Oatmeal Choco-Chip Squares

Wheat Free & Dairy Free Oatmeal & Choco-Chip Squares/Cookies

• 3/4 cup all purpose gluten-free flour blend

(to make 9.5 cups of the above blend you will need 3.5 cups super-fine brown rice flour, 2 cups cornstarch, 1 cup chickpea or garbanzo bean flour, 1 cup tapioca or potato starch, 2 cups sorghum flour - mix all ingredients together & refrigerate in an air-tight container when not in use)

• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda (aluminum free)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup earth balance butter, softened
• 3/4 cup succanate (it's a baking sugar)
• 3/4 cup packed organic brown sugar
• 1 egg (I like Eggland's Best)
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp vanilla, divided
• 3 cups uncooked thick oats (try to get from grain bins at whole foods or other fresh market)
• 1 cup sunspire or other dairy-free chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon of rice, soy, or almond milk
• 1 tbsp of xanthan gum (for binding properties)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease cookies sheets or baking pans; set aside. Combine flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon in a small bowl.

Beat butter, succanate, and brown sugar in large bowel with electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg, water and 2 teaspoons vanilla; beat well. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until blended. Stir in oats with spoon. Drop tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets OR Spread out in a baking pan (pat down using your hands occasionally dipping yours hands in water to avoid getting stuck to the mix)

For cookies: bake 10 to 11 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Let cookies stand 2 minutes on cookie sheets; transfer to wire racks or a plate to cool completely. Makes about 48 cookies.

For Squares: mix the choco-chips into the batter and bake at 375 for about 15 -20 minutes. Let squares cool for 10 to 20 minutes in baking pans; cut into squares and eat or store in freezer and thaw later for more moist oatmeal square.

Vegetarian Chili Recipe

Vegetarian Chili Recipe from Energy Fitness Party

Prep-time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Serves: 4

1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
3 leeks, sliced
2 cloves garlic or 2 tbsp of dried garlic bits
1 tbsp all-purpose flour (or 1 tbs wheat-free, gluten free all-purpose flour)
1 and 1/4 cups vegetable broth
4 stick celery, chopped
1 red or green pepper, seeded and diced
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1 thinly sliced squash
14-ounce can peed, chopped tomatoes (or can of crushed tomatoes with basil and spices)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp of chili pepper (or 1 tsp of taco dust that has chili powder, garlic, salt, paprika, cumin, white pepper, lime juice powder, black pepper, cayenne, and various herbs & spices)
1 tablespoon of maple syrup (grade B)
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 - 14 ounce cans of black beans or your choice of beans (rinsed and drained)

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, leeks and cook gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the flour and cook gently for 1 minute, stirring.
2. Gradually add the broth, stirring, then add all the remaining ingredients except the beans, mix well.
3. Bring to the boil, stirring, then cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the beans and stir to mix. Return to the boil and simmer, uncovered, for a further 10 minute, stirring occasionally.
5. Serve by itself or on a bed of brown or wild rice.

Variations

• Use other vegetables of your choice such as corn, mushrooms, okra.
• Use other canned beans such as black-eyed peas and lima beans in place of the black beans
• Use other spices such as curry powder in place of the chili powder.

Nutritional Analysis (per serving)

Calories= 256

Fat = 4.3 g (of which saturates/bad fat = 0.5 g, monounsaturates/good fat = 1.1g, polyunsaturates/good fat = 1.6 g)

Protein = 13.8 g , Carbohydrates = 43.6 g, Dietary Fiber = 12.3 g (awesome), Sodium = .6g

Good source of fiber & vitamins A,C, & E

Tonya's "Master Cleanse Journal" (The 5 day Lemonade Diet)

My 5 day fasting with a liquid only diet.

(That's right - no solid food)

The diet consists of consuming 64-72 ounces per day of nothing but the following:

10 ounces water
2 tablespoons maple syrup (grade B - medium amber)
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or lime juice
1/8 teaspoon of caynenne pepper or as much as you can stand

At night any brand of detox tea or a salt-water flush

My client Johanna introduced me to this unique way of fasting as I have only done the 2 week pill system prior to this. Whole Foods has the book (about $7). At first the mere thought of going that long without food was scary and didn't seem possible or logical. The average person, not familiar with fasting, believes he/she will certainly die if he misses a meal. Your really suppose to follow it for 10 to 28 days. I chose to end mine at 5 days. I list details below stating why I ended it early.

