PASSOVER READY
|
|
Tag: holiday
Passover Week
Green Shakshuka
•1 onion
•1 lb bag of spinach (fresh or frozen)
•1/2 tsp paprika
•1/2 tsp cinnamon
•1/2 tsp coriander
•2 tsp cumin
•Salt to taste
•1 tbsp oil
•Egg whites (depends on size of skillet)
1. Dice the onion.
2. Heat skillet and add onions and spices. Cook until onion is soft.
3. Add spinach and allow all to cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Make spaces in the spinach to hold the egg whites so they don’t run all over. Cook on low-medium heat until eggs are cooked thoroughly.
5. Remove skillet from heat and serve. 4 egg white is 1 meal serving.[dt_sc_hr_invisible_small]
Root Vegetable Medley
Ingredients:
•2 red onions, diced
•2 cloves of garlic, chopped
•2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
•1 lb carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
•1 lb beets, peeled and cut into wedges
•1 lb celeriac, peeled and cubed
•Zest of 1 lemon
•Zest of 1 orange
•2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
•2 tbsp chopped fresh savory
•1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
•Salt and pepper
•1/2 tsp ground coriander
•Cooking spray
1. Heat oven to 375 F and coat large casserole dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, spray with cooking spray then add onions and garlic. Sauté until soft and starting to brown, about 10 minutes.
3. Transfer this mixture to a large bowl then add sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, celeriac, lemon zest, orange zest, thyme, savory and tarragon. Season with salt and pepper and toss. Spoon into casserole dish.
4. Bake for 1 hour, or until vegetables are tender. 1/2 cup serving is one side.[dt_sc_hr_invisible_small]
Lemon Mousse
•One 4-serving size package of Jell-O vanilla pudding mix
•2 cups skim milk
•1 packet Crystal Light Lemonade powdered drink mix (the size that makes 1 pitcher)
•One 12 oz container of low fat Cool Whip
1. Add pudding mix and milk into a medium bowl and beat until smooth and thick.
2. Beat in lemonade mix until combined.
3. Fold in Cool Whip.
4. Chill before serving. 1 cup serving is one dessert/snack.[dt_sc_hr_invisible_small]
[dt_sc_hr_invisible_small]CAN I HAVE MATZAH? YES!
• MATZAH – 2 Matzah with 1 tbsp of peanut, almond or Sun Butter, light cream cheese or 1/2 avocado = meal
• MATZAH AND FRUIT: 1 Matzah with 1 tsp of pb or sunbather with 1 piece of
fruit or 1 cup of fruit = meal
• MATZAH AND EGGS – one Matzah with 3 egg whites = meal
•1/2 container Light tuna or chicken salad or egg white salad with 1 matzah = meal
• 1 slices of low fat cheese or 1 light part skim cheese stick with 1 Matzah =. Cat 3 Snack or you can do 2 slices with 2 matzah as a meal
[dt_sc_hr_invisible_small]Matzah is only once a day and remember never eat just to eat. If you don’t need it, don’t eat it. You don’t want to end the night feeling bloated and sick. Like you over did it and you regret it. Instead, you want to end the holiday feeling amazing and in control. You will enjoy the food, but also what is really important – the company and the celebration.[dt_sc_hr_invisible_small][dt_sc_hr_invisible_small]Have a Happy Passover and Safe Travels to everyone going away!
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick[dt_sc_hr_invisible_small]
FACE YOUR TRUTH
STOP DOING WHAT IS MAKING YOU UNHAPPY
- With Thanksgiving so close – if you are even thinking of pausing your weight loss or pushing off your weight loss for another day or week you need to refocus right now and realize that life is never going to stop for you to lose weight. Start now and make it happen. You will always have an occasion, an event, a holiday, and/or dinners out. You need to make this a way of life and the only way to do that is to incorporate your busy life with your weight loss goals. You can do anything and go anywhere and stay on program.
- Stop making deals: If you cheated extra during the week you don’t make the deal to starve yourself the next two days. If you have a lunch or dinner out and it’s not your Cheat Day – You should never be thinking…“Should I stay on program or go off?” – There is no should I or could I. There are no deals to be made with yourself. You have done plenty of that and look at where it has gotten you. You need to be in SHARK mode — keep it all very simple — if it’s not your Cheat Day then you are on program regardless of where you are or what you have going on in your life.
