My family says that I’m an expert at taking an unhealthy recipe and creating a healthy one that tastes the same. I’ve always thought that eating healthy doesn’t mean we have to eat bland foods. I stand by that statement.

My daughter’s birthday was approaching and I’ve been truly focused on following a specific plan to step up my healing – including balancing my hormones as well as my gut which has been a work in progress for me. One of the things that I have noticed is that when I eat certain foods, like wheat, I tend to not sleep well and feel bloated. In order to avoid this, I decided to experiment a bit with this recipe and created one of my daughter’s favorite cakes: A carrot cupcake! The best part? Not only is it wheat-free, it’s also ketogenic, it has NO artificial sweeteners and no sugar.

So what did I use in place of sugar? I used monk fruit! Monk fruit is a natural sweetener, it has no calories and doesn’t affect blood sugar levels (since it’s low in the glycemic index). It’s also safe for children and pregnant women AND has other health properties as well. Monk fruit owes its sweet flavor to something called mogrosides. A 2013 study concluded that mogrosides reduce oxidative stress (so it works as an antioxidant)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup monk fruit
• 3/4 cup grass-fed butter, softened – you can also use coconut oil or ghee
• 1 tbsp Maple flavored Monk fruit syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 large Eggs
• 2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Sea salt
• 1 1/2 cup  blanched almond flour
• 1 cup Tiger nut flour.
• 2 1/2 cup grated carrots. Make sure to measure them loosely after grating.
• 1 1/2 cup walnuts – use 1 cup for mix, save 1/2 cup for decorating (you can also use pecans)
• Cream cheese frosting (recipe below)  – you can also use coconut cream frosting

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In a large bowl, mix the monk fruit sweetener along with the butter and vanilla until it has a creamy consistency. Then add the eggs one by one while continuing to mix. Set aside
• In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients (tiger nut flour, almond flour, sea salt, cinnamon, baking powder.
• Once well combined, stir the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Then add the carrots and stir. Fold in the 1 cup of walnuts. Setting aside 1/2 cup for garnish.
• Pour the batter into greased cupcake molds (fill to half)
• Bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until the middle of the cupcake is completely cooked (I use a toothpick to check)

Pull out of the oven and allow the cupcakes to cool, about an hour. In the meantime, you can prepare the frosting:

Ingredients:
1 package cream cheese (from grass-fed cows)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup Monk Fruit
4 tbsp heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp butter (softened, cut in cubes)

Mix all ingredients together with a mixer. Add more whipping cream if needed until you have it at the consistency you’d like. Refrigerate until you’re ready to decorate your cupcakes.

Garnish your cupcakes with the whipping cream, add walnuts to garnish (I chopped mine and left a few whole walnuts to garnish). Serve and enjoy!

These tasted SO good!

I absolutely love how versatile quinoa is. But how exactly do you pronounce quinoa? It’s pronounced KEEN-WAH. A super nutrient-dense seed (not a grain), packed with 5 grams of fibre and 8 grams of protein per cup, not to mention iron, magnesium, zinc, potassium, Omega 3 fatty acids and vitamins B1, B2, B6

Quinoa has a bit of a nutty flavor, which makes it a perfect alternative to breakfast! I made this recipe by doing the following:

INGREDIENTS

1 cup Raw Quinoa
2 cups water
1 dash cinnamon
1 cup milk of your choice (I used coconut milk)
Fruit of your choice (I used sliced bananas)
A drizzle of almond butter and chia seeds (for added nutrition)

In a small sauce pan, place water. Bring to a boil and add quinoa and cinnamon. Cover and simmer until all water is evaporated (about 15 minutes). Serve on a bowl (I found 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa to be filling. Add coconut milk, sliced bananas, a drizzle of almond butter and chia seeds.

Serve and enjoy!

Because I’ve been SO interested in improving my gut health and helping my clients do the same, one of the things I focus on is adding a lot more variety to my diet and my family’s diet. I never shy away from trying a new veggie or looking at what other things I can do to add nutrition-packed foods to my meals.

One of the MOST interesting things that I have learned along my journey is that the more flavorful the food is, the more nutritious it is. Our body was designed to identify nutrients by flavor. A common misconception is that in order to eat healthy, our foods are supposed to be bland. We have gotten so used to eating foods that are full of preservatives and flavors created in a lab (thanks to the food industry) with little to no nutrition, that many of us have bought into this marketing strategy.

