The Fun Fit Blog

Easy, High-Protein Lunch at Work

  

If you work, you probably don't have much time to make your lunch every day. Maybe you find yourself eating out more than you should at lunch. And when you do eat out, you end up eating not the healthiest foods and still find yourself hungry.

I recently found myself in this predicament. Today I'll share with you my solution. I was finding my cafeteria choices at work to be very low in protein and too generous in fat. And what's the point of working out if you're not going to fuel your body with healthy, high-protein foods?

I needed something that was easy to make, didn't require cooking at work, and would keep for a few days.

I decided to make a pasta salad. For the past month, I've been making pasta salad on Sunday nights and then eating it for lunch on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.

Here's the recipe:

Cooking Phase

• 1.5 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts (chopped into small pieces)
• salt
• pepper
• olive oil
• 4 green onions (chopped)
• 3 cups of whole wheat pasta

Cook the chicken in olive oil and season with pepper.  When the chicken is almost cooked, add the green onions to the chicken in the pan. Boil the pasta. Make sure to add some salt to the water before boiling.

Mix Phase

• 2 cups of fat-free Miracle Whip
• 3 tablespoons of fat-free balsamic vinaigrette dressing
• 1 and a half packages of cherry or grape tomatoes (washed)
• 1 to 2 celery sticks, sliced into thin pieces
• lettuce

Wait for the chicken and pasta to cool, then place both in a big bowl. In a small bowl, mix the Miracle Whip and the vinaigrette dressing well, to create the pasta salad dressing. Stir in the tomatoes, celery, and pasta salad dressing into the bowl containing the chicken and pasta. Refrigerate.

Next wash a few leaves of lettuce and dry them. Place the lettuce leaves on the bottom of a tupperware container. When you are ready to take the salad to work dish the pasta salad on the top of the lettuce.

Don't let unhealthy food choices at work bring you down. Be creative and bring your own healthy, low-fat, high-protein lunch to work.

Have Fun, Be Fit!

"Functional Marc"     

Power Bedtime Shake

It was a busy day for me. But despite everything, I made it to the gym at 8 PM and left at 10 PM. When I got home I was tired. I hadn't had anything to eat for over 4 hours. Lifting weights and running on the treadmill made me very hungry. My typical bedtime shake (a mixture of milk, casein whey and soy protein) just wouldn't be up to the job tonight.

I looked at what I had in the house and came up with just what I needed. Here's my recipe for a Power Bedtime Shake:

• Vita-Mix blender
• 1 Scoop casein whey powder (chocolate flavor)
• Half to 1 scoop of soy protein powder (chocolate flavor)
• Some ice (4 to 6 cubes)
• Some milk (300 to 450 mL)
• 1 Peeled orange with seeds
• 1 Peeled banana

Place all the ingredients into the Vita-Mix blender and then turn on the blender for about 10 seconds. You can now enjoy this Power Bedtime Shake.

My recipe makes a few glasses. But if it's late, you got home from a long workout, and you haven't eaten in hours, this shake will hit the spot. Feel free to reduce the ingredients if you're want something that fits into a smaller volume.

A Vita-Mix blender is a great tool in the quest to be fit. It blends like no other machine. With a good blender, some protein powder, and a few fresh ingredients, you can make a great shake at a moments notice and drink to your health.

Have Fun, Be Fit!
"Functional Marc" 

Easy, Healthy, and Tasty Banana-Walnut Pancakes

This is a simple, filling breakfast perfect for a weekend morning. The pancake mix has 4 grams of fiber and 8 grams of satisfying protein per serving, and cooks up super light and fluffy. The walnuts add some omega-3 fatty acids, which are healthy fats, and add just enough crunchy texture for about 20 calories.  It's like going to your favorite breakfast spot for about half the calories.

Ingredients for 2 servings:
•    1 c. Krusteaz Wheat & Honey Complete Pancake Mix
•    1 banana
•    4 walnut halves
•    2 T maple syrup

Instructions:
Prepare pancake mix per the package instructions (that is… just add ¾ cup water, mix, and cook 6 pancakes on a grill).  For each serving of 3 pancakes, top with ½ of a sliced banana, 2 crumbled walnut halves, and 1 T maple syrup. 

Points / Calories:
Approximately 6 Weight Watchers points per serving (~350 calories). You can reduce this by using a smaller banana or sugar-free syrup… but I like the taste of real maple syrup.

