Fire Up Club Approved Recipes

Orange-Vanilla Fruit Dip

1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup light, fat-free vanilla yogurt
1 tsp grated orange peel
Fresh Fruit (strawberries are the best)

Combined cottage cheese, yogurt and orange peel in a blender or food processor and blend on high speed until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Spoon orange-vanilla dip into a small bowl and place a portion of fresh fruit on the side for dipping. Serve and enjoy.


Turkey Sloppy Joes

1.5 lbs lean ground turkey
1 cup chopped onions
2 gloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup catsup
1/2 cup chopped green sweet pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup water
1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey mustard
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1.5 teaspoon chili powder

8 whole wheat mini-squares

In a large skillet, cook ground turkey, onion, and garlic until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat.

Meanwhile, in a 3.5 or 4-quart crockery cooker combine catsup, green sweet pepper, celery, water, brown sugar, honey mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and chili powder. Stir in meat mixture.

Cover; cook on low-heat setting 6 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 or 4 hours. Spoon onto toasted mini-sqaures. Makes 8 servings

Pizza Party

The Fire Up Club will be celebrating all the successful changes in lifestyles that ladies have done since Jan 1. For ladies who have weighed in 5 times or more since January, the total weight loss for the group is 184 pounds. As one lady shared at our meeting this week, "this is one whole person." Way to go ladies!!

To celebrate, we are having a pizza party at our next meeting. We will be indulging in whole wheat pizza with salad. This will be followed by a tasteful dessert made with fresh fruit and a favorite yogurt dip of mine. Dinner will be followed by the Nutrition Twin Trivia Game. The game will have questions from the Nutrition Twin's book and other materials that we've covered since January. There will be prizes. Who said that eating healthy can't be fun?

Nancy's Easy Chicken & Rice Recipe

I made the following dish for a birthday party this past Sunday. Everyone liked it and many people have requested the recipe. I hope you enjoy it.

Ingrediants
3 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast
1 cup brown rice
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt or less
1.5 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tablespoon flakes)
dash of pepper
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped celary
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup rasions
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Place all ingredients except for the chicken into a 4 quart pan. Stir and bring to boil. Salt and pepper chicken. Lay chicken on top of ingredients. Lower heat to simmer and cover tightly. Cook 45-60 minutes until water is absorbed and chicken is tender.

Phrases to Help Us Continue On Our Lifestyle Change

For the past few weeks, I've heard or read phrases that can help us to stay on our journey of changing lifestyles and living healthy. I hope they encourage you as much as they do me.

For the ladies - eat like a lady and not like a big man. This is a phrase that one of the Fire Up Club ladies shared. She came up with it one night when she at a buffet with her family. She said the phrase helped her to minimize the number of times that she went to the buffet and helped her to control her portion sizes.

Finally, believe that your body image does not have to be limited to body weight changes only. Body image changes include how we relate to other people, how much we allow our thoughts about our body to affect our moods and how we interact socially.

True change cannot be rooted in external changes that work only as temporary band-aid to cover up a problem, but must be rooted from the inside out. To be successful in body image change, you need to OWN your own body and its ability to change. Begin implementing and maintaining these changes as an on-going lifestyle, not without set backs but always without judgement.

(Source: Rev It Up Manual, Tammy Beasley, RD, LD, CEDSN; 2005).

The Emotional Connection to Eating

For two weeks, the Fire Up Club members have learned about how our emotions sometimes impact our eating.

One of the guest speakers provided the following tips for breaking the cycle of eating for an emotion.

1. Journal when a craving occurs. Explore the particular event and the emotions that are associated with it. Begin to identify the ‘triggers’ that lead to the need to eat. Emotional triggers become patterns.
2. Separate eating from other activities. If you sit in your chair, watch TV or read the morning paper while eating everyday, you will feel like eating during these activities, irrespective or physical hunger.
3. Consider eating as a pure experience. Nothing else should be done while eating and every bite should be tasted (each bite should have 10-12 chews). Activities become a distraction from eating.
4. Follow an eating schedule. Just by changing or planning an eating schedule or controlling the number of times you eat can make a difference.
5. Limit the places where you eat. Places can be associated with eating. Some people can eat anywhere, but the best practice is to have one place in your home where you will eat.
6. Set realistic goals. Being realistic with your goals helps to prevent disappointment and a sense of failure that could lead to breaking your diet. You can sometimes set yourself up for a fall.
7. Make intermittent goals. In other words don’t make goals you can’t maintain, but constantly review where you are and where you need to be, and change the goals as you gain more insight into your own eating patterns.
8. Keep a food record. Record everything you eat. It could get as detailed as when, where, and what you’re doing while eating. This way, you can keep track of how many calories you have in your food account. It’s the single most effective behavioral tool to losing weight.
9. Avoid a chain reaction. Some of us eat because of behavior we’re used to doing and continue to repeat. For example, we get stressed which leads to eating a cookie, which means falling off the weight loss plan, which leads to depression or which leads to eating more or all of the cookies. It’s a chain reaction. In this case, break the chain with a non-food reward. Instead of a cookie, treat yourself to a hot bath or some other activity.
10. Reward yourself. Rewarding yourself for doing well too, but NOT with food helps to give you a sense of accomplishment. Instead of a candy bar, buy a favorite trinket, CD, or read a book, take a bubble bath – give some time to yourself and do some self-nurturing.
11. Do the following if craving doesn' stop. If a craving just won’t stop, then give yourself permission to have a little of something or substitute it with something healthier – even gum can help as it gives us the chewing motion.
    