I am hear to teach people that this is not true. The more flavorful your veggies and foods are, the higher the nutrient density. That’s how we have survived for so many centuries. And due to us straying away from this concept, we have high incidences of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and obesity in this country.

i recently have started to use micro-greens from Hamama Micro Greens which are PACKED with nutrition (from 4  to 40 times more nutrients than their mature counterparts!) And the best part? They take about 10 days to harvest! If you’re as much as a researcher as I am, you can read about the benefits and nutrition content of micro-greens by clicking here

Now moving on to my recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 clove garlic minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger minced
• 4 tablespoons almond butter
• 1 lime zested and juiced
• 2 tablespoons Bragg’s Aminos (it’s like soy sauce but it’s better for you) OR you can use coconut aminos instead
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons Avocado oil
• 2 cups chicken cooked and shredded
• 3 yellow squash (or zucchini) spiral sliced
• 1 large carrots spiral sliced
• 1 Medium size sweet potato spiral sliced
• 1 red pepper spiral sliced
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro chopped
• 1/4 cup green onions diced
• chopped unsalted roasted almonds and lime wedges (optional as a garnish)

INSTRUCTIONS

Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.

1. Add the garlic, ginger, almond butter, lime juice and zest, soy sauce and red pepper flakes to a small bowl and mix together.
2. To a large frying pan add your avocado oil on high heat.
3. Add the squash, carrots, sweet potato and bell peppers to the pan and cook until just wilted, 3 – 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
   Add in the chicken, sauce, cilantro and green onions and toss together until all warmed through.
4. Garnish with almond slivers and wedges of lime if desired. (I topped mine with Micro Greens to add more nutrition). Serve and enjoy!

If you would like to purchase your own kit of micro-greens (super fun to grow these with your family too!) click here

And if you’d like to purchase your own spiralizer, the one I use is on Amazon, just click here to check it out. 

• Super foods,
• Indulge foods,
• Enjoy Foods,
• Minimize foods and
• Avoid foods.

And you guys… my results were totally different than my hubby’s results and his groups of foods are different than mine! The best part? It tells you what the servings should be so it takes that guesswork out of the equation.

So back to the basil salmon recipe. I always do my best to purchase sustainable salmon from reliable sources. If you want to see which fish is sustainable, you can go to the  Seafood Watch  website and do a search for sustainable salmon as well as other types of fish. They also have a nifty app that you can download to your phone and take with you when shopping.

I have been making this recipe for a LONG time and every time I make it, it gets a ton of compliments. I’ve had visitors from other countries call me or write to me asking me to share the recipe with them. The interesting thing is that it’s SO simple!

Why use parchment paper?

I use parchment paper because I’ve discovered that this is a good way to seal in the flavors. You can also use plantain skins or even banana leaves to wrap the fish. I have done this when using a tropical marinade like a papaya, mango salsa for example. What’s cool is that it gives the fish a completely different flavor when preparing it this way. I’ve grilled shrimp using this method as well as chicken breasts.

Here is what the parchment paper covered fish looks like (it had already been cooked on one side in this picture).

Ingredients:
1 lb. Wild Salmon (thawed)
No wax parchment paper

For the marinade:
1 tablespoon per piece of salmon of extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped FRESH basil
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
A dash of salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients of the marinade into a small bowl. Place the salmon on top of the parchment paper and coat with the mixture on the flesh side of the salmon. Seal the parchment paper by folding the ends like wrapping a burrito; making sure no part of the salmon is exposed. Then grill on medium heat with the skin side facing the fire for 15 minutes, then flip it over and grill for another 10 minutes.

Serve and enjoy! I served it with a side of kale slaw with homemade roasted pumpkin seed dressing. A family favorite!

I know what to do

Truly, this has been one of the MOST difficult things to have to deal with, realizing that I did NOT know what to do. Of course I knew that eating healthy and exercising was the key to losing weight. But in all reality, I had NO clue as to what healthy meant and how much exercise I truly needed.

As long as I exercise, I can eat whatever I want

Again, a myth. You cannot out-exercise a bad diet. If you’re eating junk food, you’re not feeding your body with the appropriate fuel you need to lose weight. You wouldn’t fill your car’s gas tank with mud, would you? And if you have a Maserati, you bet as hell that you’ll give it the BEST fuel possible. Treat your body like you would a Maserati. Give it the BEST possible fuel by feeding it real, fresh, non-processed food.

