Olive Garden’s Healthy Salmon Dinner

Sometimes, it’s just nice to enjoy a dinner without having to worry about all of the cooking and cleaning. It’s also nice to enjoy a delicious dinner that isn’t full of empty calories and guilt.

If you are planning on a dinner at the Olive Garden Italian Restaurant, you may want to consider trying the Herb-Grilled Salmon.

The dinner includes a salmon fillet that is seasoned with Italian herbs and extra-virgin olive oil. It also comes with seasoned broccoli.

Calories: 510

Total Fat: 26 g

Sodium: 760 mg

Carbohydrates: 5 g

Fiber: 2 g

This is a low calorie dinner, and one of the much healthier options to choose from when eating at the Olive Garden. I am not worried about the fat content, since Salmon and Olive Oil are full of very healthy fats that are actually good for your heart. This dish is a little high in sodium, which is due to the Italian herbs used to season the salmon. If you would like, ask if the amount of herbs used on the salmon can be reduced. It’s not a guarantee that the restaurant will be able to accommodate, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

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Image Credit: olivegarden.com

Tags: Health, low calorie, Nutrition, Olive Garden, Olive Oil, Restaurant, review, salmon

Kourtney Kardashian Loses 45 Pounds after Pregnancy

Kourtney Kardashian had her baby boy in December of 2009, where she gained a total of 45 pounds. She has spent all year losing the weight, and without any surgery! Kourtney shares her tips and tricks inside OK! Magazine.

Small Changes = Big Results

Kourtney focuses on eating small, healthy meals every 2 hours such as Salmon and Brown Rice. Eating every couple of hours is a great way to stay healthy without feeling hungry all of the time. It’s how I personally maintain, or even lose, my weight!

Kourtney does admit though, that she does have a daily splurge of a cookie or a mini doughnut. She now knows that it’s all about having one or two rather than eating the whole box!

Kourtney now weighs 95 pounds, which is not an unhealthy weight considering how short she is!

“It’s about being a healthy mom, not a certain weight.” -Kourtney Kardashian

I believe Kourtney was focused on the right things, such as being healthy and being a good mom, rather than obessessing about what’s on the scale. A great example for us all, don’t you think?

Workout Partner

Kourtney went to the gym with her sister, Khloe Kardashian, which helped her stay motivated and coming back to the gym every week. Kourtney was motivated to go to the gym knowing that her sister was waiting for her. I am happy for Kourtney who had such a great sister to workout with, which helped her reach her goals.

Strange how it’s easier to bail on ourselves rather than other people. If this is you, find yourself a dedicated workout partner and hit the gym together.

Quick-Trim

I am not too surprised about this, but just like her sister Kim Kardashian, Kourtney is promoting a specific product in her featured weight loss article in OK! Magazine. As you may have already guessed (or known),  Kourtney Kardashian, along with her sisters Kim and Khloe, are the official spokespersons for Quick-Trim. It shows by how often Quick-Trim is mentioned in Kourtney’s interview, where she says little blurbs like, “Quick-Trim Fast Shakes are a fave”. Well, for how much money she is getting from Quick-Trim, I bet they are her “fave”!

The question remains, do you need to buy Quick-Trim to have the same weight loss success as Kourtney Kardashian? The answer is “no”. I find that the main reason Kourtney lost weight, by eating healthy and exercising, is all you need to experience the same weight loss success as she did.

What do you think is the biggest contributor to your weight loss success?

Image Credit: Kourtney Kardashian

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Tags: brown rice, Diet Review, exercise, Fitness, Healthy, Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, Lose Weight, Nutrition, Quick-Trim, salmon, Skinny, weight, Weight Loss, working out

Treatments for Dry Skin

There are several reasons you can end up with  dry skin. Depending on the severity of your dry skin, you can end up with the ever annoying itchy skin or sadly suffer from cracks and bleeding skin.

I’ve listed some some easy ways you can naturally treat your dry skin, and if you have cracked or dry skin…please act sooner rather than later.

Lather up

Dry skin can be easily relieved by lotion or aloe vera gel (known fact, right? Read on…).

Lotion is an immediate relief to dry skin, but it doesn’t necessarily resolve the underlying issue. It’s important to find a lotion that is all natural and paraben-free. The only way to know if your lotion of choice is really safe is to read the labels.

