#healthy weight loss

5 Foods that cause BELLY BLOATING!

If you have an event to go to that calls for a smaller belly, avoid these foods and drinks 2-3 days before the event!

Peanut Butter Balls

(Only 5 ingredients!)

INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup chunky peanut butter
• ⅓ cup honey or brown rice syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups rice crisp cereal
• 2 teaspoons cacao nibs or mini chocolate chips

• Gluten-free: Sub brown rice crisp cereal, 
  
• Vegan: Sub brown rice syrup
  

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In the microwave or a saucepan, heat peanut butter, honey, and vanilla extract together until easily combined and warm.
2. Add the rice cereal and any add-ins (cacao nibs, mini chocolate chips) into the peanut butter mixture.
3. Wet your hands and roll the mixture into balls slightly smaller than golf balls. You may need to rewet your hands each time you roll a new ball, and slightly crunch the ball into your palm so it sticks to itself.
4. Freeze the balls for 10 minutes and eat straight from the freezer.

Brusselicious Brunch

INGREDIENTS

• ½ white onion
• 1 medium potato (about 12 ounces)
• 2 chicken sausages
• 1 pound brussel sprouts
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 3-6 eggs (see notes)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Chop the potato and onion into very small chunks. Cook on medium-high heat in a large skillet with enough oil to avoid sticking for about 10 minutes.
2. While that is cooking, sautee and cook chicken sausages chopped into small slices in a separate pan.
3. Shred brussel sprouts using a large knife or the shredding blade on the food processor.
4. Once the potato is cooked through and browning, add the cooked chicken sausage, shredded brussel sprouts, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Sautee on medium for 5 minutes or so until softened and beginning to brown a bit.
5. Create several depressions in the pan to crack eggs into. Cover the pan and allow the eggs to cook for 8 minutes - checking a bit before and allowing them to continue cooking until the whites are firm and the yolks are to your liking.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Calories: 202 Fat: 9 Carbohydrates: 15 Protein: 16

Healthy Tacos

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• Cooking spray
• ½ cup shredded reduced-fat 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese
• ½ cup black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 large eggs
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ cup fresh pico de gallo
• 2 tablespoons Mexican crema
• ½ ripe peeled avocado, chopped
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 4 lime wedges

Directions

1. Preheat broiler to high.
   
2. Arrange tortillas on a baking sheet; lightly coat tortillas with cooking spray. 
3. Broil 2 minutes; remove pan from oven. 
4. Turn tortillas over. Top each tortilla with 2 tablespoons cheese and 2 tablespoons beans. 
5. Broil 1 minute or until cheese melts. 
6. Remove from oven.
   
7. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. 
8. Crack eggs into pan; cook 2 minutes or until whites are set. 
9. Place 1 egg in center of each tortilla; sprinkle with pepper.
   
10. Top tacos evenly with pico de gallo, crema, avocado, and cilantro. 
11. Serve with lime.

Nutrition Information (Per serving)

Calories: 272; 

Total Fat: 19g; Saturated Fat: 5g; Monounsaturated Fat: 5g; Cholesterol: 206mg; Sodium: 354mg; Carbohydrate: 18g; Dietary Fiber: 4g; Sugar: 1g; Protein: 13g

Nutrition Bonus: Potassium: 169mg; Iron: 9%; Vitamin A: 11%; Vitamin C: 9%; Calcium: 18%

Under 250 Calorie Chicken Wraps

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 3 tablespoons pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
• 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 4 ounces shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast (about 1 cup)
• 2 Kirby or small cucumbers, chopped
• 6 tablespoons plain hummus
• 6 (8-inch) whole-wheat flour tortillas

Directions:

Place tomatoes, olives, feta, juice, oregano, oil, pepper, chicken, and cucumber in a large bowl; toss to combine.

Spread 1 tablespoon hummus over 1 side of each tortilla. Top each tortilla with about ½ cup chicken mixture. Roll up wraps; cut in half.

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 1 wrap

Per serving: Calories: 243; Total Fat: 9g; Saturated Fat: 2g; Monounsaturated Fat: 2g; Cholesterol: 12mg; Sodium: 509mg; Carbohydrate: 30g; Dietary Fiber: 5g; Sugar: 4g; Protein: 10g

Nutrition Bonus: Potassium: 161mg; Iron: 12%; Vitamin A: 7%; Vitamin C: 16%; Calcium: 11%

Heart Shaped Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Great for a loved one!

