Winner of The Clean Plates Cookbook!

Congratulations Life of a Las Vegas Mom! Our lucky reader just won a copy of the book The Clean Plates Cookbook by Jared Koch and Jill Silverman Hough!

Thank you everyone for participating! We will have many more opportunities for you to win something, so stay tuned…

Winner’s next steps: Watch for our email! It will come from Twinkie(at)SkinnyTwinkie(dot)com, and we will need you to provide us with your mailing address so we can have your prize sent directly to you.

If you do not reply back to us within 48 hours after our email, we will have to choose another winner.

Tags: cookbook, Healthy Eating, Real Food, recipes

Win a Copy of The Clean Plates Cookbook!

Win it!

One lucky reader of ours will win a copy of The Clean Plates Cookbook by Jared Koch and Jill Silverman Hough (Total Value of $20.00).

The Clean Plates Cookbook

The Clean Plates Cookbook offers sensible, sustainable, and healthful home cooking for anyone interested in integrating good foods into their lives. It shows readers how to shop for the best ingredients no matter what their diet (omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans can all “eat clean”) and how to prepare food that’s simple and delicious. Tips and inspiration from chefs and nutrition experts appear throughout the book, and the invaluable resources section breaks down the recipes by category and offers more of his clear and useful shopping guides.

Clean eating is anything but boring: recipes cover beverages, breakfasts, snacks, inventive entrées, and desserts with things like Quinoa Carrot Muffins, Cracked Wheat Sushi,Wild Mushroom Gratin, Lamb Tikka Masala, and Cocoa Cherry Brownies.

Bonus: This book features healthy recipes from Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern, Jeremy Bearman of Rouge Tomate, Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow of The Meatball Shop, Ed Cotton of Plein Sud and now, Fishtail by David Burke, Bill Telepan of Telepan, Marc Forgione of Marc Forgione, Ann Gentry of Real Food Daily, Sarma Mengalis of Pure Food and Wine and One Lucky Duck,Jamie Oliver, Joy Pierson of Candle 79 and Candle Café, Hadley Schmitt of Northern Spy, Shigefumi Tachibe and Lee Gross of M Cafe.

For more information: cleanplates.com

How to Enter

1) Just comment on this post with your name and email address. Yup, it’s that easy!

Please note: I don’t need your full name, just something to distinguish you from everyone else. You can say your first name and your last initial, or a nickname works too. Also, please write your email without the link, such as: twinkie(at)SkinnyTwinkie(dot)com. Thanks!

I encourage you to consider the bonus entries, since we will announce the winner on this site, Facebook, twitter, and Google+!

Bonus Entries: 

1) Find us on Facebook and “like” our page. We’ll have a post that you can comment on, which will provide you an additional entry point when you comment on it. Nice!

2) If you like to tweet, you should “follow” Skinny Twinkie on twitter! All you need to do is Retweet our tweet on twitter that announces this giveaway, and you will get another entry point.

3) For those of you addicted to Pinterest (you know who you are!), add SkinnyTwinkie.com to your list of favorites and include the link in your comment.

4) Do you have a blog? Grab my button and add it to your site or you can blog about this contest and link to this giveaway post, provide the link to your blog in the comments section on here (or facebook), and you will have gained another chance to win!

♦♦♦You can give yourself a total of five chances to win! ♦♦♦

Contest Rules and Eligibility

This contest is open to all U.S.  and Canadian residents who are 18 years or older. Void where Prohibited by Law. This is a giveaway, which means you are not obligated to buy anything from anyone.

This contest starts on February 4, 2013 and will end on February 13, 2013 at midnight EST.

Skinny Twinkie will use Random.org to choose one winner by picking a random number based on the total number of entries. Skinny Twinkie will draw the winner on February 14, 2013, and the winner will be announced that same day on SkinnyTwinkie.com, Facebook, twitter, and Google+.

If you are selected as a winner, we will contact you via email, to let you know that you have won! If you do not reply back to us within 48 hours after we have notified you, we will choose another winner and you will forfeit your prize.

Good luck everyone!!!

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Tags: clean eating, cookbook, Healthy Eating, Real Food, recipes

How To Eat Healthy

A lot of people have the goal to “eat healthy”. Problem is, most people don’t really know what that means. Here’s a simple guide to help you learn how you can eat healthier today!

FYI – Please click on the links within each paragraph…it will help you understand the concept and point you in the right direction. 

Unhealthy “Health” Food

Low calories foods mean healthy food, right? Wrong. There are a lot of low calorie snacks out there, such as 100 calorie oreo snack packs. Are these low calorie? Yes. Are they healthy? No. The main goal of those low calorie snacks is portion control, not health. Yes, you can lose weight if you eat these snacks in moderation, but you aren’t necessarily eating healthy, nor are you putting nutrient dense food into your body. To stay satisfied longer, you need to start thinking differently about the food you put into your body.