Stay Hydrated

A sign of dehydration is dry skin, so be sure to drink plenty of water every day.  Avoid sugary or caffeinated drinks, since these types of drinks don’t quench your thirst since they cause you to become dehydration.

Get more Fat

Yeah, you read that correctly. One of the reasons why you might be having dry skin is because you aren’t consuming enough healthy fat. One way you can do this is by eating foods that are high in Omega 3, such as Salmon, flaxseed, walnuts, and even coconut oil.

Humidifier

The lack of humidity, especially common in the Winter months, is definitely a cause for dry and itchy skin. I suggest that you have a humidifier in your bedroom to allow your skin to get moisturized throughout the night.

Now that you know how to take care of your dry skin, you can enjoy your healthy and hydrated Skin – all year long!

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Tags: coconut oil, dry skin, fat, flaxseed, healthy fat, humidifier, hydtrated, itchy skin, lotion, Omega 3, salmon, walnuts, water

Salmon Almond Crunch

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons Mustard

3 tablespoons melted Coconut oil

5 teaspoons Raw Honey

1 slice Ezekiel bread crumbs

1/2 cup Almond slices

2 teaspoons dried (or fresh) Rosemary

2-4 Salmon fillets

Instructions:

Step 1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly grease baking pan.

Step 2) In a bowl, combine the mustard, melted coconut oil, and honey

Step 3) Place fillets on baking pan.  Spoon on the mustard mixture to each fillet, then top with bread crumbs, sliced almonds, and rosemary.

Step 4) Bake for 20 minutes (or 10 minutes for each inch of thickness, measuring thickest part of the fillet). Salmon should flake when done.

Notes:

Salmon is a perfect  healthy dinner for you and the family. I always try to season my meats in a healthy way, and that’s why I chose Coconut oil (rather than another oil such as vegetable oil), Ezekiel bread crumbs, almond slices, and rosemary.

This is one of my husband’s favorite dishes…I hope you enjoy it as much as he does!

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Tags: almond, almond slices, coconut oil, dinner, Ezekiel Bread, mustard, Pepper, Raw Honey, Rosemary, salmon, Salmon Fillet, salmon recipe, salt

The many Health Benefits of Salmon

Nutrition and Health Benefits

The American Heart Association recommends at least 2 servings of fish per week. Now, I know why… This fish is packed with a lot of healthy and beneficial nutrients! Salmon is not only low in calories, but it is also a great source of  important and healthy Omega-3 fatty acids (helps with the immune system,circulatory systems, and helps prevent unwanted inflammation) , B6,  B12, Niacin (processes fats in the body and lowers cholesterol), tryptophan (an amino acid which helps reduce headaches and even help stop cravings for unecessary amounts of carbohydrates and sweets),  Selenium, High in Vitamin D (an entire day’s worth!), Magnesium, and of course…protein!

Wild or Farmed Salmon?

Many don’t even bother to ask this question or understand the difference between the two, so I have to bring this up! Defintely go for the Wild Salmon. Farmed Salmon has been tested with much higher (up to 10 times the amount compared to Wild Salmon) amounts of toxins, including dioxin, toxaphen, dieldrin, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s). These toxins are found to increase the risk of all cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and can even surpress your immune system – just to name a few things. To keep it short and simple; you don’t want these toxins in your body, and if it is Farmed Salmon, the dangers outweigh the benefits and it is best to avoid them.

Food Preparation

You can buy Salmon in many different ways; fresh, frozen, canned, and raw (sushi). This is great because that means there are many ways to prepare this wonderful and healthy fish without ever getting bored!

Fresh Salmon is great as long as you are planning on preparing your meal same day, or at least in the next short while (usually there will be a “best before” date on the package). Frozen Salmon is convenient if you want to buy Salmon in bulk, without having to deal with your fish going bad. Both Fresh and Frozen salmon can be baked, steamed, and the Fresh can also be grilled.  Canned is not necessarily my first choice, but if you want it, I personally recommend choosing the canned Salmon with the bones and skin included, which gives you a higher amount of Calcium in it- perfect for Salmon sandwiches which can replace your Tuna sandwiches. Salmon Sushi rolls is another great way to enjoy Salmon! When I first tried raw Salmon, I was nervous that it might taste “fishy”, but if you go to a reputable Sushi Restraunt, it shouldn’t taste “fishy” at all, and you will enjoy it if you already enjoy sushi.

Serving: 4 oz

Calories: 261 (plain, nothing added)

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