Cleansing is basic for the elimination of every kind of disease. The purpose of cleansing , is to rid the body of the toxins. In the lemonade diet, the cayenne pepper acts to wash out the mucus loosened by the cleanse. The most important part of the cleanse or any fast is knowing how to come off of the fast, allowing the body to gradually adjust itself to handling solid food again. Tapering off the cleanse, with juices and broth for about three days is the reccommendation.
*The Master Cleanse" book states the following: "Basically, all of our diseases are created by ourselves because we have never taken the time to discover the true foods meant for man's use. We can create healthy bodies by using the right foods and eliminating highly toxic and mucus-forming foods.

Maple syrup = balanced form of positive & negative sugars. contains sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron, copper, phosphorus, sulfur, & silicon, vitamin a, B1, B2, B6, C and Panthothenic Acid (B5).

Lemon - loosening & cleansing agent.

Tonya's Journal Specifics - The Down and Dirty !

Day 1 (monday)
Feel great ! Amazing mental clarity and time saved from not preparing meals was used to get lots of work done at work. Awesome workout of weights and running sprints. Maybe this will be easier than I thought.

Day 2 (tuesday)
Tired! Changed it up and had lime juice in my "blend" all day which was a mistake because I felt hungry most of the day. I hate being hungry. Maybe it's not going to be as easy as I thought after all. My eyes burned all day and my left eye twitched all day. No exercise because I was tired and had to take son to ear appointment. I was a little grumpy as you can imagine. Had detox tea in the pm.

Day 3 (wednesday)
detox tea woke me up at 3 am with my stomach grumbling that resulted in a few trips to the toilet, ended up translating spanish from my child's information tag on a toy he received from his grandfather just to pass the time because i knew that only one bathroom trip was not in my body's plan. Can you say - "Not Fun!" and for more information than you probably want to know - the cayenne pepper was not so much fun coming out the other end. Exercise was cross training of high intensity bursts of rowing, running, and cycling totalling 20 minutes.

Day 4 (thursday)
Felt good, a little tired. did swimming sprints today, felt decent but swallowing a little salt water made my stomach feel like i could have another round of bathroom visits later, so i stopped after completing 20 laps. Had detox tea in the pm.

Day 5 (friday)
Felt bad, low energy. didn't think straight. had a facial and massage (with lymph drainage work) which made me Feel Awesome to get rid of some toxins. Decided to end the diet by days end and had some fresh orange juice and a few grapes. no exercise. Lost a total of 7 pounds in 5 days and didn't want to lose any more and felt that 5 days was long enough since I eat far healthier than most people. My normal diet consists of consuming no alcohol, caffinee, dairy, pork, or red meat. I take a whole food based vitamin that we sell at Energy Fitness, do a Protein Shake everyday, take a superjuice supplement called Monavie, and eat about 35 egg whites a week, plus veggies, and I love some cereal.

Day 6 (saturday)
Felt good. Orange juice for breakfast, soup for brunch and lunch. Rice protein shake in afternoon and detox tea at night. Stomach uneasy and just in knots. Exercise: hooked up bike child trailer and rode from house to gym (about 27 minutes) slow. extremely weak and begin to question my sanity of riding to gym to lift weights. felt better after workout and felt awesome on ride back home.

Day 7 (sunday)
Felt good. OJ for breakfast and rice protein shake as well. After early morning church I ate a gluten free, wheat free chocolate snack bar. Went to whole foods to grocery shop. everything looked good but now on a quest not to add wheat, gluten, and dairy back in diet (have intolerance and sensitivity to it). O.K. so when I got to car the dairy free choco-chips were delicious in about 3 handfuls. GOOD! Yummy! later I had the following: soup, air-popped popcorn, cereal . Ate too much, was constipated and trying to push it out (sorry for those details) Oh, the pain in my adbomen,, Arrrghhh!!!!

Over the next several days I gradually added Salmon, rice and eggs to my diet.

