What Are you Hungry For? Full Life's Healthy Lifestyle Blog

HMR Recipe - Very Veggie Risotto

Variety is the spice of life and, with this recipe, you can savor the taste of a delicious risotto without all of the calories and fat found in a traditional restaurant risotto. 

 

You will need:

• 1 HMR Mushroom Risotto Entree
• 2 cups chopped portabella mushrooms
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1/2 cup carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 TB vegetable broth
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions:

Spray pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Saute the mushrooms, garlic, onion, and carrots for 1 - 2 minutes.  Add vegetable broth and cook on low heat for 8 - 10 minutes or until veggies are cooked as desired.  Add peas and HMR Mushroom Risotto and heat through.  Eat as is or bake at 375 for 15 minutes for a richer flavor.

 

Bon Apetit!

HMR Shake of the Week Recipe - MG Cinnamon Upside Down Cake

Ever have one of those days when you just don't know what you want to eat?  That happens to me a lot.  One day last week I started my day by making an HMR Multigrain Cereal, decided I wanted a shake instead and put the cereal in the fridge for later. Later, I wanted dessert - so here's this week's creation!

HMR Multigrain Cereal Cinnamon Upside Down Pudding Cake

You will need:

HMR Shake of the Week Recipe - Hot Chocolate Volcano

They say that necessity is the mother of invention and it's also the reason I've created with some of my favorite HMR Shake Recipes!

The other night I needed chocolate - and some of you know what I mean - but the thought of a frosty shake left me cold...

So I made myself a double HMR 70+ pudding - just a couple packets in a mug with water, and by accident made it a little too thin for my taste.  Then I wondered what would happen if I put it in the micro for a bit and what-do-you-know?...The outside cooked up like a brownie and the inside stayed gooey.  YUM!

You'll have to try different temps in your micro - but mine worked perfectly on high for 90 seconds.

I'm going to continue to experiment with this one - maybe add a little baking cocoa next time for an even richer taste - and I think a drop of almond extract or even a teaspoon of instant coffee would be great in the mix.

Test it out yourself and post your results - We are always in the market for some new HMR Shake Recipes!

Bon Apetit! 

 

 

 

 

The Friday Fight: What happens in Vegas....

They say everything's bigger, brighter and bolder in Vegas.  Maybe that's why Vegas ranks as one of the Top 50 UNhealthiest cities in the country. Check out this Turkey Brisket Sammich, submitted by a Full Life fighter himself while in Vegas.   How does one even eat this?  Anyone want to make a bet on the calorie count?

As a reminder fighters, I don't post these outrageous meals to tempt or frustrate you. I post them to congratulate you for living a HEALTHIER lifestyle..to acknowledge that this is the kind of culture and behavior you fight against every day.  So go ahead, applaud yourself for choosing your health over the norm.  Remember, being healthy isn't about good luck (especially not here in Vegas!) or good genes...it's about making good choices and being good to your body!  Now that's something I'm willing to bet on.

Achieving Balance - Weight Maintenance Tip #4

Physical Activity plays a key role in long term health and weight loss maintenance. But the calories out side of the equation is often not enough to compensate for the calories in - especially if some of your old pesky eating habits have come back.

Using Meal Replacement Entrees is a very simple way to add structure to your maintenance plan. HMR meal replacement entrees work well because they mix with veggies easily - but there are many varieties of meal replacements to choose from in the grocery store, too. Look for those that will mix with veggies, have 300 calories or less and at least 10 grams of protein. Watch the sodium content (maximum daily intake should be 2400 mg or less) and make sure the total calories from fat is less than 30%.

Achieving Balance Weight Maintenance Tip #4 - Use meal replacement (HMR) entrees as a regular part of your weekly diet plan.

An easy way to incorporate meal replacements is to add them to your established routine. Bringing HMR entrees to the office is easy because they require no refrigeration - you can stock up your desk or file cabinet for the entire week ahead of time. And the bottom line is - it's a lot easier to build a 450 calorie lunch using meal replacements and veggies than it is to eat 1000 calories at lunch with your colleagues and have to hit the treadmill for hours after work just to balance out the day's calories. Using HMR entrees for lunch will save you $$ too, while protecting your weight loss long term.

Check out our Recipes and Tips pages for lots of great HMR recipe ideas - and be creative - your weight depends on it!

 

 

HMR Publishes Weight Loss Results

One of the questions I get all the time when people are considering the HMR Program is "What is the Success Rate?"  Well, as one referring physician said to me this week, "I have never seen anyone do the program as it is designed and not lose weight. "

HMR has always set the standard for excellence in the field and measurable outcomes have been the cornerstone of the HMR Program for more than 25 years. 

This month, The Journal of the American Dietetic Association published a new study showing just how effective the HMR Program is.  Patients who participated in the Healthy Solutions Program (HMR shakes, HMR entrees and fruits and vegetables, behavioral coaching and 2000 calories PA) lost an average of 37.5 pounds in 18 weeks. These data represent two to three times more weight loss, in less time, compared to published results of any other commercial diet program.

