LOW CARB PIZZA- ALMOND FLOUR CRUST

INGREDIENTS:
For dough

-2 cups of almond flour
-3 eggs
-½ tsp baking soda
-1 tsp apple cider vinegar
-4 tablespoons of butter
-3 tablespoons of cream cheese or ½ cup of ricotta
-½ cup of shredded mozzarella

For toppings
-2 cups of sauce
-Shredded cheese- about 11/2- 2 cups
-Pepperoni, Olives, peppers, mushrooms- whatever toppings you prefer!
-½ -1 cup of ricotta-optional

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
   2. Combine dry ingredients for the dough
   3. Mix in softened butter, cream cheese ( or ricotta), apple cider vinegar, and shredded cheese. Combine well.
   4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, spread dough out to the length of the pan.
   5. Bake for 8-10 minutes
   6. Let cool, if using ricotta spread on dough then add toppings!
   7. Place back in oven on broil for approximately 5-7 minutes.

HOW I STOPPED SABOTAGING MY WEEKEND

I would be “good” all weekend but then Friday night would come and ordering pizza became a ritual. I really didn’t feel like cooking, my kids were younger and it was just easier. Let’s face it, we all have that weekend mentality. So why do we feel like we have free range of eating and drinking just because it’s a certain day of the week? Possibly…

-Social aspect of going for dinner or breakfast=drinks and bigger portions
-Stressful week= drinks, food, dessert and convenience of take out
-habit= pizza every Friday or big Sunday dinners
-relaxation= no cooking= ordering or eating out

After a while, Monday’s started to suck, especially having to get on the scale!
Now you are paying the consequences. I believe 2 major reasons we have hard time with control on the weekends.

Give ourselves too much permission to eat and drink- feel we “deserve” it
Out of our normal weekday routine-during the week we tend to eat basically the same things for breakfast, lunch and dinner. When the weekend comes we don’t have a plan.

TIPS FOR HAVING CONTROL OVER YOUR WEEKEND:

1. Stick to “normal habits” as much as possible. Try to eat and exercise routinely. Stay on schedule with breakfast, lunch and dinner.

2. Choose “better” not perfect. When you’re out to eat choose eggs and ham or bacon. Pick to have either toast or pancakes one day, not both.

3. Listen to your body. Chances are if you eat well during the week you will not want to overeat or make poor choices on the weekend. You will probably not feel good afterwards.

4. Pick one meal to “ splurge”. Instead of indulging in pizza on Friday, burgers and fries on Saturday and a big Sunday breakfast, pick one of those meals to “treat” yourself. Believe me it will be well worth it Monday morning!

5. Weigh in on Monday morning. This will help you stay on track and make better choices over the weekend. Even though you might be up on the scale after a couple of days of overeating, it will keep you accountable!

    STRAWBERRY AVOCADO PANCAKES

If you don’t mind a little green, these are delicious,moist, and low carb!

INGREDIENTS:

-1 mashed avocado
-3 eggs or 2 eggs and “ flax seed egg” ( tablespoon ground flaxseed and tbls water)
-¼ cup almond or peanut butter
-¼ cup almond flour
-1 tsp apple cider vinegar
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp vanilla
-¼ cup cut up strawberries or blueberries
-1 tablespoon of protein powder-optional
-Mini chocolate chips-optional

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine avocado and peanut butter, beat eggs and add to avocado mixture.
   2. Add apple cider vinegar, vanilla, and almond flour. Stir in strawberries and/or chocolate chips. Combine well.
   3. Heat a tablespoon of coconut oil in a skillet. Scoop ¼ cups of batter into the pan and cook on high until bubbly.

A LETTER TO MY YOUNGER OVERWEIGHT SELF

I am writing this blog ( letter) to my younger self as part of a self healing process as well as to encourage others to maybe do the same. As I was growing up my addiction was food. I would sneak it, hide it and eat when nobody was around. With any addiction whether it be alcohol, drugs, or smoking, we all have to learn how to deal with the situation we are put in. This can be extremely challenging to be at a party, at a bar, or around others with addictions. Eventually we learn how to deal with these situations. I believe “when you are in control of a situation~you are healed”

