Dawna Stone

You Can Have A Better Life

Weight Loss

Chia Pudding Bowl

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Here's another great breakfast bowl to add to your morning meal rotation. Topping the chia pudding with your favorite fruits and seeds makes breakfast exciting again! The bowl is amazing cold or warm.

P.S. Want to jump start your healthy eating? Check out my quick and simple 5-Day-Detox!

chia pudding bowl

Chia Pudding Bowl
Servings
1
Servings
1
Chia Pudding Bowl
Servings
1
Servings
1
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, mix together yogurt, milk, honey, and chia seeds. Place in refrigerator overnight.
  2. In the morning, top with pumpkin seeds, blueberries, apricots, and _____ seeds. Enjoy!
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Super Superbowl Snacks

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Sports fan or not, the Superbowl is a classic time for friends and family to get together. Perhaps you're cheering for a specific team or player…. Or if watching the game isn't your thing, perhaps you'll be watching for the hundreds of commercials debuting during the prime time spot. Either way, who doesn't love an excuse for a gathering?

I love hosting and the prep before the party is a great way to spend some time in the kitchen with my family and create some fun meals and snacks for everyone to enjoy. For an occasion like this, I typically tap into my vault of favorite appetizers that always get rave reviews.  If you're hosting at your house, or taking a dish to a friends', here are some simple, yet delicious, recipes that you can show off.

Enjoy the game!

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These recipes can be found (along with 94 others) in “The Healthy You Diet: The 14-day Plan for Weight Loss with 100 Delicious Recipes for Clean Eating”

 

Gluten-Free Cherry Vanilla Oat Bread

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If you’re like me and love the combination of cherry and vanilla, you’ll be head-over-heels for this Cherry Vanilla Oat Bread. It’s not too sweet which makes it the perfect breakfast choice, but it’s just sweet enough that it also makes a great mid-afternoon snack or after-dinner treat.

With two little kids at home, I’m always well stocked on bananas, as they’re a quick grab-and-go snack. But this also means I often find myself with bananas that are too ripe for the kids’ taste. I found a great way to use up my over-ripe bananas and at the same time make my bread recipe extra moist without adding any dairy.

On Plate 1200x1200  Wet Ingredients 1200x1200  Pre-Baked 1200x1200 Overhead in Tray2Two Slices 1200x1200 v2

Cherry Vanilla Oat Bread
Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free
Servings
12
Servings
12
Cherry Vanilla Oat Bread
Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free
Servings
12
Servings
12
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottom and short ends of an 8” x 4” loaf pan with parchment paper or lightly coat with olive oil.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the mashed bananas, honey, almond milk, coconut oil and vanilla extract.
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and stir gently to combine. Fold in all but 10 to 12 cherries.
  5. Pour the batter into the pan and scatter the remaining cherries over the top of the loaf.
  6. Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean and the top is golden brown.
  7. Set the pan on a rack for 10 minutes to cool. Remove the loaf from the pan and cool completely on the rack before slicing.
Recipe Notes

(Make sure to mash the bananas before you combine them with the other wet ingredients. I’ve made the mistake of just tossing in the bananas before and although it works, it can get a little messy.)

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Perfect Penne and Pesto

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Simple, yet classic – what more could you need? Made with brown rice pasta, this flavorful penne and pesto is a perfectly healthy meal.

Perfect Penne and Pesto
Servings
4
Servings
4
Perfect Penne and Pesto
Servings
4
Servings
4
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
  2. In a food processor, pulse pine nuts until finely ground.
  3. Add basil, garlic, salt and pepper, and pulse until finely chopped.
  4. Slowly pour in olive oil as your pulse.
  5. Transfer pesto to a bowl and toss with penne.
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How Do You Proceed After Weight Loss Success?

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Happy celebrating winning success woman sunsetI want to personally congratulate everyone who participated in the 14-Day Healthy You Challenge! Based on the feedback, participants lost 6-12 pounds during the two weeks and many are saying they feel better than ever!

One of the main questions I’m receiving now is how to progress once the initial two weeks on the program is complete. I hope this post will help you with continued success once you’ve completed the 14-Day Healthy You! program. For those that didn’t participate in the challenge, this post should still give you some insight on how to move forward after following any successful weight loss program.

Although the Healthy You Challenge focused on eliminating certain foods and progressing to a 100% clean diet, I understand that this may not always be realistic. Also, I realize that people don’t want to be on a “diet” forever. This is precisely why I developed the program in such a way that allows people to incorporate their favorite foods after the initial 14 days. To avoid feeling deprived, just be sure to indulge in moderation and follow a few simple tips:

Consume Previously Eliminated Food Moderately
I’m sure there are people who eat a perfectly clean diet all of the time. I am not one of them. The good news? You don’t have to adhere to a 100% clean diet 365 days a year. You can still lead a healthy lifestyle, maintain an ideal weight and even lose pounds if you sometimes indulge in your favorite foods. But be mindful and continue consuming previously eliminated food moderately. Additionally, incorporate meals from the Healthy You Challenge alongside your own recipes.

