweeter than sugar.  Aspartame, the sweetener used in many diet sodas, is 180 times sweeter than sugar.  When you consume these artificial sweeteners, your body is actually being tricked into thinking it is consuming sugar and it craves even more.  "Artificial sweeteners could have the effect of triggering appetite but unlike regular sugars they don't deliver something that will squelch the appetite," says Sharon Fowler, obesity researcher at UT Health Science Center at San Diego.  A study conducted by researchers at  the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio followed 474 diet soda drinkers, 65 to 74 years of age, for almost 10 years. They found that diet soda drinkers' waists grew 70 percent more than non-drinkers.

In addition to causing weight gain, diet soda consumption has been linked to numerous other health problems.  In a study presented at the American Society for Nephrology’s annual meeting researchers found that women who drank two or more servings per day of artificially sweetened soda doubled their odds of kidney function decline.  Another study conducted at the University of Minnesota looked at diet soda consumption in almost 10,000 adults, and found that just one diet soda a day is linked to a 34% higher risk of metabolic syndrome, the group of symptoms including belly fat and high cholesterol that puts you at risk for heart disease.

The list of possible health problems linked to diet soda continues to grow.  Studies have shown a connection between diet soda intake and cell damage, poor dental health, reproductive problems, and bone loss.  Other studies have shown a possible increased risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and depression in those who consume diet soda.  Researchers in some of these studies point out that additional research needs to be conducted to confirm that these health problems are a direct result of diet soda consumption and not other possible lifestyle factors. 

Humphrey's Peak

How do Fitness Trainers spend their day off?  Climbing the highest peak in Arizona of course!

6 mile early morning run, Metabolic Training, and climb Humphrey's...  No Problem!

Headed back down and still smiling.

Success comes with just a little bit of fatigue.

Actually, I didn't have to lead Metabolic in the morning, but I'll have to lead it the next day on some tired and wobbly legs.

Well earned rest!