(The HMR at Home Program, the latest, most convenient diet option, uses the same HMR meal replacements and diet structure as HMR Healthy Solutions in a clinical setting.)

What is the success rate?  Simply stated... portion and calorie-controlled meal replacements used in a structured weight-loss program are successful in facilitating medically significant weight loss.

Check out this link for more information. http://www.adajournal.org/home

 

 

Day 23 - HMR 70+ Puddings- Your Best Defense

They say the best defense is a good offense and it's a motto that works when you are trying to be more successful managing your weight.

If you are like me, you come home, take off your coat, walk to the kitchen and open the fridge. Maybe I'm hungry maybe not...it's just a habit I've gotten into and it's one that can get me into trouble. I don't really expect to find anything I didn't put in there on the last shopping trip (but one hopes)... perhaps some forgotten leftover... a stray piece of something delicious hiding behind the broccoli...

I open the fridge a lot throughout the day, grab something and snack. Whatever is there... So what's there better be healthy, and low in calories - or my nibbles throughout the day will bust my calorie budget for sure.

Grapes are my must have - washed and chilled in my grandmother's berry bowl. (It makes me feel good just seeing it in there.) Baby carrots, too, fresh, cold and crisp. (I like them dipped in a little Walden Farms Ranch dressing.)

But sometimes only sweet and creamy will do, and so I''ve learned to keep a blender full of HMR 70+ pudding ready to go in the fridge at all times. The great thing about the HMR 70+ is that you can make it in the morning and keep it in the fridge for up to 36 hours - just replace the blender jar on the base - give it a quick whip and you've got a rich, thick, "in the box" treat.

It helps to have 2 blender jars - that way you still have a free blender for a full volume shake if you want it. Or - you can blend the HMR 70+ pudding and put it in Tupperware - then just give it a quick stir before you eat it.

If you already make your shakes in the morning, rinse out the blender and mix up some pudding right away... this will save time, and your after work snack will be waiting for you when you get home.

I usually mix 3 or 4 packets of HMR 70+ puddings at once, and have tried a variety of combinations that keep fresh over time. Avoid using fruit if you plan to keep the puddings longer than a couple of hours. Basic HMR 70+Vanilla with Fat Free Sugar Free Vanilla Jello Pudding is wonderful (you can always spoon it over fruit later). Also HMR 70+ Vanilla mixed with HMR 70+ Chocolate and Fat Free Sugar Free Butterscotch Jello... try 2:1 or 2:2 for more or less chocolate...

There are an endless variety of flavors you can achieve with extracts and Jello flavorings and spice. But most of all, HMR 70+ Pudding is your best defense against high calorie snacking. It will be there when you need it to keep running for the goal!

 

 

Day 14 - OREO is a Four Letter Word - Beating the Environment with HMR

Having a variety of edible snacks increases the chances of eating more of them. The Oreo guys at Nabisco are banking on it. Every time I am in the grocery store there is a new variety of Oreo cookies on the end cap. End caps are prime grocery real estate, especially now that a lot of us have gotten hip to shopping the perimeter, so even with the best avoidance strategies, Oreos pop.

I haven't actually eaten an Oreo since - oh - college maybe - when I used to devour a row of double stuff at a sitting. (You have to finish the row...!) But still, Oreos have made their way into my consciousness by their sheer persistance and variety, and today, to prove the point that variety is key to longevity with any edible choice, I visited www.NabiscoWorld.com/oreo (for real) to find out exactly how many different kinds of Oreo cookies there are.

Turns out there are 48 different Oreo products to choose from on the website. (I know there are even more because the Oreo straws weren't on there.) 48! Some were same cookies, different package, but even accounting for that, there were still 30 DIFFERENT kinds of Oreos to choose from.

There are the standard Oreo and the golden, plus both of those double stuffed. For a little color you can choose purple, orange or red middles - or a nice chocolate fudge. There are Oreos for Halloween and Easter as well as Holiday Oreos (I assume those cover Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice and...New Years?) With a nod to health conscious consumers there are reduced fat Oreos and Oreos made with organic sugar. You can have your Oreos mini and in snack packs and in 100 calorie packs and to go. You can have them white fudge covered or chocolate covered with or without mint. And finally, you can have your Oreos turned into a cake or a pie crust, or put your Oreo ice cream in your Oreo ice cream cone.

From the Oreo page you can click on Oreo Moments and share your special Oreo experiences with others. Photos of the Eiffel Tower and The Great Wall of China pop up, suggesting that perhaps our experience of the world's great attractions would be enhanced if only we brought our cookies along.

What was not on the website, however, was the simple calorie information I am looking for. There are nutrition facts, with calories listed for grams of Oreo cookie products - but they don't tell you haw many grams there are in a single Oreo cookie. I finally had to settle on the single serving snack pack label which listed calories at 250, fat calories 100. Phew.

