Chalene Johnson, creator of Turbo Fire often promotes recipes to “fuel the fire” of your metabolism. Check out this yummy Green Pepper and Ham Scramble.

Staying slim requires eating satisfying snacks that keep hunger away. Key ingredients in these cookies include: Cinnamon to keep your blood sugar in check, slow-digesting protein from cottage cheese paired with faster-digesting whey protein powder to steadily suppress appetite, whole wheat flour for energy-revving B vitamins, oats for their anti-inflammatory polyphenols and beta-glucan, which along with healthy fats from walnuts promote a feeling of fullness that subdues cravings. We all crave sweets, so the way I look at it is, why not put something in our bodies that will actually do some good!

As I’m sure we will all agree, grabbing an apple or a handful of nuts for a snack can get pretty boring pretty fast. Chalene created a fun “Snack-O-Matic” chart to help you make fun and fast snacking choices. Basically, you pick a base, a dip, and a topping to reach about a 100 calorie total. I am having fun with it already. Today my snack is apple slices warmed in the microwave with crumbled walnuts and a sprinkle of cinnamon. YUMMY! Here are some of the option ideas:

A wise man once said, “You can either have excuses or fitness, but not both”. So which do you choose to have? What would you prefer to have? Personally I would prefer to have fitness, not excuses. But I have many, many excuses for avoiding exercises and eating healthy foods. My biggest problem is getting past those excuses.

At your next backyard BBQ, choose the smallest available plate. This will automatically ensure you take smaller portions. You won’t feel cheated, though, because your mind will see a full dish. Researchers at Cornell University estimate that routinely eating off plates with a diameter 2 inches smaller than usual can reduce calorie consumption by 22%.

Fitness Guru Jon Benson recently wrote a great article about what to eat before your workouts. I thought it would be a great one to share here. One of the most common questions Jon gets asked is: “What should I eat before my workouts if I want to get rid of bodyfat?”

I wrote about this topic about two years ago and thought it was a good time for an update. Do you realize that about 50% of people have given up on their New Year’s Resolution by the middle of the year. How about you? Did you set a goal that is strong enough and important enough for you to stick with it? Or, are you letting other things get in the way. Are you letting yourself get lower and lower on your priority list?

At the start of a new fitness program, you clean up your diet and hit the workouts, and the weight seems to fall off. But when you get down to the last 5, 10, or 15 pounds you want to lose, the scale may suddenly refuse to budge. You might be tempted to drastically reduce calories or increase the amount of time you spend working out. Don’t do it. Instead, here are some simple tricks to help you lose those last 10 pounds.