Americans don’t eat enough vegetables and it’s killing us.

Yep, that’s right. Many of us have a horrible diet full of sugar, caffeine, fat and processed foods. We’re literally killing ourselves as we get heart disease, cancer and diabetes at alarming rates.

But getting healthy is really simple. More fruits and vegetables. More water. More exercise. Less of the bad stuff.

With summer here and lots of fresh produce, my number one mission is to eat fresh greens. I’m a big fan of collards, they’re just so darn good for lots of reasons. Take a listen to this week’s audio tip and you’ll hear why I think collards are king. You can also hear about simple ways I use them to add nutritional value in a snap. And when you’re done listening and sufficiently inspired, check out the recipe below.

Sauteed Collard Greens with Garlic and Olive Oil

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Yields: 2-4 servings

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch leafy green vegetables (collard, kale, or mustard greens)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (optional)
dash of salt

Directions:
1.  Wash and chop greens into bite size pieces.
2.  In a skillet, heat oil, add garlic and saute for 1 minute.
3.  Add greens and saute for 5-7 minutes.
4.  Add a dash of salt to sauté and cook 3-5 more minutes.
5.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds and lemon juice and serve.

Notes: I like to double the recipe. Most greens cook down to a relatively small amount. When I double the recipe, we eat some for one meal and then use the greens the next day with beans and rice or in a veggie omelet. Sesame seeds are a simple way to enhance the flavor of the greens.

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Filed under: High Quality Food, Optimal Health, Healthy lifestyle, Healthy Meals, Greens, Recipes, Prevention, Locally Grown Food | No Comments

I have to be honest in saying that I don’t love to exercise. In fact, sometimes I don’t even like it, and I have to force myself to go to the gym. That might seem weird coming from someone who’s a health coach, whose job it is to help people with just this topic, but the reality is that I have to work at it too.

This week I’ve done really well. I’ve been to the gym the last four days, doing a mix of weight training and cardio. But I also know that I can be inconsistent. I might have a really good week followed by a week when I barely get there (with all the necessary excuses to justify it). I hear that a lot too from my clients and people on my mailing list. It seems like it’s easier to get started than it is to maintain a rhythm over time.

As I was working out yesterday, it got me thinking about the whole idea of motivation when it comes to exercising. We all know that we need to exercise to be healthy, ward off disease and feel better, no surprise there. But there’s such a gap between knowing what we need to do and doing it regularly. Why is that?

It used to be that I was in a serious groove about exercise. I’d consistently go to the gym before work. I loved that I got strong and felt so good about my body, I loved that I was lifting weights, and even felt confident about lifting free weights (at my gym, you mostly find men in the free weight room). In fact, I met Bruce, my husband, working out at 5:30 in the morning in that very weight room (a fabulous but totally unexpected discovery).

But one day I realized that I was tired of getting up so early and pushing myself. Wasn’t I in good enough shape to slide for awhile (yep, that’s where things started to shift!)? What if I started going less often, wouldn’t that be OK? My motivation started to wane and I became inconsistent. Truth be told, it took me awhile to dig out of my gym rut. After all, I was juggling so many things in my life, I was having lots of fun with Bruce and there just didn’t seem to be enough time.

What got me going again? Well Bruce and I got married last month and I was definitely motivated to look great in my wedding dress. And now that we’re back from our honeymoon (where I ate far too much food and totally overindulged), I’m eager to lose a little weight and feel better in my body.

If I really boil it down though, in the end, I’m motivated by the feeling I get when I’m done with my workout. I love how exercise helps me get out of my head and de-stress. It’s that quiet feeling, my mind is at ease and my body feels nicely fatigued. I definitely can’t get that feeling by working 10-12 hours a day at a non-stop pace! And now that I’m hitting those mid-life years, I’m also seriously motivated by prevention.  I want to feel great in my body, prolong my health, and not buy into that notion that I’m going to need loads of drugs to keep me going.

What’s your motivation and inspiration to go the gym? How do you make it a priority and do it consistently with everything else you have to do and handle in your life?

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Filed under: Healthy lifestyle, Motivation, Optimal Health, Healthy Body, Prevention, Exercise | No Comments

Talking about basil in last Friday’s audio tip got me thinking about one of my favorite side dishes - quinoa with basil pesto. Quinoa (pronouced keen-wah) when mixed with fresh pesto, makes an easy, healthy and delicious side dish.