By now I am going pretty crazy in Oreo, NabiscoWorld, and that's when I check out the Consumer Alert. "WARNING!! Eating Oreos is hazardous to your health!!" Of course not.

In fact the Consumer Alert simply assures us of Oreo's quality, no salmonella tainted ingredients are used in Oreo Production. Well, Thank Goodness!

With so many Oreos to choose from how could I choose just one? I could, theoretically have a unique and memorable Oreo moment to share with a different Oreo every day of the month!

I pick on Oreos only partly in jest. We live in an impossible food environment, an environment designed for weight gain, created by a food industry (and I use the term food loosely) that churns out one sticky sweet gooey crunchy salty high fat processed product after another.

Managing your weight and health in this environment is more difficult than ever. (But there are fuji and gala and macintosh and pink lady and red delicious and green and cortland apples to choose from!) Keep trying. Keep working on new strategies, new recipes, new ideas, focus on building a variety of things to choose from. The more variety you have with your healthy choices, the more likely you will be to keep practicing them.

Check out our recipe pages for new ideas. Make sure to add extracts, flavorings, spices and veggies and fruits to your HMR meal replacements.Try new healthy foods every day. The Oreo guys are hard at work - so we have to work harder!

Day 13 - More is Better? The Proof is in the (HMR 70+) Pudding!

I am a dessert fan. Love dessert. Dessert after supper, dessert after lunch. Actually, my undying love for dessert is a problem.

If it weren't for ice cream and creme brulee and chocolate mousse, cake and cookies and BROWNIES...(really brownies are the worst)...I would have no (caloric) problems whatsoever. I couldn't care less about eating a potato chip. I'm just fine with my salads and baked potatoes, broiled fish and chicken... but...When the meal is over the dessert monster rears her hungry head and demands her due.

I have tried not having dessert and it just makes me feel...unsatisfied. Deprived. Cranky. The day is unfinished, really, if I haven't had my sweet stuff. 

But the bitter truth is, that unless I am willing to devote several hours a day to doing a cardio workout, all the yummy delectables I dream of are simply not in the calorie budget. High cal goodies are out of the question.

Take, for example, The Cheesecake Factory Chocolate Cake - seven layers of chocolate filled with chocolate frosting, then frosted and sprinkled with jimmies. (They sell a version of this at COSTCO) The serving size at The Cheesecake Factory is 16 full ounces of cake. At about 150 calories per ounce you are looking at oh... roughly 2400 calories. (for DESSERT!!) I would have to walk 10 hours to burn that off. That's a problem.

To eat dessert or not to eat...but alas! HMR 70+ pudding is the solution to the dessert lover's dilemma. At 110 calories and 14 grams of protein, it's the best bang for your sweet buck on the market. In fact - you could eat more than 20 servings of HMR 70+ chocolate pudding for the same number of calories in the Cheesecake Factory Chocolate Cake. No Kidding. Problem solved.

A typical 4 ounce chewy rich and delicious brownie is about 550 calories. One brownie - about 2 hours and 15 minutes on the treadmill.

5 servings of HMR 70+ pudding is also 550 calories. So I often make 5 (More is Better) servings of 70+ in the blender. Whip it up real nice and creamy, add a little extra cocoa. When I'm having a BROWNIE attack - I give myself permission to eat the whole blender full. I figure - even if I ate it all, I would still come out ahead of the game - because it is unlikely I would be able to have just one brownie barring (cue megaphone...) "Step away from the bake sale with your hands up lady!"

Like I said, I love dessert. And the good news is I have had fewer than a handful of sad, dessertless nights since I started working with HMR ten years ago. Does "More is Better" HMR 70+ work for me? The proof is truly in the pudding!

Check out the latest post on Fit n'Fast Recipe TV to see how HMR 70+ can work for you!

HMR Meal Replacements - Real Comfort Food?!

If you live in the NorthEast...or just about any place where it's been snowy and dark for a while, you might be thinking what I'm thinking...Comfort Food!

Typically, Comfort Food=Weight Gain. And before you know it - it's your pants that are unComfort-able...

On nights like this - wet, cold and just plain blah...it's good to have a few hot yummy recipes up your sleeve that won't bust the calorie budget.

So tonight - try this:

Mix 1-2 scoops HMR 120 Chocolate with1-2 cups water and a little Hershey's baking cocoa in a pot on the stove and stir slowly over med heat until nice and thick - top with lite Cool Whip...

Or how about 1-2 scoops of Vanilla 120 with Fat Free Sugar Free Jello Butterscotch Pudding (cooked as above)

Or...Make a thick and creamy batch of HMR MultiGrain Cereal and add warm apples or pears and a little Walden Farms Calorie Free maple syrup...yum

In the world of weight management there are few real surprises - but this is a good one - comfort food that keeps on comforting long after the dishes are done.