When I imagine winter, images of a big, furry bear hibernating comes to mind (at least here in the Northeast).  Let’s face it – with dark and cold days, winter is not a very motivating or accommodating time of year to get in shape. Unfortunately, swimsuit season is right around the corner. What if you could eat the warm comfort foods you love, spend less time in the kitchen, AND stay on track with your Inherent Health Weight Management goals? Yes, miracles can happen. They are called crock-pots!

If you are not a crock-pot expert, there are some useful resources at the bottom of this entry to get you started. Here’s a quick primer – you get up in the morning, add some pre- cut ingredients into your crock-pot, set the temperature and when you arrive home at night, dinner is served! I recommend finding a few crock pot recipes your family loves (and follows your Inherent Health Diet Identity) and cut the vegetables ahead of time. These can be stored in gallon sized freezer bags and taken out to thaw in the refrigerator the night before you plan to use them. Allrecipes.com has a great article on how to freeze fruits and vegetables.

Photo Courtesy of Shutter Stock

Not sure if your favorite recipe follows your Inherent Health Diet Identity? Use our Inherent Health Diet & Nutrient Analyzer. You can plug in any recipe by selecting “Recipes” and then “Create A New Recipe”. This tool will add up all of the calories, fat grams, carbohydrate grams, and protein grams for you. Best of all, it will be saved to your favorite recipes for easy reference and quick uploading to your daily food log. Below I have listed a recipe from The Food Network that sounded delicious to me and works well for all Diet Identities. No need to add it to the Diet & Nutrient Analyzer because we have already done it for you.

Slow Cooker Gumbo Chicken

Makes: 4 servings

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 6hrs 15 min

Nutrition Info per Serving:

468 calories: 55 grams carbohydrates (46%) 38.5 grams protein (32%) 9.5 grams fat (18%)

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen okra, thawed
• 2 links andouille sausage, diced
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups reduced-sodium tomato juice
• 2 cups cooked rice

Directions

In a slow-cooker, combine the chicken and all remaining ingredients except the rice. Mix well to combine. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours. Serve over rice.

Carb Reducer? Half the portion of rice or replace rice with a side salad

Fat Trimmer or Better Balancer? No need to do a thing!

Best Regards,

Nicole Belanger

Customer Service Supervisor

Resources:

For more make ahead crock pot ideas: The Food Network

Tips for freezing foods: Allrecipes.com

Tips for freezing fruits and vegetables: Allrecipes.com

Additional ideas for other make ahead meals: WebMD

Tips for using your crock pot like a pro: Ehow.com

With all of the sweet treats, celebratory drinks and festive parties during the holidays, preventing weight gain in November and December can be challenging at best. But it’s not impossible. And believe it or not, it is feasible to actually LOSE weight during the holidays.

Tracy Heckman did just that. Tracy, a Fat Trimmer, took the Weight Management Genetic Test in June 2010 and hasn’t looked back since. By following the recommendations provided in her test results, Tracy was actually able to lose weight over the holidays, adding to a grand total of 56 pounds she has lost since taking the test. Quite remarkable!

Tracy has graciously shared some of her tips for staying on track through the holidays – or anytime temptation waits – with Daily Swab readers. Whether you are traveling on vacation, just starting the diet or about to head to a special gathering, these tips from Tracy will keep you on track!

Tracy’s Tips

• The key factor that kept me on track was that prior to the holidays I had already established a habit of consistent exercise and proper nutrition. With that mindset, I was unable to just “let it go” because it was the holidays.

• Plan ahead. My days vary from day to day. So in order to avoid temptation, I look at my schedule ahead of time to make sure I have all the necessary items in place to ensure success.

• Pack a snack. One easy thing I did during the holidays to prevent weight gain was make sure I had a snack bar with me at all times. If I was out and about shopping for holiday gifts and suddenly got those hunger urges, I had a healthy snack with me so I wouldn’t end up in a not-so healthy restaurant.

• Eat beforehand. If I was going to someone’s house for a holiday gathering, I would be sure to either eat a proper meal beforehand or bring healthy food with me. This ensured that I wouldn’t cave to unhealthy foods when hunger struck.

• Don’t deprive yourself. Now I’m not saying that I didn’t have a cookie or two during the holidays. But I knew I could have a small taste and be satisfied. I wasn’t depriving myself of anything because I had my weight loss goal in mind.

• Make exercise a priority. Over the holidays, I also planned my daily exercise routine and followed up with consistent action. This prevented me from throwing it aside with an excuse. My thought was if I didn’t do it, it wouldn’t get done. Tomorrow is too late.

Did you successfully maintain or lose weight over the holidays? Tell us about it! Share you strategies for staying on track.