All I need to do is eat low-fat food

The food industry has found the PERFECT combination to get us hooked into buying their processed food: Low-fat, but loaded in sugar (to make up for the lack of flavor from the depleted fats). So what happens? We end up eating food-like products that are labeled as “healthy” but are not. Our body gets used to the sugar and sugar gets stored as fat in our body. Our body actually needs cholesterol to produce steroidal hormones. So we need a good balance between good and bad cholesterols so that our body can perform better. Also beware of “organic” processed food. Just because it’s labeled as “organic” doesn’t make it healthy.

I can do this by myself

Let’s face it… it’s often SO difficult to get motivated on our own. The BEST thing you can do is to get a friend or two who you can trust in and confide in and have them join you and support you in your commitment to being healthy.

People who are fit, spend hours at the gym

Been there, said that and again, another myth. You can do a 25 to 30 minute workout and benefit from it. Even walking will benefit you. Overtraining is not the answer and It can lead to injury and tons and tons of frustration! Not only that, but by overtraining, you add more stress to your body, which may hinder your weight loss. Short but intense workouts appropriate to your fitness level will be more beneficial.

I’m too old to lose weight

No, you’re not. You’re never too old to improve your health. While it’s true that our hormones and metabolism will change as we age, our lifestyle more than anything will impact our metabolism and hormones more than aging will. I’ve seen people well in their late 30’s and 40’s who have been able to lose weight with effort and consistency, me being one of them. I’ve also seen people who are a lot younger who have had hormonal and metabolic imbalances that stem from a poor lifestyle.

Maybe a diet pill will help

Our Western medicine is one to prescribe a pill for whatever ails you, instead of supporting you in finding the cause and helping you improve your health. Doctors are necessary, yes, ABSOLUTELY necessary. However, there’s a time and a place for everything. Taking pills to lose weight is just taking care of a symptom. If you don’t improve your health by changing your lifestyle, no matter what pills you take, you won’t improve.

Once you have kids, you’ll NEVER get your body back

I heard a friend say this and I remember thinking to myself that it couldn’t be true, because I knew women who had gotten back in shape after having children. That being said, I wasn’t one of them! I actually ended up gaining a whopping 60 pounds AFTER having my daughter. When I started to feel ill, and my sugar levels started to go up, I decided it was time to do something and made a few changes. Was I perfect? NOPE. Was it easy? NOPE. But it sure was worth it.

Healthy food tastes nasty

Oh yeah, I’ve heard that one too. And the truth is that this stems from the cardboard-tasting “low-fat” processed food-like items that the food industry has marketed and that so many of us at one point or another have bought into. I LOVE food! I love it so much that I eat several times a day (6 to be honest). And I space my meals by 3 hours. But you bet you’ll always find a good source of protein on my plate (turkey, chicken, fish, bison, grass-fed beef and eggs), and a good source of healthy fats (coconut oil, avocado oil, almonds, almond butter), as well as a good source of wonderful organic produce, including sweet potatoes.

People who are fit NEVER eat cake (or other treats)

Oh gosh… this is so NOT true! At least for me it isn’t. I actually DO eat cake every now and then, specifically on special occasions when I’m celebrating something.  Life is all about balance, and you just can’t live a life in which you feel you’re being deprived of cake (or ice cream, if you’re like me). That being said, I ALWAYS have a healthier version of my favorite treats! For example, my flour-less zucchini brownies are to die for and were a HUGE hit at my daughter’s old school. If you’d like to check the recipe, click here.

And finally… don’t for a minute believe that once you lose weight you’ll be happy. You have to practice being happy TODAY. Be grateful for the life you have. Be grateful that you opened your eyes this morning. My secret to being consistent is to stay in a place of gratitude. I’m grateful that I have a body that responds well to a healthy lifestyle.

If you’d like to be part of my next 30 day free “Eating healthy made easy” group send me a message and I’ll help you get started.

Here are some awesome facts about these chocolates:

The chocolate fudge balls are 47 calories each and 1/3 gram of sugar and vegan.

The chocolate cupcakes are 90 calories each and ½ gram of sugar (they contain egg).

