Rob’s Carrot Kale Cocktail with Chia seed

I have a drink I liked to call Rob’s Carrot Kale Cocktail which was basically just a special concoction I made up in a blender but it’s now morphed into this wonderful drink that also contains nut milk and chia seed. It’s still Rob’s Carrot Kale C,ocktail, but it’s version 2.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup of sunflower seeds – pre soaked
10 to 15 almonds – pre soaked
1 carrot
1 kale leaf
a little parsley
1 or 2 Tbsp Chia seeds (see note)
1 tsp Dark maple syrup or a little stevia

Preparation: Soak 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds and 10 to 15 almonds in water overnight to activate the seeds.

Make the nut milk:
Pour off the soak water and put sunflower seeds and almonds into blender cup.
Add a cup of distilled water.
Blend.

I prefer the Magic Bullet because of it’s unique blending format which forces the liquid down onto the blades. Blend for about a minute or two. Add another cup of water to thin it out a little more. I find that blending in less water allows all the seeds to hit the blades more effectively.

Add a Tablespoon or two of chia seeds, stir into nut milk and allow 5 minutes for the nut milk gel (chia gel) to set up.

Make the Carrot Kale Cocktail
While the nut milk gel is setting up, cut the carrot into small bits so it doesn’t break the blender. De-stem the Kale and cut leaves into small bits (about an inch or so, just so it blends a bit better)

Put the carrot parts into the nut milk. Blend again until carrots are fully mixed in.

Add Kale and parsley, Blend again.

Taste.

If required, go ahead and add a tsp of Dark maple syrup for flavor. Maple syrup is optional. I suggest dark maple syrup because it has more minerals in it. Stevia may also be used. Taste it first though, you might find you like it just the way it is.

Note: Chia seeds will really gel this up if you use too much. Play with the amount of seeds to the amount of water. You should be able to sip it, not have to spoon it out.

Fiber Content:
The nut milk itself will provide a few grams of fiber. So will the chia seeds, so I’d approximate the fiber in this to be at least 5 grams (or more).

Blended salads are a great way to add nutrient dense foods to your day, as a mid afternoon snack, a post workout supplement or added to a meal instead of other beverages. Kale is a nutrient powerhouse – one of the preferred dark leafy green vegetables. Carrots add important vitamin A while the chia seeds add so much to the mix and slow down the absorption of it all keeping you full. Chia also provides important Omega 3 fats. The nuts and seeds of course provide protein, fats, fiber and many minerals.

1. Lose weight by exercising
2. Give up salt

Focus On What You Want

Being absolutely clear with yourself and your brain is a critical part in getting that which you want. It’s fairly easy to set the resolution “to lose weight”, but being clear about how you’re going to lose weight is much more powerful. It’s the action steps that are going to take you there, so focus on them and you’ll get what you want.

The words we choose are powerful, so be clear about what you intend on doing.

“Exercise more” is general where “Walk 30 minutes a day, five days a week” is more action oriented
“Drink more water” is a good idea, where “I resolve to measure out four litres of water each morning and consume the entire amount over the course of the day before going to bed” is a lot more specific.

New Years Resolutions That Make Sense

I’m sure you’ve wanted to make changes to your lifestyle each year and have full intention of keeping them. With that in mind, would you be open to some new ways of thinking? Would you like some ideas for resolutions that make sense? Resolutions that you can take action on and get the results you’re looking for?

The list of new years resolutions that follow offer some ways of thinking that come from a place of focusing on your health rather than weight loss. Weight loss should be thought of as a side effect of becoming more healthy. Focus on making changes to how you eat, how you can improve the functioning of your body and you’ll get the results you’re looking for along with a lifetime of benefits.

Pick from a few of these and write them out on a piece of paper. In fact, for the first 30 days of the new year, write them down repeatedly saying them aloud as you do so. Say them with passion as if your life depended on it. Speak passionately, not loudly. Speak to yourself as if they were the most important and loving commitments you’ve ever made to yourself. This is you talking to yourself each and every day about the most important steps you’ll ever take towards your new self and the new direction you’re taking in your life.

• Resolve to walk for at least 30 minutes every day – and while you’re out moving, focus on taking in deep full breaths. Consider walking to be about oxygenating your blood rather than moving your legs. More often than not, walkers tend to consider the amount of calories burned during the exercise, but I’d rather you focus on the metabolism boosting function of having more oxygen in your body. Fat gets burned in the presence of oxygen, but it also improves your mood and allows your cells to do what they do best, produce energy. Walking is also one of the best ways to move your lymph system, which helps in the elimination of waste material. In essence, walking helps you clean your body from the inside out.
• Resolve to begin exercising your body using body weight exercises such as push ups or body weight squats – challenge yourself to do some of the most basic movements such simply getting into the squat position and lifting your body weight up and down a few times per day. Challenge yourself to do more per day, more per week, or more in a given amount of time. How many squats can you do in 2 minutes? Keep doing squats on a daily basis and repeat the challenge every week to see if you’re getting stronger. Working the leg muscles and making them stronger / more muscular is one of the easiest ways to get leaner and stronger all over your body. Join our body weight challenges for more inspiration.
• Resolve to measure out 4 litres of water (1 gallon) each morning and to consume it at regular intervals throughout the day so that all of it is consumed before bed – Water is your life and it’s not just enough to say “I will drink more water in the new year”. Water plays a role in almost all the functions of our body including digestion, elimination and energy production. It’s generally agreed upon that the correct amount of water to consume, on a daily basis, is half our body weight in ounces. If you weight 200 pounds, you should be drinking at least 100 ounces of water – per day, every day. If you exercise, you should drink more and if you live in a hot climate, even more again. Read this article on 50 ways to drink more water
• Resolve to eat less salt and more potassium – a very little thought about concept is the correlation of sodium to potassium that you have in your body. Our ancestors ate 10:1 potassium to sodium where the average North American today eats 1:4. We eat too little potassium and eat way too much sodium. Eating more potassium and lowering your sodium intake improves your bodies ability to hydrate itself, release retained water, lower blood pressure and cholesterol and generally improve the ability for your body to move nutrition into your cells while removing wastes. Read more about potassium containing foods and the role of potassium in your body. Just eliminating any salt you add to your foods is the best place to start. Then eat more vegetables and dark leafy green vegetables as well and your body will do the rest.
• Resolve to focus on what you want, not what you don’t want – The words you use have power, so focus on the things you want vs the the things you dont want. If you want to quit drinking pop, then focus on drinking more water. If you want to lose weight, focus on getting in daily exercise. If you want to watch less television, then focus on reading more books or going out for a walk in place of the TV.
• Resolve to replace the words “I can’t do that” with “How can I?” – One phrase turns the brain off, while the other turns the brain on. One statement ends the conversation while the other begins searching for solutions to that which you ask. There’s power in simply asking a question

