Cinch! Lunch

This mish mash of yogurtness contains non fat greek yogurt, almonds and blueberries. The Cinch! calls this the parfait but I just mixed it all together in a bowl. Also, I used blueberries instead of raspberries. The raspberries were a little to tart this morning and I did not want to pair it with already tart yogurt! Swapping out raspberries is acceptable on this plan, so no worries there.

How was your lunch?

Rebound Breakfast...

Rebounding from yesterday's binge I had a nice breakfast this morning. I made plain oatmeal which I souped up with almond milk, almonds and sliced banana. I am now full!

What did you have for breakfast?

On Repeat: Power Breakfast

Today's breakfast was on repeat and I was completely happy about this! I made another bowl of my Power Breakfast. A bowl fueled of yumminess with sliced banana, almonds, pumpkin seeds, muesli and almond milk.

YUM!

What did you guys have for breakfast?

Power Breakfast...

This morning I woke up FAMISHED! I knew I needed to refuel with something healthy, that will keep me full till lunch. I was really craving a power cereal and that's exactly what I had.

In a bowl I sliced up a banana, added a few grapes, almonds(13), tablespoon of pumpkin seeds, 1/4c of some muesli that I bought and drowned it all in a cup of almond milk.

This breakfast definitely hit the spot! What did you have?

My Cinch-tastic breakfast!

Starting my day off with a great Cinch-tastic breakfast. I had a bowl of sliced banana and whole almonds(12) in almond milk. I also had a slice of Ezekiel Sesame Seed toast.

Whole grain: Ezekiel toast
Produce: banana
Plant fat: almonds
Protein: almond milk

Breakfast eaten at 9:00am.

What are you having for breakfast?

Day 3: Raw Food Breakfast

I am now on day 3 of raw fooding it! So far so good. As much healthy fat and sugars from fruit that I'm taking in, I've lost a couple of pounds!

This morning I had a filling breakfast cereal bowl. I had chocolate "granola" by Go Raw with blueberries, almonds and almond milk. This was tasty and satisfied my cereal craving.

What did you have for breakfast?

Strawberry Almond Bowl...texturized



mmm...texture

 Hello Hello,

This morning I was craving a nice hearty bowl of delicious and nutritious...texture.  Yes, sometimes you want a little texture to your meal, and not something uniformly creamy.  I was thinking how I could do this with my regular cinnamon yogurt, fruit and almond bowl.

Here's what I came up. Instead of fully slicing my strawberries, I cut them in half and instead of using slivered or sliced almonds, I used whole almonds. I still had my yogurt with my cinnamon, but this tasted all the much better with the big chunks of fruit and whole almonds...mmm..yummy!

What did you guys have for breakfast?

Question of the day:  What is your favorite type of yogurt?

Breakfast: Cinnamon Yogurt and Almond Cup

Breakfast today was a bowl full of Greek plain Greek yogurt, a ton of my favorite cinnamon, almonds and sliced banana.  A fresh, delicious, stick to your ribs kind of breakfast, to give me the energy I need to get through the day!

mmm...deliciousness in a mug

Question of the day:  What did you have for breakfast?

The Cinch!...AGAIN!

Good Morning All,

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! So, last week my dear friend and coworker, Vianny asked if I would be willing to do the five day fast forward plan of The Cinch! with her. I've already tried this in February, with success and have not gained any of the weight back, as I'm doing a good job with maintaining.

I decided to go ahead and do this but tweak it just a teensy weensy bit. One of the things that irked me the first time I did this was the amount of raspberries that needed to be eaten. I LIKE raspberries, not LOVE them and to be having so many in a day really got to me. Last time, by the end of the fifth day, I did not want to look at another raspberry! The good thing about The Cinch! is you could substitute any berry and still get the same result. So, for today, I'm subbing the raspberries for blueberries.

Now, the typical Cinch! breakfast is an egg scramble with sauteed spinach and a cup of raspberries and slivered almonds on the side. I decided to have a hard boiled egg sprinkled with onion powder with spinach on the side. I had a cup of blueberries and 10 whole almonds, which I'm thinking is about 2TB chopped or slivered. So, that was breakfast. I'm guessing The Cinch! will be much easier for me this time around because I've already adapted the ways of eating.

Question of the day: What's your favorite berry and how do you like to eat it?

Monday morning breakfast...

Good Morning All,

Well, another week has started.  I totally have the Monday morning/day blues.  Probably because of the wintry mix of weather we are having right now!  Nothing like waking up to a cold, rainy Monday morning. 

On a brighter note, breakfast was delish!  I'm continuing to following the Cinch! principles and each of my meals contains a whole grain, plant fat, lean protein, produce and sass.  Today I had a  yogurt bowl with some oatmeal in it.  Now, this may sound weird but this was a deliciously creamy bowl of goodness!  I took 6oz. of non fat Greek yogurt, 14 whole almonds, sliced banana, cinnamon and a 1/4c of McCann's Instant Irish Oatmeal in Maple and Brown Sugar (I cooked this quickly in the microwave with water), and mixed it all together for a creamy bowl of goodness!

mmmm....creaminess!

I LOVED this because I got just a teeny bit of sugar from the oatmeal, creaminess from the yogurt, fiber from the banana and almonds and plant fat from the almonds!  YUM!!