Dear Rachel,

You look so happy and always smiling, but I know now that deep down that’s not the case. I’m not sure why, you have a good life, amazing parents, 3 great siblings, a caring grandmother and an awesome fun loving aunt. There are many that care so much about you.
I love seeing you swim, you enjoy the friends and the competitiveness of your team. It’s an awful feeling every time you have get fitted for bathing suits especially since you are the biggest girl on the team. Being an overweight teenager is tough. I don’t like when the kids at school would make comments behind your back. High school was worse, it’s so upsetting when you couldn’t find a prom date or boyfriend because nobody wants to date a fat girl.
You will never forget the unkind words from friends and family. Even though they are hurtful they are only trying to help you. It’s hard to understand and embarrassing when they suggested diets, weight loss classes, and diet camps. It never seems better when everyone including doctors are constantly telling you that you must lose weight. You know you have to lose weight,you think about it everyday. You have tried a couple of things but mentally you weren’t ready I guess.

Even all that shopping at “plus” stores was hard back then but I do know that someday you will love to buy clothes ( at any store) and finally be proud of how you look in them.
You will be comfortable eating in front of people and order what you want. Nobody will judge you when you order french fries instead of a salad.

You are “in it for the long run”…
Amazing things happen in the future! I love that you are so committed to walk or do your Tae bo video for just 30 minutes a day.You do whatever it takes, rain or shine, getting up early, or squeeze it in during lunch.Those walks eventually turn into runs, those runs turn into 5 mile runs. These will change your life. You become super motivated as you slowly start to lose weight. You start preparing some meals and give up Burger King’s chicken sandwich’s, fries, and diet cokes. You start cutting down on your portions. You will try different diets, weight watchers, atkins, etc. in hopes that something will work for you.

It will take some time, motivation, and a lot of confidence. You will have to dig deep and work hard. You stick with it, there are definitely ups and downs but eventually it pays off!
The best part is you get to help other people in your same situation. You will be inspiring, happy and confident. Hang in there, you can do this and you will be so proud of what you’ve accomplished.

Love,
More confident Rachel

P.S. you won’t believe what kind of desserts you will be eating 😉

CAULIFLOWER CRISPS

INGREDIENTS:
-2 bags of frozen riced cauliflower- you can make half the recipe
-½ -1 cup of cheddar cheese
-1 egg-slightly beaten
-Garlic powder-optional
-½ tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
   2. Cook your cauliflower and squeeze out all the moisture with a cheese cloth or
   Nut bag. I bought one from amazon “bigger better nut bag”.
   3. Combine all the ingredients together and scoop using a ¼ measure cup onto a
   parchment paper lined baking sheet
   4. Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes or until crisp.

MY 20 YEAR OLD WEIGHT LOSS PLAN-I REALIZED I HAD THE POWER ALL ALONG

I believe it’s the lack of confidence that prevents us from losing weight or reaching our goals. I know this was holding me back for years, I was self conscience and had no confidence in myself. It’s very empowering when you are making progress and know the changes YOU are making are working!

MY OLD “TYPICAL” WEIGHT LOSS PLAN ( 20 YEARS AGO)
1.Make a decision to lose weight ( again) because I’m unhappy
2. Try to resist sweets and fast food- but I feel stressed and eat M&M’s
3. Feel regret and upset at the end of the day because I feel that I have failed-again
4. Get up the next day and do the same thing
5. Try something different…
How I realized I was in control:

1. THE ONLY THING THAT COULD CHANGE WAS ( IS) ME- No excuses!! We can all admit, including myself have blamed others or made excuses for not losing weight. The only person who can change this is YOU. You have to do the work and put the effort in. There are no quick fixes- I’ve tried!

2. PATIENCE ( NOT MY FORTE)- We all get frustrated when your weight doesn’t come off quickly. The reality is we spend years developing bad habits that has led us to gain 5 pounds or 50 pounds. We can’t expect to take it off in a couple of weeks or even months. Our goal should be sustainable weight loss- a new lifestyle, it’s a process with lots of ups and downs.

3. SELF-DISCIPLINE & SITUATION- Since we cannot always control the situation we must learn how to deal with it. For example, if you are at a party with lots of food around or out to dinner with lots of options. This is where you have to dig a little deeper and be disciplined and decide how badly you want this. However, there are many situations that we CAN control like packing a lunch for work, grocery shopping, exercise, meal prep so we don’t stop to order pizza on the way home, etc. Even though this could be a pain or time consuming it helps you stay on track and it’s easier to make healthier choices.

4. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! – practice makes perfect ( or almost perfect) right? When you practice something everyday you get better at it.
Practice making your lunch
Practice cutting up your veggies
Practice reading labels
Practice ordering veggies instead of fries
Practice cutting up your veggies
It’s all about repetition that helps you make progress towards your goals.

