Healthy Eating Options While Watching the Game

It is common to throw your current diet, meal plan, clean eating regimen, or whatever plan you were following out the window when the Super Bowl comes around. Social gatherings, having friends over, and having an evening off from the daily grind creates a mindset to just let loose. I believe that a balance should still be in the forefront of your mind. Cheat day? No! Cheat meal? Why!?

Practicing self control, moderation in food choices, and being mindful of when you are getting full so food babies are avoided should still be important to you on Super Bowl Sunday. I shake my head and get a little sad by the people that tell me that they are practicing a low carb diet for the week so they can save all the bad choices for Sunday.

"That isn't progressing toward self mastery."

There is definitely a place for the foods you miss, love, want and wish to enjoy with friends and family. I hope you have a great Super Bowl Sunday with friends and family. Create a plan ahead of time of what you will have and avoid. Be mindful of your choices and make sure you don't over consume. Stop before getting too full.

I want to leave you with some great options for some of the favorites for Super Bowl Sunday.

COCONUT FRIED CHICKEN

{Ingredients} * 2lbs of Chicken Tenderloins * 1 cup of Coconut Flour * 2 tablespoons of Tapioca Starch * 1 1/2 teaspoons of Garlic Salt * 1 teaspoon of Salt * 1/4 teaspoon of Black Pepper * 2 Eggs, Whisked * 1/4 cup - 1/2 cup of coconut Oil, for Frying * 1/2 teaspoon of Paprika

{Instructions} 1) Heat ¼ cup coconut oil in a skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. While the oil is heating, prepare the chicken. Place coconut flour, tapioca starch, garlic salt, salt, Italian seasoning and pepper in a bowl and mix. Put the whisked eggs in a separate bowl. Dip each chicken tenderloin into the egg and then coat each with the coconut flour mixture. Place the prepared chicken into the hot oil and fry it for 5 minutes. Once the first side is browned, turn the chicken and fry the other side for another 5 minutes, or until the chicken is golden brown and shows no pink in the middle. During the last minute of frying, sprinkle paprika over the chicken. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

BAKED CORN TORTILLA CHIPS

{Ingredients} * 15 Corn Tortillas, cut into wedges * Nonstick Cooking Spray * 1 teaspoon of Sea Salt

{Instructions} 1) Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat both sides of tortillas with spray. Arrange in a single layer on two baking sheets. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until crisp. Sprinkle with a little salt and enjoy.

HOMEMADE SALSA

{Ingredients} * One 28-ounce can of whole plum tomatoes, including juice * 1 small white onion, peeled and roughly chopped * 1 or 2 jalepeno peppers, seeded and chopped * 3 cloves of garlic, chopped * 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin * 1 teaspoon of salt * 1/4 to 1 teaspoon of sugar, optional if you like it sweet * 1 or 2 handfuls cilantro leaves * 3 tablespoons of lime juice

{Instructions} 1) Add all ingredients to food processor in the order listed. Pulse a few times to break up the large pieces, then process until texture is as smooth as desired. Taste the salsa and based on personal preference, adjust as necessary. Transfer to airtight container and let sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or 1 day for best flavor. Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

{Ingredients} * 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract * 1 large egg * 4 tablespoons of dark brown sugar, lightly packed * 1/2 cup of coconut oil * 1 and 1/2 cups of oat flour (regular oats blended) * 1 teaspoon of baking soda * 1 teaspoon of cinnamon * pinch of salt * 1/2 cup of chocolate chips

{Instructions} 1) Take regular old fashioned oats or quick oats and blend them until they resemble a flour or powder in a blender or food processor. Combine the vanilla extract, large egg, and brown sugar in a bowl. Melt the coconut oil and let it cool slightly before adding to the bowl. Beat everything together until just combined. Stir in the oat flour (measured after blending NOT before), baking soda, cinnamon (scale this amount to taste preferences), and salt. Stir until just combined and then fold in the dark chocolate chips. Chill the dough for at least one hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using a cookie scoop (and pack these in the scoop very tightly or they may crumble), scoop out balls of the dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Press a few more chocolate chips in the tops if desired. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Remove and allow to stay on the baking sheet for another 2 minutes before removing to a wire cooling rack. Enjoy!