    MOST IMPORTANTLY: Learn, Understand and Accept Your Value and Worth. God paid a high price for YOU! You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Search the scriptures and see how much value you are, from Genesis to Revelation – it’s all in there.

A Praise Report for Fire Up Eating

I received a call from on of the Fire Up Club member yesterday. She shared great news with me about health benefits that she has already experienced by being a member and following the Fire Up Eating Plan. This particular person has COPD and sleep apnea. I was so excited to hear her testimony that I asked her if she would be comfortable writing about it and allowing me to post it on the blog. She agreed and what follows is her own written words about what she has accomplished in the short time that she has been a Fire Up member.

I wish to share the best report that I have had in close to a year.

Yesterday, I went for a checkup from my doctor, and my levels had changed as follows: my sugar levels were down to 97, and according to the doctor, this is a perfect level. To further add, the scales showed that since my last visit at the end of December, I had lost 7 lbs. YEAH!!! When checking my lungs, my doctor stated they were absolutely clear for the first time in a long long time. Upon the shedding of even those 7 lbs, my lungs already have began a healing process. I was so excited, and my doctor was extremely pleased.

In addition, I lay claim to a further truth that has come about through my change of eating patterns, and this is: I am sleeping better than I have in years. Most of these past twenty years my sleep pattern has been erratic. My many friends who know me can testify that my sleeplessness is a part about me they know the best. I can now attest to the fact this past week and a half I have slept more hours in one night than I have in years. Most nights over the years I would sleep for a couple of hours and wake up for hour and then sleep maybe one or two. I am sleeping probably six hours a night and some seven peacefully. It is strange for me, but it is true. I have to attribute this to my new pattern of eating and some moderate exercise. This might sound far fetched or just a little TOO much, but I know what I have experienced and how my insides no longer feel sluggish even though I pushed myself to do more and more. I can now do more without having to push myself only because I really do feel better and more energized. I have a ways to go, but I am knowing that if I feel this good by some pounds, how much better am I going to feel as I continue to take ground in my health. I can honestly say I am more rested and more alive than I have been in SUCH a long time. My father used to say if you have your health, you have it all. He said this because he suffered with a great many health issues, and I am not going to follow that pattern. I shall live a long life because I choose to treat my body as it was made to be treated.


I am thankful that I made the choice to become part of the "fireup your metabolism" program. I am thankful for the encouragement I have received when I felt I had failed. A slight slip is what happened a few weeks ago, but I started again, and the results are here for me to see.

Thank you to the ladies who have organized this program to encourage us as they have been ones who have gone through their own trials and have achieved and are continuing to achieve success: Laura, Theresa, and Sarah for your support. I believe I would have quit, and I am thankful I made the right choice to make that "phone call" for help when I got off track. Those encouraging words from people who have gone through and care helped me to achieve this first step that leads me to better health. Writing this testimony became more healing and more encouraging than I thought. Also, it puts a new resolve in me of excitement to continue my journey. I have allowed Satan to steal from me. As I continue to make further gains, I am certain God is going to bless this, and my ultimate testimony is going to amaze even me. God bless.

Angelo's Seafood Restaurant Partners with Fire Up Club

Angelo's Seafood Restaurant located in Potsdam, NY has partnered with the Fire Up Club to offer healthy choices for our dining pleasures.

This partnership was birthed at the Clarkson Fitness Center. I had a conversation with Angelo about my successful weight loss journey. I also told him about the Fire Up Club. During the course of the conversation, I shared with Angelo that I'm real particular about where I dine now since I look for restaurants that offer whole wheat products. Angelo agreed to begin offering whole wheat pasta again at his restaurant. As we continued talking, Angelo then came up with the idea of offering discount cards to all of the Fire Up Club members and begin to offer a healthy special every night.

The Fire Up Club members will be dining at Angelo's on Monday, January 22. It is a special dinner that the club is having in conjunction with the Pilates class. I gave Angelo the menu for the night and he will be making a One Choice Chicken Entree' with whole wheat pasta with veggies, and a salad. No bread or desserts are on the menu...after all we will be eating healthy. The dining out experience will also be used to teach the Fire Up Club members about how to eat at restaurants.

A special thanks to Angelo for helping us change our lifestyles and living healthy.