Ingredients:

• Organic banana(s)
  
• Oatmeal
• Frozen fruits if desired

Instructions:

1. Mush up the banana(s) in a bowl until its a smooth consistency 
   
2. Pour in oatmeal and mix. If it’s too little continue adding oatmeal until desired consistency
3. Shape them into hearts and pop them in the oven at around 300 for ~5 minutes
4. Decorate it with frozen fruits!

Healthy Vietnamese Springrolls

(Recipe below)

Ingredients:

• Rice papers (clear spring roll wrappers)
  
• Rice vermicelli
  
• Lettuce
  
• Fresh mint leaves (optional: Coriander, Thai Basil leaver, shredded cucumbers, shredded carrots, pickles, pineapple, chicken, shrimp, tenderloin, etc. you name it!)
  
• Fish sauce
  
• 3 tablespoons sugar
  
• ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce (preferably from Phu Quoc)
  
• 2 lemons
  
• 2 garlic cloves
  
• 2 fresh Thai chiles (2 to 3 inches; preferably red; including seeds), thinly sliced crosswise
  

Directions:

The dipping sauce: Stir together sugar, lemon juice and fish sauce until sugar is dissolved. Stir in remaining sauce ingredients and your are almost ready to serve. Cut all the vegetables and meat in thin slices to fit in the springrolls.

In the meanwhile fill a pot of boiling water, cook rice vermicelli noodles for 5 minutes, or until tender and cooked through. Drain noodles, rinsing with cold water to remove all starch from noodles.

Assemble the rolls one at a time: wet one rice paper wrapper thoroughly in hot water for a few seconds, shaking off any excess water. Lay the rice paper on a large plate, allowing the paper to sit for one minute to become pliable. Neatly lay down some noodles. On top of the noodles, add torn mint leaves or additional optional ingredients, making sure not to overstuff spring rolls. Fold the the rice paper and pull the edge of the wrapper inwards and continue rolling until you reach the end of the wrapper furthest from you. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling. Serve immediately or at room temperature with the dipping sauce.

A short and easy guide for those who are struggling to get started with clean eating. It takes time and it will take hard work. This is only a guideline, you can follow at your own pace. It may take you longer to get rid of sugary drinks from the diet, but less time to stop eating fast food. Healthy eating is relatively easy but it will take time and effort. I hope this helps and I hope you all good luck!

Quick, Easy, Healthy Meal

Grilled Shrimp & Asparagus!!

So this is my entry for Transformation Tuesday.

It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t fast. It took me years to reach this point and I’m nowhere near done.

There is no magic formula, no pills, no tea, not even a strict diet that can do the trick instantly. It’s all about determination and a daily desire to be better than yesterday

Amazing work denissemonkey!

11 months, and 35 lbs down, and I feel better than ever! I’m not finished yet, but I am so far from where I began. I never thought I could feel so proud of myself! ❤️

Thank you for the submission hbelleflower! You are doing great, keep up the good work :)

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” - Socrates 

I’ve come to realize that’s where I went wrong the first time around. I was so focused on changing my body because I hated it, losing as much weight as quickly as possible, and getting rid of this old person I did not like. I wanted it to stick, but I was lost and didn’t know how to find balance. This time, I’ve found that balance I never knew I needed. I’ve found an amazing support system and community, I’m creating healthy habits that stick, and I’m truly committed to making a lifestyle change. I like and know who I am now, regardless of what weight I’m at, and I want to inspire others to start their lifestyle change today. What are you waiting for? 

You can follow my personal weight loss journey through my instagram and my fitblr. Happy #transformationtuesday everybody! I’d like to start featuring weight loss transformations on here every Tuesday, so please submit them to me via the submission link!

Thought I’d share with you all something I posted on my personal Instagram (@arielmermaid02)!
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*What to order at Starbucks!*☕️
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Do you love peppermint mochas like I do? Well I’ve perfected my perfect coffee order to get the closest thing to a peppermint mocha, without breaking the money or calorie bank. A grande size only has 60 calories, 5g net carbs, and 3g of sugar! Definitely hard to keep the sugar that low at Starbucks.
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This generally costs me around $3, compared to the $4-5 a peppermint mocha would cost. Give it a try and let me know what you think!