Take Shape For Life featuring Medifast Meals

When I make a group presentation for Take Shape For Life I like using a graph to show that there are three distinct phases of creating permanent health in your life.  You can see the graph on the “be healthy” page of our website.

The 3 Phases are:

1. Before: In this phase of life we developed some habits and lifestyle patterns that led to an unhealthy state.  For most all of us (I’m included) this meant gaining excess weight.
2. Weight Loss Phase: With Take Shape For Life, we use the Medifast 5&1 plan because it’s the most effective way to lose weight quickly and safely.
3. Habits of Health: A Beslim lifestyle.  After you attain your ideal weight, this is the phase to enjoy good foods and a healthy lifestyle equally.  It’s possible through adopting new habits that become second-nature.

   Recently I read a quote that said:

“Bad habits are easy to adopt but difficult to live with.  Good habits are difficult to adopt but easy to live with” – Brian Tracy

I like this quote a lot because it sums up my own journey.  I started in the “before” phase having some bad habits that over time proved very difficult to live with.  Then I lost 37 pounds on the Medifast 5&1 plan.

That was eight years ago.  Had I stopped at that point and not adopted new habits, I would most likely be back in the “before” phase of life, perhaps going another round with weight loss again this year.

Teach a Man to Fish

As far as I’m concerned, adopting new habits of healthy eating is only as good as the food tastes.  But how does someone adopt new habits of eating after weight loss?  Something I want to share is one of our family’s latest “secret weapons” that will teach you very healthy recipes that are easy to make and absolutely delicious.  How can I say this?  Well…

For more than a decade I’ve been a big fan of “America’s Test Kitchen” including the magazine Cooks Illustrated and also the PBS programming.  This is a group of cooks and food scientists plus various panels of judges, who exhaustively test, review and tweak every recipe they print to give you the best tasting dish possible.  In the past they spared no calorie, no fat gram nor sauce.  Taste was everything! And they were always right on.

Delicious and Healthy

So what happens when these culinary professionals shift their focus to creating dishes that are delicious and also very healthy?  You’ve got:  America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook

We’ve been cooking from this book since Christmas (it was one of my gifts) and have tried enough recipes now that I want to fully endorse it.

What I like most about this book:

n      Each recipe includes full nutritional information per serving

n      The recipes are practically goof-proof with simple instructions

n      Many healthy “makeovers” for classic family favorites

n      Many Delicious recipes that are compliant with the Medifast 5&1 plan!

n      Simple variations that allow you to substitute or improvise according to your family tastes and/or dietary requirements

Remember, adopting new—good—habits isn’t always easy at first but once you get past that initial phase, life is better and easier.  It’s the same thing with learning new healthy recipes.  It might take a little extra work up front to learn how to cook them but after a few times, healthy meals will easily and naturally become part your lifestyle.

Answer: Yes, there is life after weight loss, a very good life.  But if it’s not delicious, it’ll be a real tough go.  So take a little time to learn some new healthy–and delicious–recipes.  And if you are anything like us, you’ll discover family favorite dishes that you actually crave!

Sincerely,

Eric and Joy Blanchard

Certified Health Coaches

Take Shape For Life

There are many reasons why it is important to drink water, especially when you are trying to lose weight on the 5 and 1 Program:

• Cravings are really a sign that your body is thirsty. So when you feel a craving coming along, reach for your water.  It’s the cheapest, safest appetite suppressant there is.
• Your initial weight loss is largely due to loss of water and that is why you need to drink a sufficient amount of water in order to avoid dehydration.
• When your body starts burning calories, it needs an adequate supply of water in order to function efficiently; dehydration slows down the fat-burning process.
• Dehydration causes a reduction in blood volume and this causes a reduction in the supply of oxygen to your muscles which can make you feel tired.
• Burning calories creates toxins in our bodies (think of the exhaust coming out of your car).  Water plays a vital role in flushing these toxins out of your body.
• Drinking water before and with a meal makes you feel fuller and will make you eat less.   However,  drinking water alone may not have this effect. In order to feel satiated (not hungry), our bodies need protein, sufficient calories and nutrients.  All of which can be found in each of the Medifast Meal Replacements and in your Lean and Green Meal.

Read our other post:  WHY WATER IS GOOD FOR YOU

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

We’ve got all kinds of fresh herbs growing at our house and rosemary is prolific! Fresh herbs are fantastic for enhancing any meal. I particularly love the combination of Balsamic and Rosemary in this recipe. Pair it with a fresh garden salad or your favorite veggies for a delicious and easy Lean and Green meal.

Ingredients:

Two 6-ounce boneless/skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp. diced onion
1 tbsp. minced garlic
½ cup balsamic vinegar
½ cup water
1 tsp. olive oil
1 sprig rosemary chopped fine
¼ tsp. black pepper

1. Combine onion, garlic, vinegar, pepper, water, oil and rosemary in a bowl.
2. Add chicken and marinate for 2-3 hours or overnight
3. Remove chicken from marinade and pat dry
4. Heat grill or set broiler to high and cook chicken for 4-5 minutes. Turn and cook for 3-4 minutes more or until cooked through.
5. Remove from heat and serve.

