Shrimp provides nutrients such as vitamin B12, vitamin E, niacin and omega-3 fatty acids. Shrimp is also low in saturated fat making it a great dish to lose weight.

P2 Garlic Shrimp

• 100g shrimp (peeled & deveined)
• 4-6 cloves minced garlic
• 2 Tbs chicken broth or 2 Tbs MCT oil
• Himalayan Pink Salt and pepper, to taste
• Chopped basil

Heat nonstick pan over MED-HI heat. Mix of the broth with pepper, minced garlic, and other spices. Add to pan.
Cook less than a minute. Be sure not to burn the garlic. Add shrimp. Cook 3 minutes. Top with basil and serve.

Grilling instructions:

Preheat the grill to medium.
Grill shrimp for three to five minutes, until pink and curled. Be careful not to overcook. Larger shrimp take longer than smaller ones, of course! While cooking, baste shrimp with mix from above.

The post P2 Garlic Shrimp for Entree or Holiday Appetizer appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

Steak Day Instructions:
It requires abstaining from all food until the evening meal. You may drink water, tea, and coffee anytime and in whatever quantity you desire, but you do not eat anything until dinner. In the evening eat a huge steak with only an apple or a raw tomato. You can have butter and any other fat with your meal on this day.

Doing a steak day on the day in which a gain is registered, the next morning brings about an immediate drop of often over a pound.

The post Steak Day on phase 3 appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

We’ve all heard it…eating white pasta is bad for you! “Traditional” White pasta is made from refined white flour and is a very unhealthy processed food. Refined white flour is so processed, and has all the nutrients stripped out, so much so that our bodies hardly recognize it as a food.

Pasta is something most of us love and miss when doing the hCG diet. If you choose wisely you can introduce pasta into your diet. That is if you choose wisely! There are a few choices such as whole grain, Dreamfields, brown rice pasta, Ezekiel or my favorite – Quinoa (http://www.quinoa.net/) pasta!

Choose this:

Quinoa (pronounced “keen wah”) is a plant-derived protein discovered in South America and is similar to rice. The word Quinoa means “mother grain.” Although it’s commonly thought of as a grain, it’s actually closer to a leafy green vegetables and is very easy to digested. Quinoa is not only a good source of fiber and protein it is packed with amino acids, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants and phytonutrients.

Quinoa begins as a gluten-free grain-like seed and can be ground into flour to make several types of nutrient-rich pasta. There are numerous varieties on the market, including spaghetti, fettucini, shells and elbows.

Do Not Choose This:

The carbohydrates contained in pasta made from refined white flour will release sugars into the bloodstream quickly. This causes a steep rise in blood sugar which can contribute diabetics and obesity. It also raises your blood’s levels of the LDL (bad) cholesterol which can lead to heart disease and high blood pressure. Our bodies have a hard time digesting such a refined food and as a result it hangs around in our bodies and ends up storing as fat. Most of those fat cells are generally being deposited and store in the mid-section.

The post Choose Wisely-Pasta appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

Gazpacho

Phase 3 Cool Soup Recipe

The post Gazpacho Soup P3 appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

Chicken Stuffed Tomato

100 g cooked chicken (ground beef or steak can also be used)
1 lg tomato hollowed out (can slice in half as well)
1 melba toast crushed into crumbs (optional)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced onion (powder may be substituted)
cayenne pepper and salt to taste

*To prepare your tomato you must first hollow out and allow it to drain. This is best described as the ‘pumpkin method’ carve around the top and gently cutting into the tomato’s sides with a spoon, scrape out the innards into a small dish and set aside. If this is too difficult or your tomato is very ripe, you can cut it in half and do a similar hollowing out. Sprinkle your tomato with salt and turning upside down on a paper towel, allow it to drain. If you wish you may cut a thin slice from the bottom of the tomato which will allow it to sit ‘up’ in the dish while baking!

*using a bullet, ninja, blender, or similar device, combine chicken, onion, garlic, and 2 tbs of the tomato juice and blend. Carefully pack about half of your chicken mixture into your tomato.

