Looking for a cool salad to fill you up this summer? Here’s a delicious recipe from my partners over at Prograde Nutrition for you.

Roasted Red Pepper Chicken and Avocado Salad

• 1 medium ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
• 1 tsp.  lemon juice
• 1 bag (10 oz.) torn romaine lettuce (about 10 cups)
• 2 cups  shredded cooked chicken
• 1 medium tomato, cut into wedges
• 1 small  cucumber, sliced
• 1/4 of a medium Vidalia or Walla Walla onion, chopped
• ½ cup Red Pepper
• 1/2 cup  Light or Fat-free Italian Dressing
• ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Toss avocados with lemon juice in large salad bowl.

Add lettuce, chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers and onions; mix lightly.

Add dressing; toss to coat.

Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Serve immediately.

Hey, if you like that one they’ve got 196 more! Seriously, Prograde has a really cool 197 Healthy and Delicious Fat Burning Recipes ebook for just $4.95!

Check it out here: http://nintemanfitness.getprograde.com/prograderecipebook.html

Hope you enjoy!

If you’ve been on the lookout for simple and nutritious meals then look no further than http://nintemanfitness.getprograde.com/prograderecipebook.html

You hear it ALL the time in the media. “BEAT THE BATTLE OF THE BULDGE!”. I don’t give a crap about the battle, I want you to win the war.

A general doesn’t care the result of the battles as long as he won the war. The battles mean nothing, but the end result means everything. What is your end result?

Your end result should be a life full of health and longevity. One bad weekend isn’t going to lose the war for you. You may lose that battle, but who cares about that one battle? Focus on your end goal and know you can enjoy Sunday BBQs with the family. You can enjoy Super Bowl. You can enjoy the holidays. But moderate it. Lose the battle, don’t get massacred. Stay focused on your long term goals to live longer and be healthier.

Now I am not saying you can lose EVERY battle and still win the war. If you lose every battle, you lost. As long as you win more battles that you lose, you will win the war. Moderation in everything and everything in moderation. Go enjoy yourself, but know overall, you need to eat cleaner, healthier and get your physical activity in.

Hear me out on this one -

How many people do you know are on a diet right now? How many people do you know have dieted in the past? How many of those diets stuck? How many people do you know are on their second, third, forth, fifth diet?

Most people diet before a wedding, reunion, resolution, or a variety of other reasons. This makes the work “diet” have a short term effect behind its meaning. People are under the assumption that if they diet for 3 months, they will lose weight. And if they stick to it they will. But then what? Most people YO YO back up to their starting weight.

Want to know the best way to manage your weight? Stop dieting and establish life long healthy lifestyle habits. A diet is nothing more that WHAT you eat. A bird’s diet is seeds. A horses diet is hay and grains. What is YOUR diet going to be? Create a healthy way of eating for the rest of your life. You will be able to manage your weight more effectively and never have to go on a diet ever again.

zucchini-frittata

Zucchini, Parmesan and Mint FrittataWhat You Will Need:

• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 small zucchini, julienned
• 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 mint leaves, torn
• fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil

How To Make It:

Heat a toaster oven to 400 degree F. Break the eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk well. Drizzle in a bit of water. Add the zucchini, cheese, mint, salt and pepper. Drizzle the oil into a 5 1/2 inch skillet. Pour in the egg mixture. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until eggs are just set. Let them stand 2-3 minutes before serving. Makes 1 serving.

If you look up the word “fad” in the dictionary, it will come up with something along the lines of an intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, esp. one that is short-lived and without basis in the object‘s qualities; a craze. Now why on earth would you trust your diet, which is one of the basic needs for your good health, to a craze? To something that will fade away eventually. The secret to weight loss is not to avoid carbs, fats, yellow foods, solid foods, or food that starts with the letter “P”. The real trick is to lower your daily intake by about 100 calories if you can. You’ll hardly notice the difference, but it will add up in the long run to the tune of about 10 lbs a year. And when it comes to your health, you really need to think in the long run.

Stick to the basics when it comes to your diet. Lower your calorie intake, watch your portion size, eat fresh foods, stay away from fast foods and processed foods and stay clear of fad diets that will come and go. A good, balanced diet is always the key to staying healthy.

For some of you, you know the name Dr. Oz from either his appearances on the Oprah show, or his various other books and TV appearances. For the select few of you, if you don’t know who Dr. Oz is, you should.

Being a fitness professional, I hear all the time “My Dr. prescribed X” or “My doctor told me Y is the best thing for me”. Most doctors are pill pushers that honestly couldn’t care less about  your overall health and want to get in and out of your appointment as fast as possible so they can move onto the next one so they can get their paycheck and drive home in their fancy car. I say most because there are those few doctors who truly care about their patients health and know the best way to change someone’s overall health issues is back changing their overall lifestyle.

Dr. Oz, although still a celebrity doctor which to me, reduces credibility, is very straight forward and knows that pushing healthy diets will get people healthy, not pushing pills.

Dr. Oz has a book that I think is a great starting point to getting healthy. It is called “You on a Diet”. It very plainly and basically explains how diets are suppose to help you stay healthy. I have taken nutrition classes for years and I have not had anything as simple and straight forward as this book.

If you are serious about your health, this book is a great place to start. He has more books that are just as good as this one, but You On A Diet is a great place to start.

According to a recent study, 1 in 4 people in the US are on a diet. 1 in 4! People have misconstrued what it means to “diet”. You hear people all the time talking about how they are “on a diet”. A diet, if looked up in a dictionary, is defined as “the kinds of foods that a person, animal, or community habitually eat”. So to say “you are going on a diet” really sets yourself up for short term success. You are telling people I am going to temporarily change what I eat, to see if that will then in turn help me lose weight. A diet is simply what you eat. So instead of going on a diet, try changing your diet. Permanently. You know what you are suppose to eat. We all had it instilled in us by the food pyramid. Unfortunately, the food pyramid does not factor in the schedules of busy life. But don’t let that stop you. There are books such as Eat This Not That: Thousands of Simple Food Swaps That Can Save You 10, 20, 30 Pounds-or More! This book puts the entire food industry under the spotlight, and arms you with the savvy tricks and insider information it takes to eat well no matter where you are. It is a great read and allows you to be conscious of what you are eating. You don’t have to end your social life because you are changing you diet. Most of changing your eating habits is being knowledgeable of what to eat and what not to eat.