Category: portion control

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Chocolate Cranberry Bran Muffins

Chocolate Cranberry Bran Muffins

These delicious chocolate cranberry bran muffins are packed with healthful fiber and micronutrients. The words “fiber” and “delicious” are not often used in the same sentence…thanks to cacao, molasses, and oat bran, it’s possible! About 115 Calories and 5g of fiber in each muffin.

I like bran muffins, but don’t like the bloaty feeling as if I’ve eaten an entire wicker swing set. These are perfectly portioned at 115 Calories each and contain 5g of fiber per muffin. Enough to do some good, but not enough to cause…ahem…unexpected surprises.

Each muffin has 5 g of sugar which comes from the no-sugar added dried cranberries and molasses. Molasses is a necessary ingredient in bran muffins for the classic taste, but we’ve used less than in a typical recipe and supplemented with no sugar pancake syrup.

These chocolate cranberry bran muffins do not contain oil or added fat. Strategic use of riced cauliflower makes them moist but adds no taste. Many of my clients struggle with vegetable intake – there are plenty of ways to incorporate them into your diet to make them easier to eat.

Be sure to let them cool completely before placing in a Tupperware in the fridge. They still taste excellent after re-heating in the microwave for a few seconds. I recommend topping with Greek yogurt or some almond butter.

Looking for a balanced nutrition strategy to meet your goals? Contact me for a free consultation.

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Savory Turkey-Cranberry Hash

I’m not ready for Thanksgiving to be over. Seasoned with sage and garlic, this healthy turkey cranberry hash uses riced cauliflower as the base with a bit of crunch from almonds and celery. This dish takes very little time to make and is great for meal prep!

Cauliflower is a staple food in my diet. It is awesomely versatile – on it’s own it has little taste, but readily absorbs other flavors while cooking. Just as importantly, it has an outstanding micronutrient profile with high a content of dietary fiber, Vitamin C, K, and folate.

Frozen riced cauliflower is sold at all major grocery stores, Target, and Costco. I keep a stock in my freezer for whipping up quick meals – all it takes is about 5 minutes in the microwave. If you have the time, you could also buy fresh cauliflower and rice it yourself.

Regarding the macros, I set up this recipe for 20 g of protein, 10 g of fat, and 13 g of carbs for a total of 220 Calories per serving. It is readily adjusted to your needs:

  • Increase/decrease protein by adding more or less turkey
  • Increase/decrease fats by modifying the amount of almonds
  • Increase/decrease carbs by modifying the amount of cranberries

Please let me know if you tried this recipe!

If you are looking for some help to manage your health and fitness through the holidays, and transition to healthier habits, please reach out.

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Measurement of Food and Portions

Measuring food: tradeoff between accuracy and practicality.

If you are trying to lose fat or gain muscle you may have received the generalized advice – just eat less, or just eat more. What does this actually mean? It’s an unfortunate oversimplification and we need to go a few steps deeper to make it practical. In order to manage our food intake, we need to have some idea of our current portion sizes, and then adjust them up or down to meet our goals.

After you have determined your total daily energy requirements, you will need to select foods and decide by which method you will measure portions. Without any form of measurement, it is challenging if not impossible to assess caloric intake with any degree of confidence. We need a way to track and be accountable to ourselves.

“What gets measured, gets done”

– William Edwards Deming

There are trade-offs between accuracy and practicality to consider in measuring; at certain times in your long term plan it may make more sense to weigh foods on a scale, while at other times a simple visual estimation with your hand is adequate. Using a food scale is beneficial to understanding exactly what your food portions should look like, and some people desire this higher level of control. Some accuracy is lost by measuring food volume with cups and teaspoons/tablespoons, but it is more practical as most people are already familiar using these tools. If you have never tracked food before or are simply dining out and away from your food scale, the great news is that you have a natural measuring instrument in your hand already…..literally, it’s your hand.

Click here for a downloadable and printable infographic on hand estimates for food portions.

Need some help getting started with a nutrition plan and portions?