Reality of You

Real talk about health, fitness, and weight loss.

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Healthy Scrambled Eggs Recipe

HealthyScrambledEggs

 

I only recently perfected the art of making healthy scrambled eggs, mainly because I wanted to cook my boyfriend breakfast and show off my master chef skills. (Side note: he’s actually better at cooking than me most of the time, although I’ll never admit this to him, ever.) I like this recipe in particular because it’s really healthy and varied and is a great breakfast!

A note about egg whites and cholesterol:

If you eat eggs every day, it may be a smart idea to do an egg-white variation of this recipe every few days. That way, you can keep your cholesterol in check. But, if you’re healthy and you DON’T eat eggs all the time, keep the yolks! Egg yolks have a ton of health benefits and contain 80% of the nutrients of the egg itself.

Serving Size: 1

Ingredients

  • 2 Eggs
  • Pam Olive Oil Spray
  • 1/2 cup chopped peppers
  • 1/2 cup chopped onions
  • 1 teaspoon no salt Garlic Powder
  • Salt (to taste) is optional

Directions

1. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, set aside.

2. Spray a small frying pan with Pam Olive Oil spray, add in peppers and onions and fry until the onions are translucent

3. Add eggs, garlic powder and salt and move the mixture around the pan until the eggs are cooked to scramble-y perfection

 

Ta-da! You now have a super healthy scramble. I think you can even forgo salt because Garlic Powder and the veggies make it super flavorful.

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Sparkling Raspberry Spinach Smoothie

Sparkling Spinach Smoothie Recipe

This is the classiest smoothie I’ve ever made, you guys. It’s got a light, delicious flavor perfect for summer, and it has the added bonus of giving you the veggies you need in your diet… without you even noticing it 🙂

The sparkling apple juice was a totally random move on my part (i.e. I went to the store to buy apple juice for another smoothie recipe and accidentally got the sparkling kind) but it actually makes the smoothie delicious!

 

sparkling spinach smoothie 2

Ingredients

1 can of sparkling apple juice (check to make sure there’s no sugar or artificial sweeteners added)

1 handful of spinach

1/2 cup frozen raspberries

1/4 cup sliced cucumber

1/2 cup of plain nonfat Greek Yogurt (optional, makes the smoothie more creamy)

Directions

Blend like there’s no tomorrow!

Then, pour into a fancy shmancy wine glass and sip your veggies in high class style.

Looking for another summer recipe?

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4 Ingredient Jicama Mandarin Summer Salad

4 Ingredient Summer Salad

When it comes to salads, I’m all about simple recipes that only take ten minutes tops and are also delicious. This Jicama-Mandarin Summer Salad is delicious and perfect for all your summery veggie needs.

Ingredients:

1 can Mandarin Oranges (Make sure you get ones with no added sugar, no extra ingredients. Just mandarin oranges!)

Arugula or a Spring Mix Salad

fig balsamic whole foods dressing

1 1/2 cups of diced Jicama

Fruity Dressing, like a strawberry vinaigrette or a fig (Optional)

I bought my fig dressing at whole foods. It has NO OIL which is awesome and is healthy and absolutely delicious!

 *HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE CLEAN: Make your own dressing! I found a great clean Fig Balsamic Dressing recipe here. If you’re in a pinch, I like to grab random fruits, a bit of honey, and a tablespoon or two of plain greek yogurt and blend it and then use that as a dressing. It’s actually delicious! Experiment and figure out what kind of dressing works for you.

Directions:

1. Dice Jicama. It’s way too hard to peel the skin off (at least in my experience) so you’re going to want to just chop the skin off before you begin dicing the jicama. Read more about jicama and it’s nutrients here!

2. Toss everything into a large salad bowl with the dressing.

Looking for some more clean and simple summery recipes?

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5min Recipe: Detoxifying Lemon Water

 

lemonmintdetoxwater

Lemon Cucumber Detoxifying Water: 5 Minute Recipe

Hey guys! Today’s recipe is a quick lemon/cucumber/ginger/mint detox drink that will help flush your internal systems of toxins. It’s a refreshing recipe and I hope you love it as much as I love dancing on street corners to music that doesn’t exist except in my head!

