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Health & Fitness

New Year! New Goals!

Kick off the new year right with this low-glycemic healthy recipe for green beans and mushrooms, weight loss and healthy eating plan.

Roasted Green Beans with Mushroom, Balsamic & Parmesan
(Makes 4-6 servings)

8 oz. mushrooms, sliced in 1/2 inch slices (I used brown crimini mushrooms, but any mushrooms will work)
1 lb. fresh green beans, preferably thin French style beans
1 1/2 T olive oil
1 T balsamic vinegar
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 T finely grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.Wash mushrooms and let drain (or spin dry in salad spinner, which is what I did.) While mushrooms are drying, trim ends of beans and cut beans in half so you have bite-sized pieces. Cut mushrooms into slices 1/2 inch thick.

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Put cut beans and mushrooms into a Ziploc bag or plastic bowl. Whisk together olive oil and balsamic vinegar and pour over, then squeeze bag or stir so all the beans and mushrooms are lightly coated with the mixture. Arrange on large cookie sheet, spreading them out well so beans and mushrooms are not crowded.  

Roast 20-30 minutes, starting to check for doneness after 20 minutes. Cook until beans are tender-crisp, mushrooms are cooked, and all liquid on the pan from mushrooms has evaporated. Season beans to taste with salt and fresh ground pepper, then sprinkle with finely grated parmesan. Serve hot.

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~ By Jim Painter, USA TODAY

Thursday, in between the cheese ball appetizers and the pumpkin pie desserts, most of us will indulge in something proven to have powerful health benefits. No, it's not that extra serving of stuffing. It's the expression of gratitude — the simple act of thanking God, and thanking others, or just counting your blessings. Saying thanks, it turns out, isn't just pious or polite. It's good for you.
But there's a catch: You have to do it even when the calendar does not say "Thanksgiving." "It doesn't really work if you do it only once a year," says Sonja Lyubomirsky, professor of psychology at the University of California-Riverside.
Practicing gratitude is like exercising, says Robert Emmons, professor of psychology at the University of California-Davis: Use it, and you won't lose it, even when times are tough, as they are for many folks right now.
Lyubomirsky and Emmons are among researchers who have studied the power of gratitude and learned, for example, that:
•People with high blood pressure not only lower their blood pressure, but feel less hostile and are more likely to quit smoking and lose weight when they practice gratitude.  In one study, patients just called a research hotline once a week to report on the things that made them grateful.
•People who care for relatives with Alzheimer's disease feel less stress and depression when they keep daily gratitude journals, listing the positive things in their lives.
•Those who maintain a thankful attitude through life appear to have lower risks of several disorders, including depression, phobias, bulimia and alcoholism.
•Most people can lift their mood simply by writing a letter of thanks to someone. Hand-deliver the letter, and the boost in happiness can last weeks or months.
Practicing gratitude in these systematic ways changes people by changing brains that "are wired for negativity, for noticing gaps and omissions," Emmons says. "When you express a feeling, you amplify it. When you express anger, you get angrier; when you express gratitude, you become more grateful."
And grateful people, he says, don't focus so much on pain and problems. They also are quicker to realize they have friends, families and communities to assist them in times of need. They see how they can help others in distress as well, he says.

3 Balanced Meals & 3 Low-Glycemic Snacks

Special note: Remember to cut the portions you eat for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. In addition to 3 smaller meals each day, add one of your portion controlled meal/snack replacements (PCMR) between each meal.  Doing this will balance your blood sugar on a daily basis!   

Breakfast   Low-Glycemic Breakfast within 30 minutes of rising with 8 oz water   Snack PCMR with 8 oz water Lunch Low-Glycemic Lunch with 8 oz water   Snack PCMR with 8 oz water Dinner Low-Glycemic Dinner with 8 oz water (healthy recipe included above) Snack PCMR with 8 oz water

 HELPFUL LINKS ON DR. WAYNE ANDERSEN'S WEBSITE: Habits of Health  VegetablesFruits ~ Healthy Fish and SeafoodFat Content of MeatFat Content of Poultry

 

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Grant Hughes
Certified Health Coach
678-468-2523

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