An easy low-cal, low-carb salad

Roasted Pepper, Cucumber and Tomato Salad makes a fantastic starter or side dish for dinner. The combination of lemon juice and olive oil makes a delicious dressing, which being homemade, does not contain sugar like store bought dressings.

Each serving of this salad has 155 calories and 8 grams of carbs so it can fit into any weight loss plan you are following. A nutritional profile of this recipe is available. To reduce the amount of fat in this recipe, there are 14 grams, you can use less dressing on the salad or reduce the oil to 3 tablespoons and add 2 tablespoons of water.

Leftovers of this salad, mixed with quinoa or bulgur, makes a delicious lunch. Don't forget to save this recipe to your Nutrition Data Pantry.

How Much Rest Do I Need Between Sets?

I have friends who are powerlifters who take 5 minutes between sets and bodybuilder types who rest for 30-90 seconds.

And while those rest periods are appropriate for their form of training, you need to take a slightly different approach when your goal is weight loss. You also probably don't have the luxury of taking an hour and a half for your workout 5 days a week.

A more realistic way to think about your workout program is by completing supersets or trisets. This type of training combines 2 to 3 exercises in a row without resting. After you complete those exercises you can then rest for 30-60 seconds before starting your next super or triset.

This is a really efficient way to workout and you can now complete most workouts in under 30 minutes.

Are you hungry? Are you having food cravings?

One thing I see often with my clients is poor food distribution. These same individuals wonder why they aren’t losing weight, get hungry all the time, have cravings, and ultimately overeat at night. Frequently this is because their food is not balanced out properly.

So how do we "balance" foods? When you put a moderate meal together always combine healthy complex carbohydrates with lean protein (no more than three grams of fat per ounce) and a small amount of healthy fat (from vegetable sources). This is balance.

For example a typical lunch might look like this: have a sandwich (easy on the mayo) with about three ounces chicken breast (not the highly processed kind full of sodium, sugar and nitrates), 100% whole grain bread, a salad made with baby greens, added veggies, a touch of low-fat dressing, and a tablespoon of nuts or seeds. There is an adequate amount of protein from the chicken, complex carbohydrates from the salad and bread, and healthy fats with the dressing and nuts.

If you have a lunch of two or more cups of white pasta and sauce this may fill you for awhile but all the simple carbs in this meal will soon spike your blood sugar up and drop quickly, leaving you hungry, craving something, and probably heading for the vending machine early in the afternoon for the wrong kind of quick energy boost.

Fat Free and Low Fat Foods Still Have Calories

With the variety of fat-free and low-fat foods lining the supermarket shelves why are people not losing weight? Fat-free and low-fat foods still have calories in them so if you are looking to lose weight you can't over do it on these foods. Sometimes these fat-free and low-fat foods are not that much lower in fat and calories than their original product. Here are some examples of the regular vs. fat-free and low-fat versions of foods:

In-Home Exercise: Dumbbell 1 Arm Row

This is one of my all-time favorite exercises. It's a great movement to help pull your shoulders back  from too many hours working over a keyboard.

The dumbbell 1 arm row works the muscles of your upper back and shoulders while engaging your core as well. It's also a really functional exercise that allows you to pick up an object while bracing your body with both legs and one free arm. You'll find that if you practice this exercise consistently your rounded shoulders will begin to realign themselves due to your new found upper back strength.

Here’s how to complete it:
1. Stand with one foot in front of the other in a staggered stance
2. Place one hand on a solid object to help support yourself
3. Bend down with your legs and pick up a single dumbbell
4. Bend forward keeping your core engaged and not rounding your back
5. Row the weight up towards your waist using your upper back muscles
6. Slowly return the weight to the starting position
7. Repeat 8-15x

Tips to remember:
1. Keep your chest up and core muscles engaged
2. Keep your knees and elbows unlocked the whole set
3. Do not curl the weight up with your biceps
4. Feel your upper back and shoulder muscles working to pull up the weight
5. Look straight ahead the whole time and do not let your back round

Be Aware of Blood Sugar Imbalances

Diabetes and obesity are epidemic and frequently related to being overweight and/or unhealthy eating.  Hypoglycemia is actually low blood sugar but it frequently occurs years before the onset of prediabetes or diabetes. My caution to you is to catch the signs and symptoms of these conditions early and do something before you get the diagnosis for diabetes, a disease that can literally be a slow and miserable death if left uncontrolled. These conditions can be regulated adequately by making a strong commitment to eat right and adopt a healthy lifestyle.

I want to alert you to some of the common signs that may be a precursor to both hypoglycemia and diabetes. Utilize this web site and take the quiz to see if you are experiencing some of the symptoms. Now use ND's great web site and Tools to help you get healthy!

Healthy-Homemade Tacos

Make your own taco night is always a fun way to have dinner with friends or family. Set up different dishes with all the fixings so everyone can fill up their taco shell with what they enjoy.

Try Catfish Tacos with Tomato and Avocado Salsa to make a healthy-homemade taco. Each taco has 279 calories, 14 grams of fat and 4 grams of fiber. A nutritional profile of this recipe is available. You can substitute mahi-mahi or grouper for catfish. Don't forget to save this recipe to your Nutrition Data Pantry.

"A Biblical Approach to Weight Management"

The subject of God is something many of us have probably not thought of much in terms of weight management. But apparently that idea is catching on in mainstream America. Jordan Rubin author of The Maker's Diet "thinks that many people will rely on their faith with God to be disciplined." His diet plan consists mainly of very simple unprocessed foods, certainly not a bad idea and something I certainly encourage everyone to embrace.

What is going on now is a "biblical approach to weight management," managing the notions of weight, willpower and the empty spiritual hole inside of us which I classify as emotional eating.

What are my thoughts? Twelve step programs have been around for years using a spiritual approach for alcoholism, food, and various other addictions. (Remember spiritual is different than religion.) For many it can and does work. Other spiritual groups may be effective too if people are willing to really confront their emotional based issues instead of "stuffing" their feelings with food.

Modify Your Recipes for Weight Loss

Roast Chicken Breasts with Garbanzo Beans, Tomatoes and Paprika is a delicious recipe. For dinner or lunch it will be a crowd pleaser, but it may not be pleasing for your weight-loss efforts. This recipe calls for chicken on the bone with the skin. This is why, per serving, this recipe has 405 calories and 24 grams of fat; a nutritional profile of this recipe is available.

To make this recipe weight-loss friendly use chicken breast without the skin. Per serving this meal will now be 385 calories and 18 grams of fat. When reading a recipe always look at the way that you can make it work for you. Ingredients can be replaced or reduced to fit into your daily plan, so you can continue to eat delicious food, without ruining the hard work you've put into losing weight.

Photo by: Lisa Hubbard

Grrrl Power!

Watch out guys; Girls are taking over when it comes to dominating the workout scene.

In the last few years there has been a steady increase in women not only joining gyms, but moving into areas that were once only reserved for men. Athletic activities like, boxing, kickboxing, martial arts, powerlifting, and high intensity workouts are now shared by guys and girls alike.

Everyday in my studio I get to see women competing with the men on every conceivable exercise – even pull-ups!

The playing field has definitely been leveled and I hope we see a continuing "Grrrl Power" trend in the fitness industry. There's no reason why girls can't have some fun and kickbox, sprint, and workout as intensely as the guys in and outside the gym.

If you've been questioning whether or not you can push yourself to the next level, stop second guessing yourself and dive in. Start with the fundamentals and keep progressing from there.

Need a little motivation? I'll tell you a little secret from my weight loss studio... We have one girl who can outperform every male client in one of our hardest ab exercises. No guy even comes close!

Watch out guys!