So, what is for dinner? I’ll answer that for you. Dinner will consist of a lean meat and vegetables (preferably green). Now I know that it might seem boring, but it doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of ways to prepare, say, a chicken breast and veggies. I’ll show you in just a minute, a great recipe for just that.

The main purpose of this article is that you understand why that is what you should be eating. Let’s face it, dinner is the hardest meal of the day to eat healthy. There are tons of reasons why it would be easier just to order a pizza or throw in some pasta and be done with it.

  • You’re tired from either working all day or taking care of your family/kids.
  • The rest of the family doesn’t want to eat chicken and vegetables.
  • You want something that tastes good so you can look forward to it (comfort food).
  • You don’t have much time because of some activity you are committed to.

I’m sure one of those comes up in your house all the time, I know they all come up in my a lot.

The first question you have to ask yourself is, “What are your Goals?” then you must ask yourself, “How Important are those Goals to You“. When you have a clearly defined goal, such as lose 5lbs by Thanksgiving or drop your body-fat 2% by the end of October it goes a long ways in helping you overcome those obstacles listed above. If it’s really important to you then you need to do whatever it takes to eat what you need to and stay on track towards your goals. Without clearly defined goals it is too easy to give in to the “difficulty” of life.

Now, the WHY… Why exactly should you be eating lean meat and vegetables at dinner? To make it easy to understand I will list the most important reasons (for weight loss and body-fat reduction).

  1. Your metabolism is slowing down at night so you want to avoid too many carbohydrates.
  2. The old saying of You Are What You Eat, is never more accurate than dinner (or post dinner if you are a snacker). You just don’t have time to burn off anything in the evening.
  3. When your body is sleeping (it’s deepest sleep) you are in an anabolic state which is repairing and rejuvenating your body. The thing your body needs is protein and nutrients. Nothing will help you repair, be stronger, more rested and leaner than lean protein sources and nutrient dense vegetables.

If you have a bowl of pasta at night you can undue a lot of good choices throughout the day. When you are in a routine of work or running kids around often times it is easier to make good choices. When the evening hits and you are off schedule and have more temptations, it’s much easier to blow it. That is why it all starts with your goals… Do you have clearly defined goals right now? If not, get with either myself or your coach and let’s put them on paper. Then it becomes our job (your ACAF coaches) to hold you to those, and if we don’t shame on us.

To help you understand that chicken and vegetables don’t have to be boring, here is a delicious recipe to help you stay on track while keeping the family happy as well.

Blackened Chicken with  Zucchini and Squash: (serves two) 

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp paprika

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/8 tsp ground white pepper

1/8 tsp onion powder

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet (with a spray… not butter or oils). Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat for 5 minutes until it is hot.
  2. Mix together the powdered ingredients above. Oil the chicken breasts with the same spray above, on both side, then coat the chicken evenly with the spice mixture.
  3. Place the chicken in the hot pan and cook for 1 minute. Turn, and cook 1 minute on other side. Place the breasts in the prepared cooking sheet.
  4. Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 5 minutes.

Then, while those are cooking us the same pan to prepare the zucchini and squash.

Ingredients:

2 Large Zucchini and 2 Large Squash

Directions:

  1. Slice the zucchini  and squash “long ways” so that they are the full length of the vegetable (instead of short circles like normal). You want them about a 1/4 inch thick. Thinner cuts will be softer so you can adjust accordingly.
  2. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil on the pan (only takes a tiny bit to cook the vegetables in).
  3. Lay the slices in the hot pan and let sit for about 90 seconds each side and flip. They should be somewhat firm, but you can cook longer if you want them softer.

Once both dishes are prepared you can enjoy… Or if you are like me… I like to lay the veggies over top of the chicken so that I get a taste  of each on every bit.

Here is the nutrition on an unbelievably good tasting lean meat and vegetable that you can enjoy and still stay on track towards your goals:

Calories: 314

Fat: 3

Carbohydrates: 23

Fiber: 8

Protein: 42

Next time you go to the grocery store print this recipe out and pickup the dry spices that you need, and enjoy.

Remember, nothing is more important than what you eat at dinner. Your body holds onto everything late at night so give it only good stuff and watch the body-fat drop and the pounds melt away. Because, if you had to do one thing right every day it needs to be dinner.

If you have a healthy recipe you would like to share with the group, post it here so we can all enjoy.

 

All the best;

Jeremy

 

P.S.

If you are running the Peachtree City Classic your T-Shirts are in. See me or your Fitness Camp coaches to pick those up. Only rule is this… You have to wear the shirt to the race next Saturday, otherwise I think we might have to do some pushups for each person missing the shirt :)

 

 

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