Phase 2 Recipe

Place your stuffed tomato into a baking dish, top with melba toast crumbs, and bake for 20 min at 350, adding about 1/8 c water to the dish to prevent burning.

You can now have fun with the left over chicken salad and tomato ‘juice’. I like to combine the juice with 2/3 c water, (1 tsp milk optional), onion and garlic powder, 5 drops of stevia, blend in bullet, warm and voila… tomato soup! The Chicken salad is a great topping for celery stalks, melba toast (if not used as a topping), served on a bed of lettuce, or to make apple chicken salad! This can be a fancy dish for a dinner party or something simple for yourself… be creative and enjoy!

The post Chicken Stuffed Baked Tomato Phase 2 appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

Peppermint Shake

This shake is not only tasty, it’s good for you. Packed with protein, fiber, Omega 3’s, and multiple vitamins and minerals. Another great way to add in raw organic spinach which is not only good for you, it’s good for weight loss.

Peppermint Delight p3

1 cup rice, almond or coconut milk

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

3/4 greek yogurt

1 Tbsp. Flaxseed oil

1 Tbsp. ground flax seeds

1 scoop greens

1 handful raw organic spinach

1-2 droppers of Peppermint Stevia

crushed ice

Blend and enjoy

The post Peppermint Delight Shake appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

Healthy Eating Travel Tips

It is always best to plan your phase 2 around events in life when you will be home and be able to control your environment.  But what happens when the schedule does not work out and something comes up that you will be away from home for a period of time and cannot continue 500 VLCD.  Dr. Simeons in Pounds and Inches discusses this scenario and says it is best to do an interruption if you will be away for more than 4 days.

Unforeseen interruptions of treatment
“If an interruption of treatment lasting more than four days is necessary, the patient must increase his diet to at least 800 Calories by adding meat, eggs, cheese, milk to his diet after the third day, as otherwise he will find himself so hungry and weak that he is unable to go about his usual occupation. If the interval lasts less than two weeks the patient can directly resume injections and the 500-Calorie diet, but if the interruption lasts longer he must again eat normally until he has had his third injection.
When a patient knows beforehand that he will have to travel and he absent for more than four days, it is always better to stop injections three days before he is due to leave so that he can have the three days of strict dieting which are necessary after the last injection at home. This saves him from the almost impossible task of having to arrange the 500 Calorie diet while en route, and he can thus enjoy a much greater dietary freedom from the day of his departure.

It is recommended that you have at least 20 days, however sometimes this is unavoidable as well.  There are times we just have to make adjustments to our best laid plans.  Dr. Simeons says if the interruption is before the 20th day some of the weight lost may be regained, but once you resume this will come back off and you will be able to finish your round.

“Interruptions occurring before 20 effective injections have been given are most undesirable, because with less than that number of injections some weight is liable to be regained. After the 20th injection an unavoidable interruption is merely a loss of time.”

Planned or unplanned interruptions, however is not a free for all.  You cannot just stop and then resume eating habits from before with sugars, alcohol and starches and expect not to regain your weight lost.  You will transition into a p3 style of eating while away.  We recommend if it is more than a few days that you increase to your maintenance calories recommended for you in phase 3.  Dr Simeons says at least 800 calories if for 4 days, but if it is longer you will need to increase or you will gain if your calories are not high enough.  In today’s VLOG Carol discusses tips for traveling while maintaining your healthy eating lifestyle:

Recommended Snacks for Traveling: (Click here for our Traveling Tips reference sheet)

Cut up veggies
Fruit (stick with p2 fruits)
Nuts (cause some to gain to use caution)
Green superfood for smoothies – the more veggies you can get in the better.
Larabars – watch the ones with chocolate as they have sugars.

Eating out: Eat a lot of grilled chicken on salad, no dressing.  You can ask for vinegar and lemon wedges or take your own. Many places such as In and Out, Carl’s Jr. do burgers “protein style” (lettuce wrap). Ask for substitutes such as cottage cheese or sliced tomatoes instead of hash browns.