- Make it a priority: Yes unfortunately you need to be little obsessive about your weight loss. Not in the sense that you have to be extreme but you do have to think about it and it has to be a priority – weight loss is hard and it takes commitment and you have to be willing to feel that little hunger. You can’t get distracted and mindlessly eat —With so much temptation around (and with the holidays it will only get worse) you have to be focused, committed and a little obsessive about staying on program. The more you make it a priority in your life the better the results and the easier the weight loss will be.
- If you are feeling a little mentally weak – Take out your skinny pants and try them on. Try on your shorts. Look online for a bathing suit you want to be in. Shorts and/or sun dresses – because the next vacation along with spring will be here before you know it. With the weather we are having in NY these days it might be here even sooner than we think. While quarantine was a great time to be the best you can be and even get yourself to a better place — many did not use the time wisely. So now this is the time for you to do it. Start now – you don’t wait for warm weather to be here and then try and start. You do it now so when vacations return and warm weather arrive you are ready.
- Extra weight makes you unhappy – studies show that unhealthy and over weight people get angrier over unimportant issues 5x faster than healthy fit people. Most likely the reason is because unhealthy and overweight people tend to start their day unhappy and frustrated to begin with. So as the day goes on so does their temper. So next time you think “should I eat it or should I stay on program?” Remind yourself it’s not just extra food or unhealthy food that you are debating about – What you really are debating is do you want to add another unhappy day to your life and to the life of those around you. Do you want to continue to feel unsettled and out of control with your unhealthy eating habits and more importantly unhappy with who you are and who you have become. Is it really worth what you will be going off program for. [dt_sc_hr_invisible_small]
COUNTDOWN …… Keep the Focus!
As we travel through the last two weeks before the Holiday Break many of you are very much on your healthy weight loss path and others are still struggling a little to get to where you want to be. Wherever you are today and moving into this week I want you to be positive and confident about what you can achieve and why you want to do it. Don’t only focus on your number — instead focus on staying on program, having the control that makes you happy, and how much it all makes you feel good.
FOCUS: With so many holiday parties and gatherings before vacation if you are struggling focus on doing the very best you can because at the end of the day maintaining is better than gaining.
FOCUS: Even being on program between holiday parties is better than being off program all together. Just keep reminding yourself if you weren’t on program and weren’t watching and being mindful where would you be. That’s a scary thought for many. But knowing that you may not be doing your very best but doing the best you can right now is what matters and what will keep you from gaining — and sometimes that is enough.
What’s the point? — The holiday is in less than two weeks and I have so many parties in between what is the point of trying right now? The point is very simple you are either going to go in a happy positive place where you at the very least feeling de-bloated or a place that you feel out of control and very uncomfortable — choose your hard!
FOCUS: You can still lose a couple of pounds before you leave but even more important you will leave and start the holiday feeling lighter and in control over your day and that can really make the difference in how you feel, act and enjoy your holiday, vacation and everyone that loves you.
FOCUS: Don’t worry about where you weight is today — don’t even think about it. Just follow your program and you will feel better tomorrow. Whether you are leaving in one week or two — if you stay on program and keep moving forward everyday you will feel better and better. Whether you are staying home or going on vacation — feeling lighter and in control is where you want to be and how you want to feel.
The Journey — Something I think is important to share is how important your journey is. I know I say it all the time but it’s very easy to get caught up in feeling sorry for yourself and bad about the mistakes and choices you make. But the Innovation journey of weight loss is based around real life. That’s why we have a cheat day. So we don’t beat ourself up when we want to enjoy something we love. We have to remember we are not always going to be amazing every single second of every day. But what I want you to focus on is how happy you are on the journey to feeling your best. Every step you take in the direction of eating clean and losing weight is one more step to feeling great both mentally and physically. And while you are taking those steps — (slow or fast – turtle or shark) — keep the focus on all the happiness in your life —and start with the Happiness of the Holiday Season and being around those you love.
A Positive Mind Gives You A Positive Life
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
Yom Kippur – Have a Plan
Today at Sundown begins Yom Kippur the holiest day of the year — for those who observe it’s the day on which we are closest to G-d and to the quintessence of our own souls. It is the day of Atonement — be forgiven and cleansed from all your sins before G-d.
For nearly twenty-six hours — from several minutes before sunset tonight to after nightfall tomorrow — we “afflict our souls”: we abstain from food and drink, and head to temple and our time is spent in prayer to G-d. It’s truly a beautiful holiday.
For those of you who fast, it’s a great time to give your weight loss a boost as well. Your last meal today should be a nice balance of protein and healthy carbohydrates and this combination will sustain you throughout the fast. Some great choices would be:
- Grilled or roasted chicken (no skin)
- Vegetables – Green Beans, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Asparagus.