Healthy Thanksgiving Ideas

Face it -- November is usually synonymous with an abundance of eating and lack of exercise. Thanksgiving is a time for celebration and family. This is not a time to binge on your favorite meals and throw away all your goals. On the other hand, this is also not a time for deprivation either. When Thanksgiving rolls around it's like you lose focus and throw out the plan? Why? Here are some things I have always kept in mind when approaching Thanksgiving. - Exercise... Don't stop training because it is the week of Thanksgiving. Continue on plan and even make sure you do some sort of exercise on Thanksgiving day. Chances are if you keep exercise in the regimen you will make better choices when it comes to food because you are more conscious about good health decisions. - Don't Starve Yourself To Make Room... I used to hear this a lot when I worked in health clubs. "Oh, I'm making room for Thanksgiving so I'm just not going to eat until later." "I'm going to not have carbs all week so I can eat all my favorites on Thanksgiving." This is not smart. Actually, it is a proven way for you to make bad decisions when it is time to eat and more than likely you will over consume. Have you ever went grocery shopping hungry? Yeah, not a good idea. - Don't Use Thanksgiving As An Excuse To Binge... "I'm just going to eat whatever I want all day and start fresh tomorrow." That quickly turns south. So don't try it. You probably will end up putting off 'tomorrow' until next year. This is not a day to just binge out on all your favorites. This is more of a day to practice self control and good decision making. You can have your favorites but in moderation. - Don't track the day... I love to track my food everyday. So this one is a huge one for me. Let this day be a day where we are not on a strict meal plan. This will allow us to not be busy weighing food, stressing about calories/macros, and missing the opportunity to spend quality time with family. Don't plug your meals in myfitness pal or trying to swap meals out on your meal plan. Call it an non-tracked day. But with this comes great responsibility. That means it becomes a smart choice day, and a portion control day. - Fill Up On Good Vegetables... When good vegetables are what we fill up on chances are we won't make that extra trip for another slice of Grandma's apple pie. - Make Health Conscious Decisions On Carbohydrates... You love your sisters mashed potatoes but you have to have dressing too. Well that is fine but make sure that you use good judgement in portions. There is no such thing as free calories. They all come with a price.

Here are some healthy alternatives to some Thanksgiving favorites:

SLOW COOKER CORNBREAD DRESSING

Ingredients: 4 tbsp. butter 1 medium-sized white onion, diced 1 green bell pepper, diced 4 ribs celery, diced ½ tsp. kosher salt ½ tsp. poultry seasoning one pan of Southern cornbread (substitute rice flour or all-purpose GF flour for the wheat flour in the recipe) 6 slices gluten-free sandwich bread, cut into 1" squares 2 c. chicken broth ⅓ c. half and half 1 egg cayenne pepper to taste, optional

Instructions: 1) Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and celery, and saute for 10-15 minutes until vegetables are very tender. Stir in salt and poultry seasoning, and turn off heat. Crumble cornbread into a large mixing bowl, and add cubed sandwich bread. Stir in butter and vegetables. 2) Add two cups of broth, and stir well. 3) Whisk egg and half and half together in a measuring cup (plus cayenne pepper if desired), and stir into cornbread. 4) Spray crock of slow cooker VERY well with cooking spray, and pour in cornbread mixture. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

HEALTHY APPLE CRISP

Ingredients: 3 medium baking apples, cored, sliced thin 1 tsp cinnamon 2 Tbsp sugar 2 Tbsp flour

Topping: 1 cup quick oats 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 Tbsp heart-healthy margarine

Instructions: 1) Mix first four ingredients and place into 9-inch (square or round) baking dish. 2) In small bowl, mix topping ingredients until crumbly. Sprinkle topping over the apples. 3) Bake at 325 degrees until apples are soft and topping is golden brown (about 30 minutes).