Follow the Phase 3 Week One Menu Guide:

First week of p3 menu:

Breakfast- 3 eggs and meat/veggies (meat must be sugar free) and try adding in veggies such as bell peppers, onion etc.. or whatever you like.

Snack– 1 scoop of protein.. Jay Robb(or similar) but only if you need extra calories for the day or

1- fruit (p2) orange, strawberries, apple, grapefruit

Lunch 6-8oz of meat and veggies so chicken salad you could have 8oz breast on a bed of spinach or lettuce 2-3 cups with tomatoes or other veggies.

Snack– grissini( keep it in a few days a week at least until we add other grains)

Dinner– 6-8 oz protein and veggies..( look at the celery and chicken/steak on blog last week) that is 500 cal.

Do your best and know when you return you will get back on track as soon as possible.  Try not to over do it.  Some use this time as an excuse to resume old eating and drinking habits.  This will undo any losses you have accomplished before your trip.  Always think about making health choices and they will pay off in the long run.

The post Traveling Interruption appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

Jif recently added Omega 3 fish oil into their peanut butter and proudly splashes it on their packaging so choosy mom’s choose Jif to get in the all important Omegs 3’s. First, it’s a mere dusting of fish oils, 32mg to be exact. This number is what food companies proposed to the FDA to be the number required in order to be labeled as ‘High in Omega-3’ or ‘Good source of Omega-3.’ But the FDA didn’t approve it because it wasn’t enough. So, they can add it their foods but just can’t make fancy claims about it. Okay, so it’s not enough Omega 3’s to claim anything, but it still is in there so that good, right? No. If this isn’t enough to convince you not to choose Jif, take a look at the ingredients. Sugar and the hydrogenated oils are listed first so you know they trump the fish oils that are added. Manufactures are known to use the cheapest oils which are already rancid and full of free-radicals. Then, in order to take the smell out of fish oils which are used, you need to cook them in hydrogen gas at a high temperature as most oils are processed.  Since the peanut butter doesn’t smell fishy, you know this type of processing has taken place which causes more harm than good.

JIF Omega 3 Peanut Butter Ingredients:
MADE FROM PEANUT BUTTER [ROASTED PEANUTS, SUGAR, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: MOLASSES, FULLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS (RAPESEED AND SOYBEAN), MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, SALT], ANCHOVY* AND SARDINE OIL*,TILAPIA GELATIN, TOCOPHEROLS AND CITRIC ACID (ANTIOXIDANTS). *A TASTELESS, ODORLESS SOURCE OF OMEGA-3 DHA AND EPA.

Most peanut butters on the market are going to have harmful ingredients. You should always check the ingredient panel before you buy any peanut butter.

Choose This:

Peanut butter should have one ingredient: Peanuts. May be a hint of salt. That’s it. There are a few good ones on the market but my personal favorites are Costco & Whole Foods 365 brand. They are very good & don’t need a lot of stirring. The saturated fats in peanuts are healthy fats because it is from a plant source. According to the latest research, a diet rich in peanut products helps reduce cholesterol, as well as lower your risk for heart disease. I have peanut butter daily, either mixed in my chocolate, or added to protein shakes and I also dip my apples and celery in it.

Don’t fall into the marketing hype! Smart Balance is NOT smart and choosy mom’s should not choose Jif

Laura Scudder’s All Natural Peanut Butter Ingredients:

PEANUTS, CONTAINS 1% OR LESS OF SALT.

The post Choose Wisely: Peanut Butter appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

Nutritious Chocolate Shake

(Stabilized P3)

The post Nutritious Chocolate Shake appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

Chicken Fried Quinoa

Chicken Fried Quinoa
(P3 Stabilized, P4)

Just because you want to eat healthy doesn’t mean you have to give up some good Chinese food.

Ingredients:

2 Cups cooked quinoa
2 Cooked chicken breasts
3 Eggs scrambled
1/4 Cup chopped onion
1/4 Cup chopped green onion
1 Tablespoon Braggs Aminos mixed with 2 tablespoons water
2-3 Tablespoons coconut oil (or butter)
1 Cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 Cup chopped cabbage

Directions:

Heat a large skillet or pot to medium and melt the coconut oil (or butter, coconut oil does give the dish a slight coconut taste).  Add in the regular onion, cabbage, and quinoa, stir well to coat the food in the coconut oil and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir, cook for another 2-3 minutes making sure not to over-brown.

