Lemon & Garlic Kale Chips

 

So with my diet being pretty limited to veggies and meat mainly haha, I’m always looking for new ways to spice it up!!! So I made KALE CHIPS! … (even my boyfriend liked them… which was a surprise! ) <— ps. I love when he likes my health food hahah.

Ok enough bibble -babble! On to the Recipe!!!!

Its suuuper simple too. YAY!

You’ll Need:

• 2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
• A bundle or two of fresh kale, washed and chopped.
• 6 Garlic cloves, chopped. (or more if ya want… I’m a garlic freak so if you ever ask me… you can never have enough garlic!!!)
• 1-2 tbsp. Sea Salt (one if you use one bunch, 2 if you make 2 bunches worth)
• 2 tbsp. Lemon juice or one whole lemon freshly squeezed.
• 1 tbsp. Black pepper

 

How to:

• Wash Kale bunches and chop off ends, and then chop into “chip” size pieces.
• Pre-heat oven to 325
• In a large bowl mix all ingredients. (Olive Oil, Lemon, Salt, Pepper)
• Place chopped up kale into bowl and mix around so the oil gets all over it all and you can even let it marinade for a while if you’d like. ( I let mine marinade for about 15 min)
• On a baking sheet, spread out kale pieces onto sheet and then sprinkle the chopped up garlic cloves on top.
• Bake for about 15-20 min until the kale pieces seem crispy at the end.
• Let cool, and ENJOY!!!

Note: it helps if you every once in a while toss the leaves so some don’t end up burnt.. ( you know the ones on the sides of the pan) . …. lol.

 

Tip of The Week #17 Have some Patience!

Today were going to talk about a little thing I like to call patience. …. I have very little as does the rest of this “on-the-go, need-to-get-sh*t-done” society. But its going to play a huge role in your weight loss and getting to where you want to be so pay attention!

• Look, I get that you want a toned tummy and a lifted butt…who doesn’t? … but its not going to happen over night. You didn’t gain that extra 50 lbs ( or however much you’d like to lose) over night did you? I’m assuming that answer is a no. Nor did you gain it in a month either. It took time to put the weight on, therefore its going to take time (usually a little longer sorry to say) for it to come off. That’s just how it works. Accept that its a process or journey you’re on and its going to take time …. period.

• You are not superman or superwoman either! …. most people don’t realize that with media how it is, people want it to be fast like it was for The Biggest Loser contestants… its not going to happen. If you want to do this ( lose weight) the right way, you will not be spending 5+ hours in the gym, and eating very few calories, that’s only going to hurt you in the long run. 1-2 lbs a week is usually a good estimate of how much you should be losing, if your on the higher end of the weight spectrum, you have more to lose so more might come off at first where as someone who doesn’t have as much to lose is going to have a slower weight loss. When you lose weight too quickly its either a sign of malnutrition and/or water loss and possibly muscle loss too. Plus, you want to lose it slower because not only will it stay off longer, but when you lose lean muscle mass, your jeopardizing your metabolism making it slow down, hence making it harder to lose weight.

• I wrote another blog post about being positive (read it!!) link here:    The #1 Weight Loss Secret!!!     You cannot call yourself fat anymore. Its not doing anything for you or anyone else accept bringing you down. You need to find something you love about yourself first and foremost. You need to love yourself and have and take pride in yourself too. You need to have this weight loss goal for YOU and you alone, any other reason isn’t going to get where you want/need to be. Sure there can be an event or something your trying to get ready for but in the whole scheme of things, it need to be for you and your health. And for peats sake, be positive and quit putting yourself down.
• Visualize yourself thinner, this can be hard. If you have to dig up old photos of you when you were thinner, heck paste a picture of your face on the body you want… whatever works for you. I like to think about the figure I’m trying to archive when I’m about to fall asleep. Find what works for you. I also have a vision board where I have tons of quotes, a calendar to keep me on track and pictures of fit and healthy bodies.

• Keep going!!! Ok so say you started eating healthy and maybe working out a little, some weight loss has occurred but you haven’t seen too many results. So knowing patience is the key…. keep going till you see those results you want. And results aren’t just measured in weight loss either. It can also be gaining strength, more energy, the way your clothes fit, how you feel when you eat healthy/unhealthy, muscle definition etc. So focus on the little results your getting while shooting for that main goal. It will only happen the moment you decide NOT to give up.

• Start small and move up from there. Most people want a 180 approach and it just isn’t realistic. Some people can do it, but very few. When people try to change everything all at once they get overwhelmed and frustrated.. leaving them to quit and give up. So start with small things, maybe its to eat healthier, or to be able to run around the block without stopping. Whatever it is, start changing things slowly and you’ll be more inclined to stick to it and make it last. It is truly a LIFESTYLE CHANGE, you cannot go on a “diet” and lose the weight and then go back to your old habits. That is why diets DONT work. Now I’m not saying you cant enjoy a handful of chips or a yummy piece of cake here but the majority of your diet is going to be healthy clean food.

On a personal note, people don’t realize this has taken me a good 3+ years to get to where I am now. It takes time, once you learn to accept that the better off you’ll be. … so chill out. haha.