Superfood- The Mighty Almond

The mighty almond that could. Almonds are a high nutrient superfood packed with protein, 12 different vitamins & minerals, and fiber. Bet you didn’t know the last one. The 4 grams of fiber per ounce of almonds helps keep bellies feel fuller for longer.

Why are almonds my nutty superfood? It contains (per oz):

• Only 129 calories per oz or approx 23 almonds
• 4 grams of fiber
• 6 grams of Protein

Almonds are an excellent source of vitamin E, magnesium and manganese, and a good source of calcium, copper, phosphorous and riboflavin. Additionally they are a low GI (glycemic index) food.

• Promoting: healthy bones, blood sugar, cholesterol, and energy levels.
• Vitamins & minerals help to promote a glowing complexion and healthy hair

Availability of Almonds:

1. Raw  – Alone or in a nutty mix. Available as plain, roasted, salted, seasoned, slivered, blanched, & baked
2. Almond butter — Pure unsweetened, unsalted almond butter.  This stuff is quite addictive!
3. Almond Milk — As a substitute for milk in oatmeal, smoothies, milkshakes, baking, or to drink. Bottoms up.

My favorite way to eat almonds are plain roasted. I also have many variations of almond butter at home, I spread it on toast and enjoy for breakfast with a smoothie or tea quite often.

Check it out below, be sure to follow me on instagram at Shot of Green for my favorite eats and healthy ideas.

Crispy Chili Kale Chips– Snack on this

I was quite skeptical about kale chips, I just couldn’t fathom the thought that they would be any good much less better than “regular chips” Boy, was I wrong.

This simple chip is healthy, crispy, spicy, and hits the spot. So lets get right to it.

April Week 2 Update

I love taking pictures of my groceries, I feel like I’m accounted for and its kinda of a mood lifter for me knowing I’m on track. For the second week of April I bought groceries for the first time based on a pre-planned meal plan, and it actually went pretty well. I totaled in at $32 for the week.

I tried Cedar’s hummus for the first time to eat with veggies at work and I was not a fan, at all. I ended up just having the veggies, maybe because it was store bought or because I tried the wrong combo (spinach and artichoke). I’ll probably stick to homemade hummus unless anyone has some recommendations.

The second week of April I went on a trip to Dallas for a health conference for a volunteer program I am participating in. The program centers around University Of Pittsburg’s Health Initiative Program that has adults that are overweight or obese that want to make lifestyle changes to lose weight and learn to make healthy choices. I was approached for the program through my community center since I had managed to lose weight and keep it off and I am a RN. So I went with it, it sounded great, I love talking about health and getting people involved.

The conference was long, some-what informative, but very well put together. This was a program that had been around for 10 years and had significant data that helped patients lose weight, decrease their risk or control many diseases such as diabetes. I could see why, its set up as a community system for people to make life long changes.

Everything was great until they served the food. The first day it was pretty healthy but they kept serving snacks for break 10 minute break (which was scheduled every 1 hour to 1.5). Some how the second day things went down hill, they were serving deep fried burgers with fried buns! Even worse dessert was a baklava.

There were literally no other options for lunch, I was left feeling horribly bloated and disgusted. It was that or eat yogurts all day in my 8 hour conference while freezing in the hotel conference room. All of the people attending were some type of health professionals and obviously some what enthusiastic about health. We were all kinda stunned.I have to say it was organizers fault as they ordered the food and not the presenters for the program since they were invited.

My family in Dallas though amazed at my health transformation since I was in high school, still were very upset when I didn’t eat certain foods. It was such a battle. I came out somewhat successful.  I was never so happy to come home and have some home-made food!

My pedometer had walked 786 steps to arrive to me at the conference! 😉

My Check-in

Post Dallas weekend I stayed at the same weight, thankfully. Post Dallas though I feel  like I’ve lost the little definition I did have in my stomach. Sign.. time to get working on that.

Check-in for first week of April

Check-in

As of 4/1/2013

My height is 5’1 but then again that hasn’t changed since I was in 5th grade.

Weight: 117.5 pounds

Waist Circumference: ? Can’t find the measuring tape but I am down to a size 0 in jeans

Chest: 34

My waist despite wearing a size 0 has little to no tone and has fat padding in the middle. I can wear the size 0 because I have no hips, at all. While this is not my ideal weight or waist circumference I am proud of myself.   Two years ago my body was hidden behind baggy clothes and most days I ate until I was disgusted with myself. As I mention in my about me I had an array of problems and excuses. When I started the process of nursing school and started to learn more about nutrition, health, and the importance of eating right I started the first steps to my change. I was a 5’1 girl that weighed 148 pounds; I don’t know most of my measurements because I would never let that happen. The trouble was that I knew I was overweight I just didn’t realize how
much. Measurement wise I use to wear a 38DD, shirts sized large or extra-large, and I use to squeeze myself into skin tight jeans in a size 6 in which my stomach popped out over the top.

My achievements:

• I’ve been successful in eating healthy this week.
• I’ve made my own Chobani fruit yogurts to cut out the added sugars.
• Experimented with Quinoa recipes such as quinoa burgers
• Added tofu into my foods instead of meat
• Taken lunch to work every day these past two weeks
• Had breakfast everyday these past two weeks

My Goals:

• Eat healthy on my trip to Dallas this week—my family there does not believe in diet and I will be stuck in conference for 8 hours a day there. This will be my biggest challenge
• Work out at least 2-3 times this next week for at least 15 minutes. I’ve cut down on the time just because I will be staying with a family and have a very packed schedule. Maybe I can lift my baby cousin as strength training 😉 … seriously.
• Relax- My week starts with 9-10 hour work days this week and goes into flying to Dallas to live with my somewhat eccentric family and attend 2 days of very long conferences on health.

Here is a picture of my groceries this week, nice and green.

Anyone that would like to check –in?