8 Ways To Eat Healthy

1. Eat more produce. Most of your grocery shopping trip should be in the produce section of the grocery store (or Farmer’s Market!) selecting fruits and vegetables that are in season. Remember that the less pre-packaged your diet is, the healthier you are eating.

2. Ditch the Fried Foods. Now that you are eating more produce, let’s make sure that you are eating them correctly. Is there a wrong way to eat produce? Well, let’s just say there are healthy ways and not-so-healthy ways of enjoying those fruits and vegetables you just brought home. If you are able to, enjoy your produce raw. You know, the way it was naturally intended to be eaten. If you are going to heat up your produce (nothing wrong with that!), just make sure that you either steam, bake, or saute them. Pass up on the fried food. When cooking your food, remember that there is a difference between sauteing and frying your food. Learn the difference and your body will thank you.

3. Go ahead and eat fat. Just make sure that you eat the healthy kind of fat. I hear a lot of people say “fat is still fat. It’s all bad for you”. Wrong! The calories in fat may be the same between olive oil and vegetable oil, but don’t let that fool you. Not all fat calories are the same. Eat healthy fats that will actually benefit your body and help you lose fat and maintain the weight loss.

4. Portion Control. Even if you think you are eating the right portions, I highly recommend measuring your servings for a day (or a week!) to give you some…perspective. It’s so easy to pour yourself a bowl of  cereal and think “this is a good serving size”. It turns out, you are eating almost three servings worth! Even if you aren’t trying to lose weight, measuring your servings and eating a good portion of all sorts of healthy food is a good habit to get into. You won’t need to measure your food forever, but maybe in just the beginning of your health journey.

5. Eat Carbohydrates. {gasp!} Did I just tell you to eat carbs?! Yes, yes I did. Your body needs carbohydrates…the healthy kind, that is! Be sure to eat healthy carbs within reason. Avoid “white” carbs, such as white rice, white flour, white pastas, etc. If you are going to eat carbs (or anything for that matter), make sure it’s loaded with nutrients that will benefit your body. Carbs is energy, and you’re going to need the good stuff to energize those workouts of yours.

6. Say “Bye!” To Processed Foods. If you buy food, make sure that all of the ingredients are something you would find in your home. Any of that weird chemically-produced stuff is just that. Chemicals. It’s not real food and your body has a hard time figuring out what to do with it, hence, the excess fat. One of the best things you can do for your health is to learn how to cook (see #8).

7. Sweeten Your Food with Nature. Do you have a sweet tooth? Don’t worry, most of us – if not all of us! – do too. Your body actually needs sugar (or glucose), but not the processed sugar that usually comes to mind when we have a craving for something sweet. Learn to sweeten your food with healthy forms of sugar, such as raw honey, molasses, maple syrup, or pure fruit! Remember to sweeten in moderation, just like anything else.

8. Learn how to cook. Cooking real food has become a lost art. I’m not the only one who thinks this (there was a whole book dedicated to this topic!), and I believe it is true. Too many frozen dinners and fast food joints are feeding families on a regular basis. It’s up to YOU to stop this! Buy a cookbook full of healthy meals. Start there, and learn how to create your own masterpieces (Can you tell I’m passionate about yummy healthy food?). Once you begin to create healthy meals from scratch in your own little kitchen, you will wonder how you ever loved those frozen meals to begin with. You will teach your taste buds what real food is supposed to taste like. So, not only will your taste buds appreciate this, but your waistline will too!

9. It’s OK to eat meat. I suggest mostly eating “lean meats”, such as baked chicken (compared to fried chicken), on a regular basis. Eat fish twice a week. Eat beef maybe once a week. All of these meats have health benefits, but you should eat them in moderation (just like anything else, really…). I also suggest eating your meat with fresh herbs for seasoning and produce to satisfy your hunger.

It Takes Time…And That’s OK.

There’s a lot of specifics that I can go into when I say to “eat healthy”, but I think you should just understand the basic concepts and go from there. Eating healthy may take time. We eat 3 times a day (or more!) and a lot of us have very unhealthy eating habits and a bad relationship with food. Changing this can take time, but if you make one small change at a time, it will make a huge difference to your overall health. Soon, you’ll remember what you used to eat and wonder how you could have ever lived on such “food”.

Remember…eating healthy is a journey, not a destination!

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Tags: Healthy Eating, Nutrition

Benefits of Interval Training

We all know that exercise is essential for controlling blood sugar, normalizing insulin levels, and getting or staying in shape. There are different techniques that can help you exercise, and Interval Training is one of them.