For those of you that don’t know, quinoa is a whole grain from South America that’s gaining popularity in this country. I love it because it’s gluten-free, low in fat, high in protein, cooks in only 15 minutes and it’s delicious. I use it as a breakfast pooridge or side dish, and include it in my meal planning almost every week (this week I’m eating quinoa with spinach and pine nuts). You can find quinoa at health food stores (buy it from the bulk bin for the best value), at Trader Joe’s, and now even at most large supermarkets. At my local Stop & Shop, I can find it in the natural foods section.

This recipe is so amazingly quick and simple - you cook the quinoa and add fresh pesto to it. I love pesto because it’s so easy to make and has multiple uses, plus it tastes fabulous. Check out the pesto recipe below or use your own. It’s something fun to experiment with based on your taste.

Quinoa with Basil Pesto

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
½ tsp. salt
2 cups fresh basil leaves
½ cup walnuts or pinenuts (I’m a big fan of walnuts)
2-3 cloves garlic
¼ cup fresh parmesan cheese, grated (optional)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil.
2. Rinse and add quinoa and salt. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed.
3. Make quinoa by combining basil, nuts, garlic and cheese in a food processor. Drizzle olive oil in and mix.
4. Add pesto to cooked quinoa, mix well and serve.

Give it try and let me know what you think, I can’t wait to hear what you have to say.

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Filed under: Healthy Meals, High Quality Food, Basil, Eating, Grains, Side Dishes, Grains, Recipes | 2 Comments

When it comes to summertime, I just can’t get enough basil. Fresh basil is fragrant and flavorful and adds just the right accent to so many foods. This summer I’m growing my own (yep, that’s my window box in the picture) and loving being able to use it in pesto, sauces and with summer tomatoes. And it’s good for us too — the perfect addition to a healthy eating plan that helps ward off a whole series of health issues.

What’s so great about basil? Take a listen to this week’s audio tip and you’ll hear more about why I love it so much, what it does for us, and some simple ways you can use it.

What are your favorite ways to use basil and what do you love about it? Share your thoughts below. And check back next week to see one of my favorite basil recipes that’s healthy and delicious.

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Filed under: Basil, Healthy Meals, Eating, Locally Grown Food, Food | No Comments

By now you’ve probably heard me extol the benefits of eating salmon, especially wild salmon — it’s heart healthy, low-fat, has Omega-3 fatty acids and is full of important nutrients. One of the other benefits of eating fish is that it cooks quickly, and for those of us short on time and interested in healthy eating, this is a real plus. And there are a myriad of ways to prepare it - grilling, broiling, baking, and poaching, just to name a few.

But here’s the thing, I don’t have an outside grill and when it gets hot, turning on the oven just isn’t the answer (for those of you who have window air conditioners and not central air, you know what I mean). My kitchen gets hot in a heartbeat! So that’s why I’m a big fan of cooking quick and healthy meals on the stove top.

Here’s a quick and simple recipe that I want to share which I think you’ll like. We had this at a friend’s house a few months ago and it was delicious. I got the recipe and I’ve been experimenting with it. You can make it in about 10 minutes and it’s even better if you use the freshest of ingredients from your garden or local farmstand.

Ingredients:

1 lb. salmon (wild salmon, if possible) fillet, cut into four portions, or four salmon steaks
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onions cut lengthwise
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes cut in chunks (I love using fresh heirloom tomatoes from the farmers’ market)
2 tablespoons, fresh parsley or basil, chopped (there’s nothing better than the basil I’ve been growing)
1/3 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 large lemon

Directions:

1. Rinse salmon and sprinkle on some of the salt.
2. In large frying pan, heat oil and add onion, paprika, black pepper, remaining salt and garlic. Saute for 1-2 minutes.
3. Move aside the onions for the fish to sit at the bottom of the pan.
4. Add salmon and squeeze lemon juice on pieces.
5. Place onions on top of salmon, add the tomatoes and sprinkle parsley or basil over everything.
6. Cover and simmer until salmon is tender, about 5-10 minutes depending on thickness. Salmon is ready when it easily flakes with a fork.

If it a try and let me know what you think. And please share other ideas you have for quick and simple meals using salmon.

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Filed under: Food preparation, Salmon, Omega 3 fatty acids, Optimal Health, Healthy Meals, Recipes, Vegetables, Heart Health, Locally Grown Food | No Comments