By the next Friday (1 week later after ending the fast) I gained back my weight. This is good news for me as I need to gain a little and because I was spending lots of time in the bathroom when I was consuming dairy, wheat and gluten as I was never absorbing the nutrients to keep a healthy weight for my size. That's right now I am on a strict diet of no dairy because of my lactose intolerance. I started slacking for a bit in the dairy-free department and eating blue bell ice-cream and skinny cow ice-cream sandwiches. I also eliminated Wheat & Gluten because I realized I have a sensivitiy to it. It causes me numerous trips to the bathroom, like 8 to 10 trips every day with some days worse than others. In my research about Wheat & Gluten I realized that individuals that do not tolerate these ingredients and do not change their diets can end up with symptoms like infertility and later in life osteoporisis. I feel so much better now that I am following this diet (way of eating) and would reccommend that you look at your own diet and relate what you eat and how it makes you feel. Food is suppose to be fuel and give you energy not drag you down because of its overprocessed and non-nutrient dense properties.

OVERALL: I would do it again but probably for only 3 days or so!

If you have any questions or want my professional opinion if this is right for you just send me an e-mail or post a blog and I will answer any questions you might have. Buy the book, it explains the pros of detoxing far better than I could ever give it justice.

Tonya Tittle, M.S., ACSM

Owner/Director of Training

Energy Fitness

Energy Fitness Party Update

I've been hearing comments around the gym like, "What are you going to serve at this party? Like, raw carrot sticks, and...stuff."

Like, no. First, you're being stereotypical. Second, you don't even know enough healthy food to be properly stereotypical. I am a firm believer that the ingredients for a good party are as follows:
1. Good guests
2. Good food

We've already got the good guest part covered (including people's spouses and families, we're looking at around 60 people already!) In order to disspell any fears about boring, healthy food sadly wilting in party trays, here's the menu for this Saturday.

Bean and orzo pasta salad
Celery with walnuts and dates salad
A special herb nut mix
Fennel & honey glazed carrot sticks (O.K. they are not raw, but Tonya couldn't resist having the sterotypical carrot sticks with a flare)
Home made salsa with some brand of healthy chips
Vegetarian Black Bean Chili
Fresh Fruit
Gluten and dairy free oatmeal cookies (it is possible to make a good, wheat and dairy free cookie, you'll be amazed)
Gluten & wheat free chocolate brownies (Tonya ate too many while preparing but managed to tear herself away to save some for the party! )

With all that to choose from, everyone should be able to find something that will make them happy and full. Any suggestions for a good dessert in the comment section would be appreciated!

TOGA!! TOGA!!

Okay, so it probably won't get that crazy, but Energy Fitness is having a party (toga optional.) This friend and client appreciation party is Saturday, October 25th at trainer Lisa Sanchez-Sullivan's house from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.


We are doing this because it's been a while since we tried to get people together, and we want our clients to know that we do care about their lives outside the gym. Also, we have had quite a few new people join recently, and we'd like them to get to know some of the other great people that they might see around. And lastly, we want to prove we can have actual fun with people and not just yell at them to do eight more reps.

If you are a current client and did not receive an E-vite, please email energymemphis@gmail.com

Are Artificial Sweetners Safe? How Paranoid are You?

Yesterday, I told you all about the delicious evils of sugar. Artificial sweeteners have an evil reputation, but is it deserved?

The FDA has approved saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, neotame, and acesulfame potassium (don't they all sound chemically yummy?) as sugar substitutes.

This post could be really long, but I'll try to be as concise as possible. All of these chemicals, as stated above are FDA approved. This means they have gone through numerous (around 100) tests, none of them have been found to be harmful. There are guidelines for how much you should consume, but if you're drinking 6 or more diet sodas a day, for God's sake have some water.

Many people believe there is a link between cancer and artificial sweeteners. When saccharin was first on the market, it even had to be labeled with a warning about a link between it and cancer in lab rats. Those findings have since been rescinded. A recent Italian study raised concerns about aspartame as a possible carcinogen. Both the FDA and the European Food Safety Authority looked into the matter and concluded that the data did not support the conclusion that aspartame is a carcinogen. The National Cancer Institute also stands behind the FDA's findings on artificial sweeteners. Given all that, there are still a lot of very smart people who think these substances are dangerous, and I can't 100% prove them wrong. So the question is, do you trust the government to tell you what's safe to eat? Given the current political climate, thinking about trusting the government is pretty depressing.

The chances of getting cancer from artificial sweeteners seems pretty remote, but don't start buying food and drinks based on the fact that they're "diet" because they've got an artificial sweetener. Artificial sweeteners are still not good for you! They may not have the calories of sugar, but they provide no nutritional value on their own. Even though that artificially sweetened cookie has fewer calories, they are still empty calories. How are you going to get the amount of fruits, vegetables, and water you need each day, if you're eating 'low cal' processed foods and drinking diet soda?