Best Fitness,
Bellydancing Diva

Orange-Chocolate-Banana Kefir Protein Shake

I had heard about the probiotic benefits of Kefir, a creamy cultured milk drink. Using ingredients that I had on hand, here’s what I came up with. I thought it would be good, since I like orange-flavored chocolates, and I think bananas go with just about anything.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Trader Joe’s low-fat Kefir (plain)

• 1 medium frozen banana

• 1 clementine orange (or tangerine)

• 1 scoop (24 g) Designer Whey chocolate protein powder

• Water or ice (to taste)

Directions:
Place all ingredients (except water/ice) in Vita Mix. Blend on medium to high for about a minute. Add water or ice to adjust the consistency, if desired.

The approximate nutritional stats for the entire shake are: 338 calories, 4.9 g fat, 41.8 g carbs, 3.7 g fiber, 33.3 g protein (6 Weight Watcher points). This makes a large volume, and the recipe could easily be split between two people as a snack.

I’ve also made this without the protein powder. Blend 1 c. Kefir, half a frozen banana, and 2 clementines; add water or ice if desired. This resulted in a lighter shake for 215 calories, 2.7 g fat, 31.5 g carbs, 2.7 g fiber, and 14.6 g protein (4 Weight Watchers points).

Enjoy!

Best Fitness,
Bellydancing Diva

Less Meat in Your Diet With Veggie Patch Chick'n Nuggets

When someone tells me that they've given up meat, I'm always impressed. For many, meat is not the easiest thing to give up.

If you really want some kind of meat fix without eating meat, there are many options out there. Today I'll be talking about one of those options, Veggie Patch Chick'n Nuggets. These nuggets contain vegetable protein instead of meat and they taste really good.

Each serving (4 nuggets) contains:

• 10 g of protein
• 190 Calories (70 from fat)
• 13% of your daily value of fat
• 6% of your daily value of saturated fat

There is some fat here, but less than real meat (50% less fat than real chicken nuggets). To make these nuggets even tastier, open up a jar of your favorite salsa and use it as a dipping sauce. The nuggets taste really good that way and the salsa is fat free. These nuggets make a healthy, quick lunch that you don't have to feel guilty about. They should be available in your local supermarket. Enjoy!

Have fun, be fit!
"Functional Marc"

Orange Dreamsicle Protein Shake

Looking for some extra protein with that different type of taste? Get some some sugar-free orange Tang powder and your favorite vanilla protein powder. Mix the two ingredients with milk and it taste like an orange dreamsicle. Yum!

Have Fun, Be Fit!
"Functional Marc"

A Vita-mix With Healthy Ingredients

Healthy Protein Snacks

According to tonight's Biggest Loser, the average American will gain 7 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. It's a good time to talk about diet. Diet is something that has to be constantly adjusted and tweaked based on many factors of your life.

Today I want to give you 2 ideas for healthy protein snacks. One of my snack recipes involves use of a Vita-mix. The Vita-mix can be expensive, but they can cut almost anything, giving you all sorts of new food options. You can also save quite a bit of money if you buy refurbished.

For your money, you can't get more protein than with cottage cheese. I'm one of those people who never liked cottage cheese, especially as a kid. But as an adult I've revisited cottage cheese and tried different ways to dress it up.

Most days, after a workout at the gym, I have cottage cheese for dinner, but it's not just cottage cheese. I use my Vita-mix to create a "topping" for the cottage cheese. If you don't have a Vita-mix, you can always hand cut the "topping" ingredients instead.

"Topping" ingredients for the Vita-mix (Feel free to substitute and experiment):

• Apple
• Banana
• Red grapes
• Pear
• A leaf or two of lettuce

Mix to desired consistency.

Next take fat-free cottage cheese (I'll use almost a pound of cottage cheese for a dinner). Then stir in ground flaxseed, for some healthy fat. Pour the "topping" over the cottage cheese and you have a very healthy, high protein food. It's quick to prepare and clean up is fairly painless. To clean the Vita-mix, run it with some soapy water and rinse.

For just a snack, reduce the above ingredients, ie less cottage cheese, reduce the types of fruit.

If cottage cheese isn't your thing and you want some protein, consider a classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich:

• Whole Wheat Bread (110 calories and 5 g protein per slice)
• Natural Peanut Butter 16 g of protein
• No sugar-added preserves
  

There's some fat here, but no worse than many protein bars. It's natural food and you get 26 g of protein. I wouldn't eat this every day, but it's a great alternative to junk food.

Have fun, be fit!
"Functional Marc"