Makes 4-5 servings.

The post Chicken Fried Quinoa appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

As you stroll through the supermarket these days, you’ll notice food companies have been updating their packaging to reflect that their products are more healthy. You should never buy a product because of what you read on the package. Don’t rely on the marketing ploys that the claim the product is “low-fat”, “low-cholesterol,” “sugar-free.” “Heart Healthy,” and “Trans-Fat Free,” “0 grams trans fat” “gluten free” etc. Don’t pay attention to those claims! In fact, skip right over the Nutrition Fact Panel as well. Instead, scan the package for the most important part: the ingredient list. When you shop for food, it is important that you are only concerned about the ingredient list above everything else.

Claims based on individual nutritional factors are misleading. One should not completely rely on the marketing strategies which are plotted by the companies in order to attract the customers. These healthy foods may not be always healthy and can lead to other problems regarding health. So while purchasing such healthy food products the most important thing one should look at is the ingredient list.

This week I’m going to cover which cracker to purchase. There are a lot of products on the market that read “Whole Grain” which is really good, but make sure you read the rest of the ingredient list. I’m picking two brands to review.

We suggest you introduce any snack type food once you have been stable for 21 days. For those who need a food item on the go, this is a good alternative.

Choose this:

Ingredients: 100% Stone Ground “Whole of the Wheat” flour, water, clover honey, sesame oil, dairy butter, sesame seeds, yeast, salt

The main word you are looking for in the ingredient list is “Whole“. It is better to eat whole grains (brown rice, barley, quinoa, oats, etc.), rather than flours that have been ground from whole gains, but there is no reason you can’t occasionally eat foods made with flours from whole grains. Look on the package for Whole Wheat Grain, Whole Wheat, 100% Whole Grain –  all means that the product is made from completely whole grain.

These do NOT mean Whole Grain:
Wheat Flour
Enriched Wheat Flour
Unbleached Enriched Wheat Flour
100% Wheat
Multi-Grain
Stoneground

These are the brands I recommend: Ak-Mak, Mary’s Gone Crackers, or Back to Nature Harvest Whole Wheats.

Do not choose this:

Wheat Thins 100% Whole Grains

Ingredients: WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT FLOUR, SOYBEAN OIL, SUGAR, CORNSTARCH, MALT SYRUP (FROM BARLEY AND CORN), SALT, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, MONOGLYCERIDES, LEAVENING (CALCIUM PHOSPHATE AND/OR BAKING SODA), SOY LECITHIN, VEGETABLE COLOR (ANNATTO EXTRACT, TURMERIC OLEORESIN). CONTAINS: WHEAT, SOY. BHT ADDED TO PACKAGING MATERIAL TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS.

The ingredient list has a number of issues. Most of you will recognize the “evil” ingredient which should ALWAYS be avoided – Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, but what about the others? I always say if you can’t pronounce them, research them. Then one ingredient you may think looks good and healthy turns out to be bad for you. It’s the Soybean Oil.  It’s too much to cover in a single blog post – actually, whole books have been written on the dangers of soy. Just know it’s a very toxic ingredient to put into our bodies. Most soy beans grown in the US are genetically engineered to allow farmers to use large amounts of herbicides. They are treated with acid baths, high heat, and additives such as nitrates before they are made into soy products. Most of the soybeans grown in this country are for producing soybean oil, which is then hydrogenated and turned into trans-fat.

The post Choose This: Crackers appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

Phase 3

2 Tbsp coconut oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger root, peeled and grated (optional)
2 cups organic spinach
½ Tbsp. (Coconut Secret) Coconut Aminos or (Braggs) Liquid Aminos
1 tsp. sesame seeds

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger, cook, stirring until garlic softens. Add spinach and cook until leaves soften, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in Aminos and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

The post Easy Sauteed Spinach appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.