There is one more study I'd like to mention. Some researchers at Purdue wondered why there has been such an increase in the number of products containing artificial sweeteners in the past 25 years, yet our nation continues to get fatter. And it really seems like we've been getting fatter faster in that same time period. Here's what they're study, using rats, has led them to conclude. Your body learns how many calories are in food by how sweet and how viscous (or thick) it is. Artificial sweeteners throw this all out of whack. Your body doesn't understand why it has had a rich, delicious treat, but you're still hungry. This causes you to eat more, and any benefit you got from the low-cal food or drink is totally gone. I would really like to find some more research in this area. If you know of any, pass along the info.

Sweet and Sour: Sugary Truth

There's nothing bad you can say about sugar that will make it less tasty. Candy, chocolate, cereal and other delicious foods that start with 'c' are full of sugar and happy childhood memories.

Like many things we enjoyed as children, poorly drawn cartoons, going headfirst down a large metal slide, the majority of John Hughes filmography, when you become an adult, you just have to admit that some things are a bad idea.

Don't go thinking sugar is inherently evil. After all, it was first grown during India's Gupta dynasty, so it can be all bad, right? Sugar gets a bad wrap because we eat way too much of it, and that's easy to do since it's added to almost everything we eat.

Look at the ingredients on any food item. (Remember yesterday's post about protein, where I advised you to check out the nutritional information on food packaging? It's amazing how much easier it is to eat healthy when you actually pay attention to what you're putting in your body.) Most people know that sugar is listed as sugar, fructose, and high fructose (corn) syrup. However, anything you see in the ingredient listing that ends in -ose, is a form of sugar.

So sugar's everywhere, what's the problem? Fruit has sugar in it, and experts say you should eat that, like, 5 times a day. Well, my ignorant, hypothetical friend (those pop in blogs a lot), here's where we get to the really good information. ALL sugar is changed by the body into glucose. The difference is in how quickly the body absorbs this glucose.

Sugar is a simple carbohydrate when it's in forms like table sugar, syrups, honey, alcohol, white flour, etc. The body converts it to glucose quickly and rapidly absorbs it. This quickly raises the body's blood sugar level, and in response, insulin is released to lower the level. This is why sugar is bad for diabetics, and it's over comsumption can lead to Type II diabetes. But wait, there's more bad stuff. Insulin converts calories to triglycerides, which is how the body stores fat. So it also causes weight gain, increased fat, and is linked to obesity.

Sugar contained in fruits, vegetables, grains in their natural forms, and others are complex carbohydrates. These foods all have fiber in them, which slows the absorption of glucose. This means less or no insulin is produced, so you don't gain as much fat. So even foods with added sugars that have a high fiber content are better for you than the sugar you get from things like soda.

So how much sugar should you eat? As little as possible is a good rule, but if you want specific numbers from some experts you've never heard of, here you go: Sugar added to foods, either by the people who made them or by you, should account for 10% or less of your energy intake for a healthy diet. Women trying to lose weight should consume about 1400 calories, and men should get around 1700. Sugar (and other carbs) have about 4 calories per gram. That means 35 grams of sugar or less for women trying to lose weight, and 42.5 for men. If I really wanted to ruin your day, I'd inform you that a Snickers bar alone has 30 grams of sugar.

Tomorrow, let's investigate sugar substitutes.

You're Not Getting Enough Protein

That statement is true for most people, especially women. Granted, sitting on the couch and watching Deal or No Deal is a lifestyle that doesn't require a lot of protein, but for the rest of us, matters are different.

Building muscle is the best way to reshape your body and boost metabolism, and you absolutely cannot build muscle without getting enough protein. For the average adult to actually build lean muscle, you need at least 70-90 grams of protein a day. The number goes up the more you weigh (Multiply your weight in pounds by 0.5-0.9, and this will give you the range you need.)

So look at the nutritional information of the foods you eat to find out how much protein is in it. Think about it: if you're eating about 5 times a day, you'd have to get 14 grams of protein at each meal or snack to get 70 in a day. Which means that little salad you had for lunch isn't going to cut it.

Another advantage to adding more protein to your diet is it gives sustainable energy, and you will actually feel full after you eat. Try adding a protein drink to your routine (especially if you're working out.) You might think some protein powder and milk (or whatever you mix it with), isn't going to fill you up as much as a snack. Try it, and you'll be pleasantly surprised.