Fruit Bruschetta is perfect for Sunday brunch. Trick your friends into thinking you’re a master chef with this beautiful, yet quick and delicious dish with only 51 calories per serving!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese or yogurt cheese
• 1 whole-grain baguette, sliced on the diagonal into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup raspberries
• 1 tin mandarin orange slices in their own juice, drained, juice reserved

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
2. Prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper.
3. Arrange slices of baguette on the baking sheet and toast the bread.
4. Mix cottage cheese or yogurt cheese with 2 Tbsp of the mandarin juice. If using cottage cheese, mash well to make smoother.
5. Once the bread is toasted, spread the cottage cheese or yogurt cheese on top of the hot toast.
6. Arrange toast on a serving platter, set strawberry slices on to and then distribute the rest of the fruit on top of the strawberries.

Ingredients

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts weighing about 6 oz. / 170 g each
• 1/4 cup / 60 ml of oat bran
• 1/4 cup / 60 ml of wheat germ
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml coarsely ground flaxseed
• 1/4 cup / 60 ml coarsely ground almonds
• 1/2 tsp / 2 1/2 ml sea salt
• 1/2 tsp / 2 1/2 ml white pepper
• Pinch garlic powder
• 1/2 cup / 120 ml water or low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare baking sheet by lining with parchment paper or coating lightly with best-quality olive oil.
2. Cut chicken breasts into nugget-sized pieces, about 1.5 inches square. Set aside.
3. Next, combine all dry ingredients in a large container with a tightly fitting lid. Shake well. This is your coating mixture.
4. Combine water and egg in a medium bowl. Dip each piece in the water/egg-white mixture. Then dip each piece in the coating mixture. Make sure each piece is well coated.
5. Place on the baking sheet. When all of your chicken has been coated and your baking sheet is full, place in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden.

Clean-Eating Honey Mustard Sauce

Ingredients

• 1.5 tsp. honey
• 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

Preparation

1. Mix well and enjoy!

It’s kind of weird for me to be recommending books. My main goal in school was to read as little as possible, because I thought it was boring. I remember buying the CliffsNotes for all of the books that were required reading in lit class.

One of the main questions I ask in interviews is “What book are you currently reading and what are some of your favorites?” Some reply that they hate reading. That person has decided that they know everything they need to know, and they are not willing to discipline themselves to learn more. They are either unteachable or undisciplined, two character qualities that are a huge negative. You are where you are based on what you have read, listened to and watched over your lifetime, whether good or bad. Reading and listening to teachings on different subjects has accelerated my personal growth more than anything else.

So here is a short list of some must reads:

1. The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews
2. 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell
3. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
4. The Go Giver and The Go Giver Sells More by Bob Burg and John David Mann
5. Three Feet from Gold by Sharon Lechter, Greg S. Reid, and Victor Hansen
6. The Noticer by Andy Andrews
7. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink
8. Outliers by Malcom Gladwell
9. The Principle of the Path by Andy Stanley
10. Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz

There are many others, but this would be a great place to start. What you read is important. Books that just keep you entertained, like a TV show does, aren’t helping you to grow and develop. Discipline yourself to read at least one book per month. Some of you will be able to get through quicker than that and others will take a little longer. I guarantee you that your attitude will change as your perspective changes.

Now onto this hilarious video. It is in the top 5 on YouTube, so you have probably already seen it. It’s laugh out loud funny.

What is it about a black bean salad that practically shouts, “Summer potluck”? The mercury has been edging past a hundred degrees lately and we’ve been getting nostalgic for some of the picnic foods we remember having as kids. The basic structure of a black bean salad is black beans (canned or freshly made) with corn kernels (canned, frozen, or fresh). Parsley, basil or cilantro can add a bitter to the flavors. Tomatoes, lemon juice and or lime juice some acid. Jalapeno or cumin will give it a kick, and avocado and olive oil will smooth it down.