Roasted Cauliflower
Four servings

This is an everyday favorite because it deliciously replaces the carbohydrate mouth-feel that many starches provide. Like potatoes, cauliflower has a mild flavor so it goes with everything from delicate fish to hearty beef. But so much better than potatoes, cauliflower is loaded with nutrition and fiber! Two cups of raw cauliflower has only 50 calories and packs 6 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein, zero fat, and is a great source of vitamin C plus other vitamins and minerals.

Fresh organic cauliflower is best, of course, but frozen is the weekday winner for me. If it’s not quick and easy, I’ll end up eating empty carbs. Note: if you want to eat healthy for the rest of your life, always have a variety of frozen veggies in your freezer.

The key to good roasted cauliflower is getting the right texture without it being mushy or watery. After testing various recipes and methods I believe a two step process works best. First steam or boil till fork tender then bake to remove excess water and concentrate flavors.

A good serving size is about 2 cups raw. A 20-25oz frozen bag is equal to a large head of cauliflower. Either one will provide four servings. You can keep leftovers in the fridge for a few days or freeze up to a month.

Step one: heat oven to 350F. In a pot, boil or steam cauliflower until fork tender.
Step two: drain cauliflower well and place in 9×9 baking dish (or whatever you’ve got that’s close), season with salt and pepper to taste.
Optional: if you want a texture more like potatoes, mash with potato masher.
Step three: place in oven for 5 minutes to remove excess liquid.
Step four: remove from oven and make it your way:

• On 5&1 and in a hurry: drizzle with 1Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, season with garlic powder and toss in baking dish to evenly coat then grate 2oz hard parmesan (or other) cheese over top, sprinkle with paprika and return to oven for 10-15 minutes.

• On 5&1 not in a hurry: in a skillet over medium heat sauté minced fresh garlic with 1Tbsp olive oil until fragrant; add cauliflower and sauté 2-3 minutes. (Optional: add fresh thyme or rosemary.) Return cauliflower to baking dish, top with 2oz grated parmesan cheese and sprinkle with paprika, bake at 350 for an additional 10-15 minutes.

• Healthy cooking for life: Dr. A’s Habits of Health states that less than 25% of your daily calories should come from fat. Because cauliflower has zero fat grams to start with you’ve got some wiggle room to make it taste good and still be within your daily limits. Take advantage of your fat servings to make this dish something the whole family will want to eat on a regular basis. A little fat can go a long way. I like butter, cream and different cheeses in moderation. The rule of thumb is to never end up with a cream sauce. You should experiment on your own to see how little of each you can get away with and still get the flavors you want.

• My personal favorite, not on 5&1: follow skillet recipe above. Return to baking dish and add 1Tbsp butter and 1-2Tbsp cream. Toss all together and then grate 2-3 ounces cheese over top, sprinkle with paprika and bake 10-15 minutes.

The following excerpt is from an email that our Health Coach Shirley Sileven sends out to new clients. Shirley was a counselor at the Medifast Center in Texas for nearly a year before joining out team full time. The information she gives is fantastic:

Medifast has made five of our meals very convenient so sometimes I know it can be a challenge to come up with lean and green ideas especially after a long, exhausting day at work. Here are a few things that our family did during my journey. My husband is still on his…and so we still incorporate a lot of these ideas into our lean and green meals. (I still eat low carb…it works for me)

** During the weekend, we will generally cook out at least once and so we go to Sam’s and pick up one of their big packages of chicken (we find buying the unskinned and deboned cooks more evenly and stays moist). We season it and grill it. We take what is left over and put it in a baggie in the fridge to use later in the week to quickly heat when we have “steamed” veggies or to put on our salad.
** We will also purchase fish from Sam’s in the frozen section, they are sealed individually, so you can pull out exactly the number of pieces you want….this always works “in a pinch” if I forget to take something out of the freezer to allow it to thaw….as fish thaws rather quickly and definitely cooks quicker. (If you grill out….put cedar planks in water while you’re thawing it and getting comfy from the day….to add smoked flavor to your fish….yummy)
** Some mornings before I begin my day, I will put a roast in the crock pot (with an onion) and when we all come together for dinner, it’s nice and tender….and all I have to pull together are the veggies. (It also smells good when you get home!)
** There are some nights that I will drop by Sam’s on my way home (you can also get this from your local grocery store…or Boston Market) and pick up a roasted chicken….I will generally purchase two….one for tonight’s meal and then debone the other and put it in a baggie in the fridge for another meal during the week.
** We cannot have this….but I also know/realize that our children don’t always want to eat lean and green (all the time)….so you can take this deboned chicken and put it between two tortillas, put on some cheese, salsa, and chicken….grill in a pan, cut in wedges and serve with sour cream for them (quick quesadillas) and you can continue the theme with your own meal and make a salad with the deboned chicken and to stay lite….use salsa as your dressing.
Now for the veggie ideas. Along with purchasing our meat from Sam’s, every week….we go to Sam’s and purchase a bag of spinach and a tub of field greens, white button mushrooms, tomatoes and cucumbers for our salads. I will purchase my frozen vegetables from the regular grocery store and will sometimes have some chicken or beef stock and cook my veggies in that to add “flavor”. You can always be even quicker with your veggies and open a can of green beans or asparagus. Whatever your favorites are…I’m just trying to tell you what I’ve done to give you some fresh ideas.

To date, Shirley has lost 85 pounds and her husband David has lost 119 pounds!