- Mashed Sweet Potato – no milk or cream
- Fresh fruit
Water, water, water throughout the day today. You should never wait until you are thirsty to drink water. Once you are thirsty you are already dehydrated and when you are dehydrated you will feel hunger. You should drink water all day when you are NOT thirsty to avoid dehydration.
Let’s Talk Breaking the Fast: If you don’t cheat after the fast you will actually use the fast to your benefit. It will be a great addition to your weight loss. After the fast you should start with a small on program snack and a bottle of water. Then follow it by an on program meal. Some examples: Skagel or ezekiel bread with lox and light cream cheese; Light Tuna or Chicken salad with ak mak, wasa or Innovation flax crackers; vegetables and hummus; roasted chicken or fish with vegetable side. If you really want to stay on program it’s very doable. There will be a lot of temptation at the table so the results are all going to be about what you want when you step on the scale Saturday not what you want tomorrow.
PLAN AHEAD: If you planned on cheating tomorrow then I am going to assume you saved your cheat day from this past weekend for tomorrow. But if you didn’t save it and you decided you want to cheat tomorrow then I would simply skip this coming weekend cheat day. It’s one or the other. You can’t have 3 cheat days in one week and lose weight. Make the choice and stick to it.
Very Important – don’t cheat tomorrow and say you are going to skip this weekend cheat day and then you don’t skip it. Because we all know where that will have you end up – yikes 🙁
Final thoughts: You should only be breaking the fast if you actually fasted. If you are not fasting because of medicine, not religious, you just can’t do it- or don’t want to do it… then you should be sticking 110% on program, and eating clean on program food.
Whether you are having a cheat day or deciding to stay clean on program – plan it and follow through. I think especially on such a holy holiday it’s really important to stick to whatever you plan. You don’t want to end the holiday and start the New Year beating yourself up because of the decisions you made and how they made you feel. If you are cheating then enjoy it and if you are staying on program enjoy it.
Don’t always base your decisions on what is in front of you. Think about and base your decisions on how you will feel at the end of the night – how you will feel tomorrow getting dressed and how you will feel when you step on the scale this weekend.
Whatever you decide— have your plan and stick to it. Because the most important thing is owning it, — accepting it and enjoying every second on it.
Atone for the sins of the past year and learn from those sins
so that you can be a better person for the year ahead.
Innovation Weight Loss wishes you all a healthy, peaceful and fulfilling year.
G’mar Hatimah Torah
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
Don’t say one thing and then do another…….
With the holidays approaching and schedules are full I know many of you are already thinking — how am I going to get through this coming week— when in reality it shouldn’t be that difficult. Holidays should be about you being surrounded with family and friends and celebrating love, health, happiness and the New Year and the blessings it brings. Just like the mind controls the body — how you treat and celebrate Rosh Hashanah will reflect the rest of your year. With that said you do not want to go in saying one thing and doing another. So if you plan on staying clean do it and if you plan on cheating enjoy it. The important thing is to follow through on what you plan.
I think one of the most important things about the Innovation Program is it gives you the opportunity to have a cheat day once a week. It’s meant to be a day where you can enjoy without guilt. However, we sometimes get caught up in when we want it that is most convenient for us VS. when we should use it. Let me explain further…. if you normally have a cheat day on Saturday — but you are celebrating Rosh Hashanah on Monday because that is when you will be with family and friends then you should use Monday as your cheat day. Instead what we tend to do is go on about how we don’t like the food that is going to be served, and we don’t want to waste a cheat day on a holiday. So instead you have the Cheat Day on the Saturday like you normally do so you can indulge in what you want — but then you end up having Matzo Ball Soup, Challah bread and a couple of drinks on the holiday…. all while telling yourself it wasn’t that much. And you will justify it by saying you did not want to be that person who couldn’t eat. But in reality you didn’t have to be that person — you could have just chosen to use your cheat day on the holiday as that is exactly what it is for. So now you have had two cheat days and you could have easily had one and saved it for the holiday to enjoy with those you love — or as we know family and holidays are tricky — you could have enjoyed your cheat day on the holiday with a couple of extra drinks if you happen to be surrounded by those you love but drive you crazy 🙂
If we are going to ask something from the Almighty then we should be prepared to help him out. — If you want the right things in your life then you have to do the right things to make it happen. Rosh Hashanah is about starting your New Year with asking G-d to grant a year of peace, prosperity, and blessings of health and happiness. But we must remember even when we ask for blessings — it’s up to us to do the right things to make them happen. If you ask for positive in your life but take all negative steps after asking — then 9 out of 10 times you will get negative results. One of the most important things we learn in any religion is that asking is not enough — and it shouldn’t be enough. Anything you ask, pray or hope for has to be followed up with positive work to receive what you want. It’s not ask and you shall receive— it’s ask, and then follow that request up with hard work and positive steps. Only then will you have the greatest chance of achieving the most precious life changing results.