Enjoy Summer!!

Ingredients:

• 1 (15 ounce) can of black beans, thoroughly rinsed, and drained (or 1 ½ cup of freshly cooked black beans)
• 1 ½ cups frozen corn, defrosted (or fresh corn, parboiled, drained and cooled)
• ½ cup chopped green onions or shallots
• 2 fresh jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced, or 1 whole pickled jalapeño pepper, minced (not seeded)
• 3 fresh plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 avocado, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
• ½ cup fresh chopped cilantro
• ¼ cup fresh chopped basil
• 2 Tbsp lime juice (about the amount of juice from one lime)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• ½ to 1 teaspoon of sugar (to taste)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Make sure to rinse and drain the beans, if you are using canned beans.

In a large bowl, combine the beans, corn, onions, jalapeno chile peppers, tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, basil, lime juice and olive oil. Add sugar and salt and pepper to taste. (The sugar will help balance the acidity from the tomatoes and lime juice.) Chill before serving. Serves 6 to 8.

James Lemke demonstrates one of the many pieces of equipment we use at Tryon Gym to help our members get amazing results.

Sign Up for a Free Consultation ($75 Value)

Not Ready for a Consultation Yet? No Problem.

Click below and we will send you 6 reports filled with information to help you reach your health and fitness goals…FREE!

Here are 7 tips to help you out:

1.  Stop blaming your circumstances.

I guarantee there are other people with similar
or worse circumstances doing really, really well.
Follow their lead.

2.  Stop blaming other people.

As soon as you take responsibility for your success
you’re ahead of 95% of society.

3.  Be persistent.

Real success doesn’t come easily. If you stick with
something and work your plan you’ll get where
you want to be.

4.  Do what you should be doing.

Your actions are either moving you closer to or
further from your goals – be aware of how you’re
spending your time.

5.  Invest in others.

Spend time every day trying to add value to your
families, colleagues, friends and associates’
lives. It will come back to you 100 fold.

6.  Work on ‘you’ every day.

Seminars, books, audios,  coaching – you
can always improve.

7.  Focus on solutions – not problems.

No whining, griping or complaining.  Once you’ve
identified an obstacle devote all your energy on
overcoming it.

So take a few minutes and digest these 7 tips.  If you live
them, everything else will become much, much easier.

I have to admit something…

I am going to upset a few people when I crush this nutrition myth.

But if I have to sacrifice myself in order to help you out, then that’s
what I have to do.

So here’s the most ridiculous nutrition myth…

The Myth – Fat Burning Foods Exist

This. Is. Wrong. Fat burning foods are the “unicorns” of the nutrition world.

They do not exist. And when you think about it, the term doesn’t make sense.

How can a food cause you to burn fat? It can’t. Foods GIVE you energy.

They don’t cause you to burn fat. When you eat food, the hormonal changes in your body

SLOW fat burning, they don’t speed it up – no matter what you eat!

Listen, the experts mean well.

They want to show you a list of foods that will help you
with fat loss, but it is a myth that “fat burning foods” exist.

And yes, they are right that whole, natural foods such as chicken

breasts, eggs, nuts, fruits, and vegetables all help you lose fat by

controlling your appetite and by not causing you to gain fat,

but NOT ONE of those ingredients actually burns fat.

Now some might argue that eating hot peppers or caffeine or

even green tea can burn fat, but do you seriously think that eating

those foods is even 1/100th as effective as a workout?

They aren’t.

Sorry.