What did you guys have for breakfast?

Question of the day:  How was your weekend?

Recipe Alert: Yogurt and Granola Bowl

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope you all are getting a healthy start to the day.  If you haven't had breakfast yet, you should try making my Yogurt and Granola Bowl.  Breakfast this morning was so delicious and satisfying.  Also, a good change from my ricotta toast breakfast, don't get me wrong, I still <3 my ricotta toast :-)  Here are the deets for my wonderfully delish breakfast:

Ingredients:
6oz. of non fat Greek yogurt
Small banana, diced
2TB. of sliced or slivered almonds
1/4c of low fat granola
Cinnamon

Preparation:
Place the yogurt in a bowl. Top with banana, almonds and granola. Sprinkle cinnamon.  Enjoy as is or stir to combine all ingredients.

Servings: 1

Here's how this meal shapes up:

Whole grain:  granola

Plant fat: Almonds

Lean protein: yogurt

Produce:  banana

Sass: cinnamon

Breakfast: Toast with Almond Ricotta and Nectarine

Hello Everyone,

So, I'm going to try to bring you one Cinch! recipe, that I have
created, a day. Today, I'd like to share one of my favorite
breakfasts which is a fruit and almond spread on toast.  I love this breakfast because it keeps me quite full and energized.

Ingredients:

1 slice of whole grain toast
1/4c of skim ricotta cheese
2TB of slivered or sliced almonds (I like slivered)
1 nectarine, diced
1tsp of cinnamon

Preparation:
Place the ricotta, almonds, nectarine and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir to combine. Top toast with spread. Enjoy!!

Here's how this meal shapes up:
Whole grain: bread
Lean protein: skim ricotta
Plant fat: almonds
Produce: nectarine
Sass: cinnamon

If you're following Weight Watchers, this meal comes out to 5 points.

A Berry Breakfast....

Since I had too much of the bad stuff last night, I was craving some good stuff this morning!  This morning's breakfast was non fat Greek yogurt topped with delicious blackberries, cinnamon and almonds!  Just what I need to get my system going again!

Banana topped w/Chopped Almonds and Cinnamon

Hello everyone, I though I'd share my recipe for my easy and nutritious breakfast!


Ingredients: One ripe banana, sliced One tablespoon of chopped almonds One teaspoon of good cinnamon Preparation: In a bowl mix the bananas and cinnamon. Place on a plate and top with almonds.

My Morning Meal During Ramadan

The holy month of Ramadan is in full swing and I have had a lot of readers ask me what I've been eating at 4am to keep me full all day. So here goes...I have nothing more than a bowl of oatmeal with coffee and a multivitamin. I do love the way I prepare my oatmeal, sometimes even the night before and I just warm it the following morning. Here are the deets on my morning oatmeal: Ingredients: 1/2c. of oven toasted oats 1c. Almond milk (I like the unsweetened kind by Silk) 1tsp. cinnamon 2 dates, sliced 10 almonds, chopped Preparation: Cook the oatmeal according to the directions, using almond milk instead of water. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until cooked. Servings: 1 This recipe is great as the oats contain fiber, the almonds contain healthy fats, the almond milk adds great creaminess and the dates add great sweetness and fiber. So, there you have it...my morning oatmeal is not only healthy but keeps me focused for 15 hours!

************Recipe Alert: Strawberry Ricotta with Chopped Almonds************

As the weather is getting warmer outside, I'm starting to crave cold things for my breakfasts, rather than my usual oatmeal. With that said, I've created my own recipe called Strawberry Ricotta with Chopped Almonds. This is truly a decadent breakfast which I think I will be having for a while! Ingredients: 1/2c fat free ricotta cheese 1TB of strawberry jam 1TB of chopped almonds Sprinkle of cinnamon Place the ricotta in a bowl. Top with strawberry jam, chopped almonds and cinnamon. Enjoy :-) Total WW pts: 4

Nuts About Nuts....

Hey Guys, One snack I always keep in my bag, purse and at my desk are nuts!! I love creating different types of trail mixes, some sweet, some spicy and some salty. Nuts and trail mixes are a great, easy portable snack. They are filling, filled with omega 3 fatty acids and are easy to make! However, nuts and trail mixes can be very easy to go overboard with the points. Remember, they can be high in calories and fat, BUT this can definitely be controlled by filling up portion controlled snack bags for you take along! Here are a few trail mix recipes I've created: Sinfully Sweet Trail Mix 1/4c. Almonds 14 Cashews 1/4c Dried Currants 1/4c Dried Apples 1/4c Dried Bananas Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and divide this up into four equal portions. Each portion has 3 WWpts. Spice Mix 1/4c. Almonds 49 Shelled Pistachios 1/4c Dried Apricots 1/4c Raisins 1 tsp. of Chili Powder 1/4 tsp. of Salt Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and divide this up into four equal portions. Each portion has 3 WWpts. Chili Lime Mix 1/4c Almonds 14 Cashews 1/4c Pumpkin seeds 1/4c Sunflower seeds 49 Pistachios 1 tb of Lime Juice 1 tsp. of Chili Powder Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and divide this up into seven equal portions. Each portion has 3 WWpts.

I hope you guys will try some of these trail mixes :-)