Tired of the same old chicken recipe? Spice things up with this one! All you peanut butter lovers will really appreciate this sauce and it may just end up a mainstay on your current diet.

If you happen to be watching your carbs, the rice can easily be replaced with cauliflower or spaghetti squash if you are craving a ‘noodle’ type of dish.

Ingredients
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp natural peanut butter
2 tsp vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
Garlic to taste
Onion powder to taste
1.5 tbsp chopped fresh ginger root
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 cup sliced onions
1/3 tbsp chopped peanuts

First combine the soy sauce, peanut butter, and vinegar. Set this bowl aside and heat olive oil over load heat until bubbling. Add chicken breasts, sprinkling with garlic powder, onion powder, and ginger. Cook for 5-7 minutes, flipping chicken halfway through.

Reduce the heat and then add in broccoli, sliced onions, and the pre-mixed sauce from above. Cover this and let simmer for another 5 minutes or until vegetables have reached the tenderness you desire.

Serve over rice, tossing chopped peanuts over top.

Posted on April 18th, 2008 by Shannon Clark
Filed under: Weight Loss | No Comments »

Have more energy! Stick to your plan! Look like this!

Can you barely get off the couch little own get your workouts in? Sleeping eight hours a day yet still want to crush your alarm every morning?

If this describes the way you feel right now, have a look at the carbohydrate content in your diet. If you’re just hovering around 100 grams, either take this down to about 50-60 grams or kick it up to 150 grams.

Right around the 100 gram mark most people will feel tired because this is the tender spot where you sway in between being in and out of a state of ketosis. Not what most people would call fun.

If you want to do low-carb - do low carb.

If you don’t, DON’T!

Add a few more healthy carbs and chances are you’ll fix the problem immediately.

Posted on April 11th, 2008 by Shannon Clark
Filed under: Health, Weight Loss | No Comments »

Have you ever had a discussion with a friend where they’ve told you all about this amazing diet they’ve been on; they’re losing weight left, right and center, and proclaim that if you want to lose weight – this is THE way?

And after hearing that, did you proceed to get every single last detail of their plan, only to go home and follow it to a ‘T’. Did you have success? Read more…

Posted on April 10th, 2008 by Shannon Clark
Filed under: Weight Loss | No Comments »

Hunger is part of the dieting process. While most of us know this, many of us cannot accept this. No one likes to feel hunger, but if you want to achieve success with your fat loss goals it’s likely something you are going to have to try and deal with at some point or another.

How can you make this easier? Your psychological mindset with regards to dieting plays a huge role in your results. Pushing to very low body fat digits is not for the weak-minded as it’s going to take some sheer determination and will-power to say no to the foods that are screaming your name.

Having a few sayings you repeat to yourself when the going gets tough can help. Here’s a good one for those of you who are really hardcore. Next time your stomach is telling you to just give in, say this back at it.

“The feeling of failure is worse than the feeling of hunger.”

Posted on March 30th, 2008 by Shannon Clark
Filed under: Weight Loss | No Comments »

You’ve likely heard it before. ‘Eat every three hours to keep your metabolism as high as possible.’ Because of this statement, people everywhere are anxiously watching the clock, making sure they hit their meal times on schedule, every day, every time.

They figure by doing so, they’ll boost their metabolism, thus allowing them to eat more food and still lose weight.

Does this sound like you? If so, you may be in for a bit of a surprise.

Read more…

Posted on January 9th, 2008 by Shannon Clark
Filed under: Weight Loss | 1 Comment »

Looking for something cheesy but don’t want all the carbs and fat? This is the perfect solution. Chalk full of protein, calcium, and vitamin A, this is the perfect accompaniment to your protein source.

200 grams low fat ricotta cheese
5 grams of butter
1-2 tbsp milk
70 grams low fat feta cheese
1 cup spinach
½ cup chopped onion
1 diced red pepper

Begin by melting the butter in a saucepan. Once melted, stir in ricotta cheese and then add the milk until the mixture is smooth, yet still has some thickness to it. Next, add in the half the feta cheese and the spinach, stirring continuously until the spinach is slightly melted. Finally, toss in the last bit of feta cheese and then pour over chicken, fish, or use it as a sauce over steamed vegetables.

Posted on January 1st, 2008 by Shannon Clark
Filed under: Weight Loss | No Comments »

Q: Lately it seems like no matter what I do, I just can’t lose weight. I’ve been sticking with my diet for so long now and I’m really afraid to lower my calories any further because I am just barely getting by on my current intake. What could be going wrong?

A: Great question! This is something that a lot of women run into and unfortunately, something that halts all their progress.

I think the question you really need to ask yourself is when the last time you took a diet break was. Has it been more than 6-8 weeks? Are your calories less than 10 multiplied by your body weight in pounds? (say a 150 pound female consuming fewer than 1500 calories)? Are you generally feeling tired, cold, and irritable?

If you answered yes to two or more of those questions, chances are, you need a break. What very often happens is the metabolism ‘shuts down’ in a sense, in that it starts to really conserve energy, slowing down so it doesn’t expend any more calories than it needs to. This will translate to you not burning any additional body fat. Basically, your body is working against you.

It’s always a good idea to take a break from your diet every so often to ‘reset’ things a little and let your body know that it’s not starving to death.

My guess is once you eat at maintenance calories for a week or so and then move back onto the diet, things will be rolling again and you’ll be feeling a hundred times better.

Posted on December 7th, 2007 by Shannon Clark
Filed under: Q and A, Weight Loss | 2 Comments »

[via caloriesperhour]

When our main source of energy, our blood sugar (glucose), runs low, the process of metabolism turns our body fat into energy. Conversely, when our supply of blood sugar runs high, the process of metabolism stores excess energy by turning it into body fat to be used another time. Or, all too often, just left to sit there.

When we exercise, our bodies require more energy and our metabolism speeds up to supply it. But most of the time we are not very active, and this is the reason people want to raise their metabolism. They want to burn more calories 24/7, even when they are just sitting or sleeping.
Read more…

Posted on July 30th, 2007 by Lori Braun
Filed under: Weight Loss | No Comments »

Femalemuscle presents:
Fat Loss Lie #9: If you eat the right diet, you can lose fat permanently without exercise.

A full-page ad in a recent issue of the National Enquirer featured this headline:

“Lose up to 2 pounds daily… Without Exercise.”

Yeah right! And you’ll make a million dollars a day too…without working! That’s a whopper of a lie if I’ve ever heard one.
Read more…

Posted on June 13th, 2007 by Lori Braun
Filed under: Health, Weight Loss | No Comments »