Secrets to losing weight without gaining it back

This model is leaner and tighter. Who cares what the scale says!!!

It's THAT time of year again. New Year's resolutions are the topic and the one I hear the most is " I want to FINALLY lose weight this year". A couple of things come to mind when I hear clients say this. Chances are this person has had a history of yo-yo dieting and they don't want to start over again and again. Sadly, many peope use the scale to judge their self image. Weight loss= good day. Being up a pound or two could mean a bad day. It really that cut and dried? Nope.. not at all. Our weight can fluctuate several times a day depending on water/food intake, depletion, hormones, or illness. This is no way to live. When the scale goes up or down it's a mental roller coaster that crushses self esteem and sets the pace for a never ending fight. The number that is important is body fat percentage or pounds of body fat lost. Muscle is dense and much more efficient than body fat. Muscle takes up less space and makes you look sexy and lean. Building lean muscle is critical to the overall goal of being lean and staying lean. Dieting alone without strength training, can cause you to lose muscle. Yo-yo dieters typically will gain more fat and get bigger each time they diet. Solutions: Add strength training and cardio to burn body fat. Start a clean eating journey and watch your body become lean, strong and sexy. Oh.. this years resolution.. change your mindset and vow to stay off the scale!

Get the results you want! Join us for Sleek Body Boot Camp!

Pumpkin Black Bean Chili

One of our Sleek Body clients found this recipe on TheGraciousPantry.com.

In Sleek we preach clean eating and frequent this site often.

The author really takes the guesswork out of eating clean and comes up

with some fabulous fare for our foodies!

I wanted to re post this and encourage you to visit her website for more awesome recipes.

Sleek Body Boot Camper, Laura made this and her review was  "yum".

Plus she mentioned that her house smelled like pumpkin so that equals "Win" as well.

You could also remove the turkey  and use vegetable stock for a meat free version of this.

Here you go

Clean Eating Black Bean Pumpkin Chili
(Makes approximately 4 quarts)

Ingredients
1.5 lbs. lean ground turkey meat
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin purée
2 (15 oz.) cans black beans with their water – do not drain (no sugar added)
2 cups chicken broth or stock (no sugar added)
3 tbsp. cinnamon
3 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp. onion powder
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. curry powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

Directions
Step 1 – Place the turkey meat, pumpkin purée, black beans with their water and chicken broth in a crock pot. Mix well.

Step 2 – To this, add 1 tbsp. cinnamon, 1 tbsp. chili powder, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. garlic powder and 1 tbsp. onion powder.

Step 3 – Cook on high for 4-6 hours, depending on your crock pot.

Step 4 – When the meat is completely cooked, stir in 2 tbsp. cinnamon, 2 tbsp. chili powder, 2 tsp. cumin, 2 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. curry powder, 1 tbsp. onion powder, honey, vanilla extract and vinegar. Stir well and serve.

Eat and Enjoy!

Nutritional Content
1 serving = 1 cup

Calories: 132
Total Fat: 4 gm
Cholesterol: 34 gm
Sodium: 258 mg (lower if you use low sodium chicken broth)
Carbohydrates: 15 gm
Protein: 9 gm

Nutritional Information estimated at Nutritiondata.com. Data may not be accurate.

http://www.thegraciouspantry.com

Clean Spaghetti Sauce

This is our secret family recipe for red sauce. It originated in 1970 from a lovely family in
Ft. Wayne, Indiana. This is the meat free version, however you can add your own in if you like.
I also made a change and used turbinado Sugar or Stevia in the Raw for our Sleek Body foodies. The photos below are a doubled batch.  Let me know how you like it!


Heat in heavy pan or dutch oven then add the following and saute in olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 pound  Portabellas (or any mushrooms)
1/2 green pepper, chopped or diced.


Add: 1 (28 oz) can of  organic tomatoes
1 (10.5 oz) of organic tomato puree (you can use fresh if  you like).
1 (12oz can of tomato paste)
2 Tablespoons of Low sodium Worchestershire sauce
2 Tablespoons of vinegar
2 Tablespoons of sugar (I use either turbinado or Stevia in the raw)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon celery seed
6 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 Tablespoons garlic salt
1 heaping teaspoon of Oregano
1 heaping teaspoon of basil




Simmer in your crock pot uncovered for at least 3 hours.  Remove Bay leaves. Puree with immersion blender and serve over pasta, spaghetti squash or use for dipping garlic bread if you're not afraid of carbs.   

Saute onions, mushrooms and peppers

add spices to tomato mixture 

Add sauted vegetables to sauce 

Simmer for  at least 3 hours and make sure to
use your immersion blender before serving.

Tabata Boxing video

Sleek Body Bride, Beth is getting ready for her upcoming wedding this fall.  We are working on sleeking her out and developing gorgeous muscle definition.  In this video, Beth and I are doing a Tabata boxing workout.
We followed up this workout with a fun workout on the Pilates trap table.

In Sleek Body Brides, our brides get private sessions as well as group boot camp sessions. Beth is a very hard worker but our workouts are really fun and get results.




You can learn more about Sleek Body Brides here