RECAP… getting through the weekend and the holidays shouldn’t be stressful when it comes to food. You pick your cheat and you follow your plan. It’s like any other weekend — you can’t cheat more than one day and expect to lose weight that week. If you stick to your 6 days on and 1 day off you will lose. Keep it all in perspective. If you want to ask, pray or hope for a great healthy year then follow it up by starting the holiday with doing what you planned. If you are cheating then cheat and enjoy, and if you are staying on program — then plan it and follow through. There are always options and having the cheat day gives you the flexibility to stay on program or have your cheat day and enjoy.
Whether it’s weight loss, happiness, health, love, career, prosperity OR all of the above — regardless of what or who you believe in it all comes down to doing the right things, working hard and staying on your healthy path. Because as we all know positive actions = positive results.
Don’t ask G-d to guide your footsteps if you are not willing to move your feet
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
YIKES – IT’S TIME TO GET SERIOUS!
YIKES! is probably the best word to describe how you might be feeling right now. With the long weekend behind you and any damages that might have been done are now in the past the only thing to do is to move forward. Don’t waste anytime beating yourself up – it’s wasted energy. Right now you start your hardcore 100% Shark week immediately. We have a countdown of exactly 4 weeks until Holiday Break. It’s super important that you enjoy when it’s time to enjoy and it’s even more important that you are amazing when it’s time to be amazing. So regardless of the parties you might have coming up or any events that are taking place over the next couple of weeks it’s important you are a shark and stick to the 6 clean days and 1 cheat day. The next 4 weeks is all about being amazing.
THE NEXT 4 WEEKS IS ALL ABOUT BEING A SHARK
I can’t even begin to tell you in the last two days how many text and email messages I received -everyone was more than ready to start eating clean again. Many of you even started yesterday. YES it’s so enjoyable to cheat but it’s beyond amazing to start eating clean again after you cheat. Think about it – we cheat to mentally comfort us. Most of us will agree that as soon as we feed that mental comfort our physical comfort is compromised. The more we cheat the worse we feel. Not on purpose of course. Mentally we want to be able to cheat the whole day but the longer you are on program the less you are able to cheat the entire day. Even when you can cheat the whole day you will notice how week after week you really are taking in less without even trying. — All good things and all very relevant to where you are today.
The reason I bring this up is so you understand that even though you probably feel like you did a lot of damage the reality is you probably didn’t do as bad as you thought. Yes you could have been better and I’m sure you could have been worse. What is important if you get right back on program and give yourself a solid 6 clean days. I promise regardless of how bad you feel right now, by mid week you will feel so much better and by next weigh in you will be so happy you have a Hardcore Shark Solid Clean week in. And in 4 weeks you will be more than ready for your holiday and/or vacation.
The program is all about loving to live healthy and enjoying life. We eat clean so we can cheat and when we cheat we can’t wait to eat clean again. Living the program gives you the opportunity to enjoy it all. Especially over a holiday week when we need a little more flexibility than just one cheat day. Now that Thanksgiving Holiday is over and everyone enjoyed – now it’s time to get serious and put the work in so in 4 weeks you can BE, FEEL AND LOOK like the most amazing you and also have that flexibility again and enjoy the next holiday break.
LIFE
WORK HARD FOR IT
LIVE IT- LOVE IT – ENJOY IT
Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
IT’S OKAY!
|
|
|
|
Get Right Back on Program
April is finally going to bring spring! By mid week we will be in the 50’s and by the end of the week 60’s!!!!! And before you know it, 70 and 80 degrees will be quickly following. The weather has really thrown so many for a loop this year. It felt like the ever lasting winter, especially if you didn’t get the chance to fly away from the cold for a spring break. And on the flip side, if you did go away it’s not always easy to go from beautiful weather back to this very unpleasant cold. Either way, I just want you to know that if you are struggling because you just came back from vacation or struggling from the tough winter – you are not alone. But I also want you to know that you have to snap out of it because once it gets warm – it’s going to just get warmer and warmer.