CAULIFLOWER ( AND BROCCOLI) TACO BAKE

INGREDIENTS:
-1 head of cauliflower cut into florets
-Broccoli crowns- optional- I used about 3 cups
-1 pound of ground beef
-Packet of taco seasoning
-½-1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
-spray for baking dish

DIRECTIONS :

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a skillet, brown your beef until no longer pink. Drain, place beef back on the stove. Add ¼ cup of water and taco seasoning. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Cut up your cauliflower and broccoli and place them on a sprayed 9×13 baking dish. Roast until soft, about 15-20 minutes.

3. Remove from oven and spread the seasoned ground beef over the cauliflower and broccoli. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake until cheese is melted or you can put it on broil.

4. top with sour cream and or guacamole

ZUCCHINI FRIES- ALMOND FLOUR BREADING

INGREDIENTS:

-2 large zucchini-peeled and sliced lengthwise
-½ cup of almond flour
-¼ cup parmesan cheese
-2 tsp garlic powder
-3 eggs
-Everything bagel seasoning-optional

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Whisk eggs in a mixing bowl. Combine cheese, flour and garlic powder in another mixing bowl.

3. Dip each zucchini piece in the egg and then slightly bread them in the almond flour mixture. Place them in rows on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

4. I added some everything bagel seasoning to mine.

WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT-THIS WORKS..

Stop eating so much. It has worked for me and every client that has done it, I have yet to see it fail!
How many of you eat every couple of hours from fear of your “metabolism slowing down”? We have been convinced that we need to snack throughout the day for this reason. It’s a myth. The truth is eating all day is not helping us lose weight. Metabolism has to do with how much muscle mass you have. That is why it becomes harder to lose weight as we get older because we tend to have less muscle.

1. NO EATING IN BETWEEN MEALS!- this is not what we have
been taught over the last couple of years. However it is a
myth that our metabolism will slow down if we don’t eat
every 3 hours. Our metabolism has to do with muscle mass,
that is why it slows as we get older. When we don’t eat, we burn fat
because we have used all our energy storage from carbs.
Let your body feel hunger.
Also when we are constantly eating we have a lot of shifts in our blood
sugar which causes mood swings. We have gotten away
from 3 meals a day like it was years ago.

2. DON’T EAT OUT OF HABIT- we eat breakfast at 8am, snack at 10
Am, lunch at 1pm, snack at 3 pm, dinner at 6pm, snack at
9pm…. Are you truly hungry all those times or are not eating the
right foods to fill you up? Focus on biological hunger rather
than eating from boredom, habit, stress or for fun
3. EVERYTHING ADDS UP- depending on the size of your
snacks, you are probably consuming a lot of extra calories
throughout the day. “ just a little” cream in your coffee, just
bite off your kids plates, just a handful of nuts, or a few
crackers, or grab a piece of candy out of the dish. This is
where journaling is a good idea. It helps you
become more aware of all those little things and how many
extras you are having.

4. YOUR PORTIONS ARE TOO BIG- you are probably eating too much,
possibly without even knowing. If you cut down you may realize you
don’t need as much as you think.

ITALIAN CAULIFLOWER RICE BALLS ( ARANCINI)

So honestly I didn’t even know what these were until I noticed them on a menu last week. I started researching a bit and came across a recipe from skinny taste that I adapted. They were delicious! I made a fairly large batch. You can cut in half if you want.

INGREDIENTS:
-5 Italian sausage links- cut into tiny pieces, casing removed if you want
-2 bags of frozen cauliflower ( 32 ounces total) I use the trader Joe’s organic
-¼ cup of marinara
-½ cup mozzarella
-¼ cup parmesan
-2 eggs
-¼-½cup of almond flour or breadcrumbs

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook cauliflower rice in microwave and squeeze all excess water. I actually use a Nut bag for this. nut bag

2. In a medium skillet, cook the sausage about 4-5 minutes. Add the cauliflower
rice and marinara and cook another 4-5 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and add the mozzarella. Let it cool a bit. Place eggs in one
bowl and almond flour and parmesan in another.

5. Use a ¼ measuring cup and scoop the mixture and place onto a parchment
Lined baking sheet. Brush each ball with egg and then almond flour mixture.
You can roll them into balls and coat them that way as well. Bake about 20
minutes.