The chocolate protein bites are 75 calories each, ½ gram of sugar (vegan). The chocolate won’t run or melt in a toaster oven, it just gets gooey. If heating them up, he explained, it is not recommended to add butter or vegan butter to it.

The cinnamon almond bites are 55 calories each and 1/3 gram of sugar.

My 7 year old and my husband as usual are my taste-testers. They both tried some of the chocolates and loved them. My daughter said that the chocolate cupcake was “chocolatey” which trust me, is a GOOD thing. And my husband tried and enjoyed one of the protein bites.

The company is called “You Are Loved Foods.” If you want to learn more about this product, click here to go to their website. Make sure to tell them that Veronica from You Glow Girl Fitness sent you.

Ingredients:

1 cup hazelnuts
8 dates, pits removed
1/4 cup almond (or coconut) milk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup oats
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup chocolate chips
2 tbsp (unsweetened) shredded coconut
Step 1
Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees. Place hazelnuts, pitted dates and almond milk in a powerful blender (or food processor) and pulse, making sure that everything is blended thoroughly. You may need to add a bit more of almond milk if necessary. If so, add little by little, until it’s completely smooth and creamy and place in a bowl.

Step 2:
Add eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and oats and mix with a wooden spoon. Add coconut flour and coconut sugar. Baking soda, pecans and chocolate chips. Spray an 8″ square pyrex with oil. Add chocolate hazelnut mixture and press down with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle shredded coconut on top.

Bake for 20 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few gooey crumbs. Allow to cool. Serve, and enjoy. This recipe is light, healthy, gluten-free and delicious!

Check this graphic out and then you can choose from there. I know it’s convenient. But convenience is not always better.

I prepare my meals ahead of time so it makes it much easier for me to be prepared. Especially when going out with the family. I can pack all of my foods and take some foods for my little girl as well, who usually eats the same things I eat plus A MUCH bigger variety of foods that are not part of my plan. My meal plan is nutritious so it doesn’t concern me to give her what I eat plus more. And as a mom, it makes my life MUCH easier doing that.

If you find yourself  saying “I’m bored with my meal plan” then look at ways to spice it up. If you cook your meats ahead of time, like grilled chicken for example, you can do SO much with it. You can eat chicken tacos by adding different types of salsa. Or you can have it with veggies and use different spices to make it more interesting. Use it on a salad with a delicious home made dressing. Use it to make some lettuce wraps. Or add it to a warm mushroom salad. You don’t have to feel bored with your foods. Just find a way to work with them. Also think about adding a few different healthy types of meats. Chicken is boring to me. So I’ve replaced it with turkey on some days. The following week, I’ll have it once a day instead of twice per day.

Take a look at some of the ways I’ve made

Take your weight loss journey not only as your health goal, but an opportunity to be creative with your meals and to have fun with them.

Well, it turns out that cravings might be caused by a magnesium deficiency. Did you know that magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body? According to the National Institutes of Health: “Magnesium is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. It helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, keeps heart rhythm steady, supports a healthy immune system, and keeps bones strong.” Magnesium is SO important to our body’s health that the University of Maryland’s Medical Center reports that people with type 2 diabetes often have a magnesium deficiency. Yes, there are certain medical conditions that make magnesium absorption difficult, like certain stomach viruses as well as irritable bowel syndrome. Magnesium deficiency is also linked to too much coffee, alcohol, salt and soda consumption. You know, those things that we are told that aren’t too good for us? It looks like medical research is proving that it’s true.

The good news is that magnesium is present in a lot of great natural sources AND those sources actually taste good! Raw cacao (or raw chocolate) for example is one of them. So are nuts, beans, and dark leafy greens. Nature is abundant in ALL the nutrients that we need for proper health. The problem is that we turn to processed and nutrition depleted junkfood to deal with our emotions sometimes. For the record, I’m guilty as charged. When I hit an emotional low that lasted for several months, I turned to chips and dip as my go-to-feel-better junkfood, which only left me feeling guilty, sad and just plain yucky (and NEVER made me feel better). My weight gain didn’t happen overnight, in the same way that losing that weight didn’t happen overnight, but losing it seemed SO much harder, which is why having accountability and support was such a big help.

So how can we improve our health? Start cutting the junkfood you consume little by little, one thing per week. It doesn’t have to be something hard. If you need help, I’m only an email message away. In the time being, enjoy this picture I created to show some of the great sources of magnesium.