Also, this is a great drink to try before starting the 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge. lemon detox water

RELATED RECIPE: Sparkling Spinach Smoothie

How this drink detoxifies you:

Cucumbers rejuvinate you through energy-boosting vitamin B. It also contains a lot of fiber that aids in removing toxins from the body, as well as aiding digestion.

The ginger aids digestion and also has anti-inflammatory properties. In 2010, there was a study done that followed people who consumed two grams of ginger each day for about eleven days. It turned out those people had a 25% drop in exercise-induced muscle pain. So all you runners/serious athletes out there? DRINK THIS!

Lemons clean your bowels, and neutralizes free radicals that cause aging. Lemons also contain 22 anti-cancer properties.

Mint promotes good digestion and contains enzymes that could prevent cancer.

Now let’s make this crazy delicious thing! [Read more…]

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Five-A-Day Weight Loss Meal Plan

Hello there! I’ve been getting requests for a healthy five-meal meal plan because eating more, smaller meals a day is proven to be healthier and better for weight loss. So here’s my Five-Meal-A-Day Weight Loss Meal Plan!

I’d like to highlight a few things this plan includes:

  • MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids, which fight belly fat!) These are marked with a (MUFA) after the ingredient.
  • Metabolism boosting choices

The following meal plan comes out to be approximately 1700 calories.

Breakfast: Perfect Parfait

I like this recipe because it’s versatile! Almost any fruit tastes good in a parfait as long as you pair it with plain or vanilla Greek yogurt.

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon **Metabolism Booster!**
  • 6 ounces plain fat-free Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup fresh fruit. Whatever is in season works! My favorites include blueberries and raspberries.
  • 2 tablespoons sliced almonds or organic granola **MUFA**

Approx. 300 calories.

Morning Snack: Snack: Almond Butter with Fresh Fruit

  • 1 Slice Whole Wheat Bread or 1/2 Whole Wheat Bagel
  • 2 Tbsp almond butter. **MUFA**
  • 1/2 c each sliced strawberries and sliced kiwi. **Metabolism Booster!**
  • Optional: add a dash of cinnamon **Metabolism Booster!**

Approx. 300 calories.

 

Lunch: Italian Tuna Bowl

  • 3 oz can of chunk light tuna (drained)
  • 1/4 cup chopped red onion
  • 1/4 cup chopped green onion
  • 3 tbsp olive oil based dressing **MUFA**

Approx. 400 calories

 

Afternoon Snack: Very Cherry Chocolate Smoothie

  • 1 cup soy or fat free milk
  • 1 cup frozen cherries
  • 3 oz vanilla yogurt (fat free)
  • 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips **MUFA**

Blend until smooth.

Approx. 400 calories.


Dinner: Veggie Burger

  • Veggie burger patty (my personal favorites include any veggie patty from Morningstar farms!)
  • Whole grain patty
  • 3 large romaine leaves
  • 1/2 tomato
  • Sliced onion
  • 1/4 cup sliced avocado **MUFA** and **Metabolism Booster**

Approx. 300 calories

 

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5-Minute Meal Plan

Balancing school, work, and a healthy lifestyle is tough. Some days (like today!) I’ll be so caught up in writing articles and then — what time is it? Better get to the gym before it closes — and look! Room needs to be cleaned sometime in this lifetime. I’ve already lost my cat in here twice. Might as well sweep some clutter underneath the bed.

…and before you know it it’s 1:30 and your stomach’s growling. You need food, fast.

And there’s no way I’m going to give you permission to hit the drivethrough at Sonic. No way.

What this article series is about:

  • Quick, easy, healthy meals. I’ll post nutrition information including the calorie count and the % of all of the essential vitamins and minerals in each dish, along with an explanation of why it’s good for you so you can create your own healthy meals!
  • Eliminating excuses. Don’t tell me you don’t have time. You do! And I’ll prove it.
  • Saving you $$. I’ll post the approximate price of the dish, and then I’ll compare it to what you would pay at a restaurant for the same, but less healthy, alternative. Spoiler alert: my 5-minute meals are going to save you money!

Stay tuned for the first recipe!