Serving Size: 1 cup of Egg Salad

Egg Salad is the perfect school lunch! It’s hearty, tasty and takes no time at all to prepare, so keep this one in mind for fall! Trade the fatty, mayonnaise-laden version for this recipe from the book, The Eat-Clean Diet for Family and Kids!  Make sure to pack it in a cooler.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup / 60 ml fat-free cottage cheese
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml skim milk
• 1 tsp / 5 ml mustard
• 4 hardboiled egg whites, diced
• 1 hardboiled yolk
• 2 Tbsp / 30 ml chopped green onion
• 2 Tbsp / 30 ml chopped celery
• Dash curry powder
• 1/4 tsp / 1 ml sea salt

Preparation

1. Whip cottage cheese and milk until smooth in medium-sized mixing bowl.
2. Blend remaining ingredients except egg whites with cottage cheese mixture.
3. Add diced egg whites to cottage cheese mixture. Mix well.

“Personal commitment and dedication combined with the great resources at Tryon Gym equals success.  I continue to work with a personal trainer and attend classes; this provides variety to my workouts.  Nutrition is just as important as fitness and Tryon trainers have helped me with that.  Knowing what to eat and when to eat provides balance and boosts metabolism.

As I continue on my journey I encourage you to begin or stay on yours!”

~Deb Anderson, Sioux Falls, SD

hy do we women insist on knowing the reasons why a problem exists before we do something about it?  Frankly, it doesn’t matter why we’re overweight or unhealthy, and it’s almost always self-indulgence spending time or energy exploring the cause.  As a woman and a psychotherapist, I can tell you that thinking can sometimes be a counterproductive waste of time.  Insight and understanding are fine, but they change nothing. Action does.

We should all be grateful that it’s not really necessary to find “the reason” in order to get the job done. Getting the job done consists, quite simply, of doing the job.  Knowing that there was some kind of trauma in your early life, or that you now are burdened with seemingly excessive demands day-to-day, and that those things may be the source of your frustration, inactivity and poor health is interesting, but it is not useful.  It illuminates the issue, but it does not change it.  Rather than having to unlock your psychological mysteries before you can lose weight, it is far more likely that by exercising and eating properly, you will begin to see improvement in your psychological state.  To fix your emotions, fix your body and your health first.

In truth, the strength and ability to reclaim your body and get physically fit come from actually doing it.  The power comes from the process.  It’s like anything else you undertake: the more you practice, the more proficient you become.  Once you initiate action, it tends to just keep on going.

You don’t get ready to get fit, and then get fit.  The readiness, the ability to stick with it, comes as you actually do it.  So many women are always getting ready to do something, but they never actually do it.  And their life passes before them, sadly, without ever having done it.  You can’t wait until you are emotionally ‘ready’ – because that day never, ever comes.

If, as you read this, you are thinking, “Yes, but…,” I suggest you take a good, hard look at that. Because it is that thinking, precisely that thinking, which allows you to lock yourself into the box of victim-hood. The key to the box is understanding choice.  Understanding that everything you want is within your grasp. All you need do is choose to have it.

Far too many women stay in bad situations out of the fear of making the choice and then taking action to manifest it. I do not know why we are like that.  But I do know that the only cure for fear, the only thing that gives us the freedom we desperately want…is action.

Do you feel 100% terrific?  Most women do not.  And 9 times out of 10 it has to do with body-image: a general unhappiness or sense of discontent about their body and health.  It is widely accepted that the mind affects the body, but I have found it to be equally true that the body affects the mind.  Countless women that I’ve helped stop thinking so much and start doing, start taking action, start exercising and eating right – report to me far greater results in the improvement of their self-esteem and happiness than those who merely try to ‘talk-through’ their personal pains, worries and ‘issues.’  Psychotherapy has its place, but I firmly believe, based on my own experience and all the evidence I have seen, that exercise and healthy nutrition solve many, many more problems, more quickly and more certainly and more permanently.

A different future is possible for you. As one who has lived in both worlds, let me tell you that life is both different and better when you are thin and healthy.  A fit body can do more to give you a fit mind than possibly anything else.  You WILL be happier. You will look better and feel better. You will be able to love yourself more, and you will be more lovable to others. Make up your mind to begin today creating a new life. A thin, fit and happy life.  It will prove to be the most valuable and rewarding decision you may ever make.