Pay Attention, Listen to Your Body, and Adjust Accordingly
Pay attention to how your body reacts to the reintroduction of some of the eliminated foods. For example, you may find that you feel fine after adding wheat back into your diet, but that dairy upsets your stomach. Or perhaps you notice you feel better without wheat in your diet. By slowly clearing your system of sugar, wheat, dairy, processed foods and other questionable items, you will better understand the likelihood of specific foods negatively affecting your body. Although I love bread, pizza and pastries, I’ve learned that my body doesn’t deal well with an overabundance of wheat (moderation is fine, but too much causes stomach discomfort). I found that as long as I only eat wheat at one meal a day (rather than all three), I feel fine.

Put Thought into Culinary Choices
Really think about what you are choosing to eat and if there are healthier substitutions for those items. When adding wheat back into your diet, choose whole grains. Choose whole wheat bread instead of white. Choose brown rice over white. For meat, choose organic whenever possible and select lean cuts. If you want to enjoy an alcoholic beverage, choose wine over a higher-calorie mixed drink.

For Additional Weight Loss, Stay on the Clean Phase
You may discover that you feel so good after completing the Clean Phase of the Healthy You! program that you want to continue this way of eating, allowing you to healthfully drop additional weight. If you still have 20 or more pounds to lose, I suggest staying on the Clean Phase for at least one more week.

Remember: After week two, you choose how to move forward. Some people start to feel so good and drop weight so quickly by the end of week two, they want to continue to eat clean. Others, no matter the positive progress, can’t fathom another day without one of the eliminated foods (I understand how they feel!). Again, this is the beauty of the Healthy You Challenge; the two weeks provide a jump start on your weight loss while simultaneously giving you the tools to change your eating habits for life. Just two weeks of healthier eating often prove enough to forever change the way you look at what you put into your body.

It’s often difficult for people to know how to proceed after finishing the Healthy You! program or any other weight loss program. Many are fearful of returning to old eating patterns. The best way to avoid this is to continue to incorporate some of the meals and or snacks that you enjoyed during the program. Should you find yourself slipping back into old, unhealthy eating habits after completing the 14-day Healthy You Challenge simply recommence the 14-day plan. Another week on the Elimination Phase plus another on the Clean Phase will get you back on track.

Use what you learned to help you make smart choices going forward. Personally, I consume wheat, dairy, sugar and alcohol in moderation and only on occasion. I try to drastically reduce or completely eliminate my intake of red meat, artificial sweeteners and highly processed foods. Based on my personal experience, the cleaner your diet, the more weight you’ll continue to lose and the healthier you’ll feel.

No matter what you decide, I am here to help and will continue to offer healthy eating tips, recipes, videos and encouragement along the way.  Don’t stress about the foods you eat – just be mindful. And remember, we will be doing another Healthy You Challenge in the future. I hope you will join me!

Weight Loss Can Be A Roller Coaster Ride

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Whether you’re doing the 14-Day Healthy You! Challenge or you’re just trying to lose a few pounds on your own, weight loss can be a roller coaster ride. We’d all like to lose weight at a constant and steady pace but that isn’t always the case. In order to succeed for the long term, you need to accept minor setbacks and continue to move forward.

If you’re following the day-by-day Healthy You meal plan, you will most likely see quick and constant weight loss during the 14-day program. If you have a substantial amount of weight to lose, setbacks are inevitable; don’t let these small setbacks derail your ultimate goal. It is normal for people to have ups and downs when trying to drop large amounts of weight. By anticipating some bumps along the way, you’ll be better equipped to achieve a healthy weight without letting small discouragements permanently sideline you.

Most people think they should witness steady weight loss from day one. In their mind’s eye, their weight loss should look like the chart below:

Weight Loss Chart 1

 

You may experience this type of weight loss during the 14-day Healthy You! program, but beyond the two weeks, your weight loss will probably fluctuate. Even with solid determination and hard work, someone can go from losing a few pounds at a steady pace to leveling out at a plateau for a short period. If you push forward, you can continue losing again after your body resets itself to the lower weight. You will still reach your end goal weight, but you’ll likely enter a few phases where you’re not losing weight, and you may even fluctuate by a few pounds. When this happens, just be patient and realize it is part of the process. Know that if you stick with the program, your body will once again respond to the positive changes you’re making. A more realistic weight loss chart looks like this:

Weight Loss Chart 2

 

The chart above reflects an initial stage of weight loss, followed by a plateau, followed by more weight loss and more plateaus, until you eventually achieve your goal weight.

The problem begins when people allow plateaus or temporary weight gains to throw them into emotional turmoil and they view the process as “all or nothing.” This is what causes so many people to lose weight, only to gain it back within a relatively short period; an inability to flawlessly reach a goal weight is seen as a complete failure. Unfortunately when this happens, most people gain weight rather than lose as the chart depicts below:

Weight Loss Chart 3

The chart below represents a realistic snapshot for individuals who have more than a few pounds to lose. By anticipating bumps in the road, you’ll realize you can and will push past the plateau periods. Expect your weight loss chart to look something like this:

Weight Loss Chart 4

 

Factors like business travel, family vacations, stress or innocent “slip-ups” might temporarily derail you, but, regardless, it is important to not view your weight loss as an “all or nothing” pursuit.

What are your weight loss goals? Have you found your weight loss pursuit reflects one of the charts above?