Some people swear by new years resolutions and others hate them. Some experts find them useless because they’re set without any proper though given to the methods to achieve them and my friend James Jordan says “A day is a day and a moment a moment NewYears resolutions are for wankers who cant keep promises to themselves”. I think new years resolutions are a tool to new beginnings – and if you’re serious about them, you’ll write them down and look at them every day, regardless of the time of year. Any day can be your own personal first day of the year, it’s action and follow through that make all the difference.

During weight training you release fatty acids, and cardio immediately after weight training can burn them off as energy before being “recycled” into places you don’t want them to go.

First and foremost, alcohol is a poison and your body must fight to get it out of your system. It directly impairs liver function thus severely hampering your metabolism of fat. If fat loss is your main goal moderation is a key. I have trained many adults who like there nightly beverage, but they never or rarely lose body fat. I would suggest limiting alcohol consumption to once a week if fat loss is your goal.

When your liver is processing alcohol it will stop all other metabolic functions. It will do so until it rids your body of ethanol toxicity which is the by product of alcoholic consumption. This process leads many times to stubborn fat, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and syndrome X.

Drinking in excess will also contribute to fat gain not loss. If you think you are going to gain muscle mass while drinking think again! Your liver is to0 busy doing something it does not want to do, process alcohol instead of amino acids. In addition, alcohol reduces testosterone.

We have not even touched on how many extra calories alcohol consumption can add to your daily caloric intake. As my good friend Tom Venuto states, “Those calories add up so quickly.” Think about how much you consume and the caloric value of each drink. Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram. This is almost twice that of carbohydrates and protein and just under the 9 grams per calorie for fat. Here is an example: consuming 2-3 drinks a day can add up to over 400 calories extra each and every day. Multiply that by one week and you are over 2700 calories extra. That is over a half a pound.

According to studies drinking alcohol increases visceral adipose tissue. This is the fat around your body organs. NOT HEALTHY! Other studies suggest alcohol consumption increases and stimulates appetite. I remember when I went through my Nutrition and Lifestyle Courses, alcohol was an afternoon subject and I recall this sobering thought, “If you really want to piss off your entire digestive system and set your body up for a total metabolic nightmare, drink alcohol before you eat.”

Another item I have learned from Tom Venuto was the simple but often overlooked factor that by doing something everyday becomes habit-forming behavior. The daily routine of consuming an innocent evening drink will lead to the ill affects of alcohol consumption.

Consuming alcohol again stops all fat burning, adds extra calories, increases estrogen level (stubborn fat), increases appetite and makes you more easily persuaded to eat that entire cheese cake.

There are some simple guidelines you can follow that will not only help you stay on the fat burning path, but will encourage better overall health.

Drinking red wine is much better for you then drinking beer. Red wine contains some good things that can benefit your health. On the other hand consuming beer, which contains hops and are highly estrogenic, will lead to more fat gain and harder fat loss.

Try to stay away from extra sweet drinks with added sugars. This will keep your blood sugar from a massive spike while having a drink. Have you ever wondered why are these drinks are so popular?

I would highly suggest that you read my stubborn fat solutions report (If you think you have stubborn fat) and to avoid alcohol for at least two weeks while your detoxify your liver and get started on a friendly fat burning environment.

Follow the European model; eat some fat or protein with your wine. The more food you have in your belly the slower the absorption. It also aids in insulin regulation. Avoid high carbohydrates snack with alcohol. It carries many metabolic problems like insulin elevation and high fat levels in your blood stream.

According to nutrition writer Ori Hofmelker below is a list of good to bad:

Alcohol – Good to Bad

1. Red wine – Best
2. White wine
3. Champagne
4. Vodka
5. Gin
6. Rum
7. Whiskey
8. Cognac
9. Sweet wines
10. Sweet mixed drinks
11. Liqueurs
12. BEER! Worst

Some common problems with alcohol consumption

• Reduced testosterone
• Increased estrogen
• Increased hydration
• Inability to absorb vital nutrients

In summary, I would suggest eating an anti-estrogenic, well- balanced diet and minimize alcohol consumption until you reach your fat loss goals. This will also aid in your quest for a set of six pack abs.

To Get More Information About Fat Loss and Toning Your Abs
Go to: Firm and Flatten Your Abs:

Coach David Grisaffi,
Tacoma Washington