What is Interval Training?

Rather than just doing cardiovascular exercise, Interval Training is a type of physical training which involves bursts of high intensity work and then followed by periods of lower intense workouts.

Interval Training can be used with different types of exercise methods, such as running, stair climbing or cycling.

Most adults should be able to handle this type of exercise, but if you have a known heart condition, you should see a doctor (cardiologist) first to give you the clear to start incorporating Interval Training into your exercise routine.

How to Incorporate Interval Training

During your Exercise:

1)  Choose an exercise  such as the treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical machine.

2) Warm up.

3) Exercise: Workout at an intense pace for 30 seconds, then recover with a lower intensity for 90 seconds.

4) Rinse and repeat for 8 sets, for a total of 16 minutes.

5) Cool down.

Important: You can do Interval Training one or two times per week in replacement of your regular exercises during the week. You shouldn’t do Interval Training more than two times per week, due to the extreme intensity and strain that is placed on the body. As Interval Training can be very healthy for you, you don’t want to over train, since this increases your risk of injury.

Before/After  your Exercise:

Sleep! You need to be well rested to maximize the benefits of your workout.

Drink plenty of Water . Don’t drink soda (especially diet), sugary juices, or vitamin water.

Eat a well-balanced diet, and be sure that you are consuming a proper amount of calories. It’s very important that you stop eating Junk Food and Candy! Proper nutrition is vital for exercise, especially when you perform an intense workout such as Interval Training. Sugar and grease are the last things your body needs.

What sets Interval Training Apart

Improves Aerobic Capacity – Helps to increase the length of workouts and at varying intensities.

Boosts Fat Burning – With the intense workouts mixed in with regular paced exercises, most people will notice a decrease in body fat.

Increases HGH – Interval Training helps to increase the Human Growth Hormone (HGH), which is a natural growth hormone which aides muscle strength.

Boosts Metabolism – Interval Training helps with burning fat throughout the day by increasing your metabolism.

Start seeing the results of a healthier lifestyle with Interval Training! Who’s ready to start?

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Tags: Aerobic Exercise, boost metabolism, Boosts Metabolism, cardioligist, cardiovascular health, cool down, diet, elliptical machine, exercise, Fat Burning, fat loss, Fitness, Healthy Diet, Healthy Eating, HGH, Human Grown Hormone, intense workout, Interval Training, Nutrition, stationary bike, treadmill, warm up, water

Ricki Lake: From size 24 to size 4

Without surgery, Ricki Lake went from a size 24 to a healthier size 4. If it wasn’t with surgery, how did she do it? Her tips are something you can do yourself if you are trying to get down to a healthier weight.

Big-Boned or Overweight?

At her heaviest, Ricki weighed a total of 260 pounds. She managed to lose 110 pounds when she started to host her own TV show, and she maintained her weight of 150 pounds for 15 years.  Due to her weight, Ricki always thought she was just a big-boned girl. After her final pounds dropped, she realized she wasn’t the big-boned girl she once thought she was.

“I’ve realized that my bones are a lot smaller than I thought.” -Ricki Lake

How Ricki Lake lost the last 30 pounds

You don’t need surgery, you just need to adopt healthy eating habits and an exercise routine!

When Ricki Lake first lost her 110 pounds, she admitted that she didn’t lose it in the healthiest way. She said she felt like she was starving herself, and was absolutely miserable. Yes, she lost the weight, but it wasn’t in the healthiest way.

To lose the last 30 pounds, Ricki started to eat healthier by eating a more balanced diet consisting of protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats. She didn’t starve herself either, by eating a healthy amount of calories, which was anywhere from 1,200-1,400 calories a day.

In addition to healthier eating habits, Ricki Lake started working out with a personal trainer three times a week to shed her last 30 pounds, which resulted in Ricki Lake’s current weight of 120 pounds and fitting into a slimming size 4.

Weight loss Reward

I am always up for rewarding yourself for achieving healthy weight loss, and it looks like Ricki Lake believes in the same splurge as I do: Shopping! Ricki Lake has said that since her weight loss, she plans on indulging in a whole new wardrobe to show off her newly slimmed body. Want to reward yourself too? Don’t reward yourself with food! You don’t want to train your brain to thinking that candy or junk food is a reward, because you will teach yourself to want it and will try to find ways to treat yourself to it. Find healthier ways to reward yourself, such as a new outfit, painting class, or another hobby you are interested in.

Sources: People.com; QuickandSimple.com

Image Source: Getty; Wire Image

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Tags: big boned, Celebrity, Celebrity Diet, exercise, Fitness, goal size, Healthy, Healthy Eating, healthy living, healthy weight, Lose Weight, Nutrition, Ricki Lake, Weight Loss