HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS TO STAY COMPLIANT ON SPECIAL DAYS

With Passover quickly approaching we have asked Shari Marks, mother of 6 and wife of Rabi, who has also lost 50 pounds on TSFL and Certified Health Coach to  give us some tips for staying healthy through the upcoming holidays.

Dear TSFL friends,

As we gear up preparing for Passover here, I am getting many questions regarding what to eat over the holidays.

One coach/client I know eats lean & green all day. You can still make Cauliflower pizza for lunch etc, Tuna patties (mix lil cottage cheese etc), salmon patties, fish, egg white omelets, celery sticks & she & her husband have actually lost weight over Passover.

You may choose to follow the Maintenance Plan for Pesach. Basically it involves eating 100 calories or so of protein every 2-3 hours. With a little more protein for lunch & dinner. See details below. (Note: I would only use nuts an in between meals if you pre-pack them in little snack bags & ONLY if you are able to not be the type who grabs for more.)

However should you want to try to lose weight over the holidays, I would omit the fruit and stick with the protein & green vegetables.. and take a nice walk every day.

Suggested plan I follow:

Breakfast; Egg white omelet with mushrooms,spinach & scallions (Yes I eat this every morning!)

Mid Morning; Plain Non Fat Yogurt with a Strawberry or two or cottage cheese. Sometimes I take an extra serving of egg whites along with me, or have hard boiled eggs without the yellow

Lunch Fish, salads, green vegetables, or a small serving of pureed vegetable soup (any green soup)

Mid Afternoon:  Small Piece of chicken, turkey, maybe some celery, cucumbers (If I’m hungrier I’ll eat more protein here & less later on)

Dinner: By this time I’m no longer really hungry Broth or light soups only, Small piece of chicken, meat, salad, vegetables

Other (Recipe)ideas for on the go:

-stuff tuna fish into celery or green pepper

-egg white salad

-almond butter on celery

-stuff mini peppers with chicken or white turkey chop meat or make chicken or turkey patties

-stuff zucchini with meat or chicken.

-stuffed cabbage with chicken or meat & use grated cooked cauliflower

-feta stuffed eggplant, eggplant Pizza

 

This is the maintenance plan per Dr A’s book:

Here is the Pesach plan I got this from Chapt 8 Maintenance..as per Dr A’s advice..

Please note that there are new additions in the newer quick start guides such as a tablespoon of peanut butter and therefore I would imagine that one can substitute Almond butter on Pesach for this.

A number of people are concerned and have asked for guidelines as to what they can eat over Pesach. It will help you to enjoy Pesach without regretting overeating or eating the right type of foods. Eating smaller meals every three hours keeps your metabolism up & running in a healthy manner. The menu ideas below are not for weight loss but rather maintenance.

I have discussed this with the Medical Director of the program and he has directed me to this suggested guidelines as outlined below:

Breakfast Options: (300-400 calories)

Smoothie

Vegetable/fruit- strawberries/peaches (size of small paperback)

Starch: whole wheat matza

Protein: 1/2 cup milk

or Egg white omelet/veggies

Lunch (200 calories)

Vegetable /Fruit 1 cup salad with half tomato with oil & Vinegar

No starch

Protein: 5 oz fish

Dinner (400 calories)

Vegetable/Fruit

Starch: whole grain Matza

Protein: Choice of Chicken/Meat/Fish

Mid/Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Fueling Options: (appox 100 calories)

Either 1/2 cup cucumber, 6 celery sticks, 6 slices red pepper, 1/2 cup broccoli florets dipped into fat free, sugar free dressing

3 oz  mixed nuts

1 serving string cheese

1 oz matza cracker , 1 oz smoked salmon(like kiddush)

10 almonds & celery stick

12 cashews

29 pistachios

1/2 sliced apple& 3 walnuts

1 medium apple

half small avocado

grilled portobello mushroom

Eggplant

1 cup tomato & cucumber soup

2 cups baby carrots

large  dill pickle

1/2 cup cottage cheese with 5 strawberries

1 cup of cream of any soup(non starchy veg)

1/2 cup cucumber slices

3 celery sticks with almond butter

3 oz yogurt

12 almonds

non fat low fat yogurt

Healthy Vegetable Soup

 

Here is a recipe that you will LOVE, regardless of what kind of eating plan you are on! This is a pizza made with a cauliflower crust, and it is fantastic! It is healthy and full of veggies and protein. It is low carb AND it fits the standards for a Medifast Lean & Green dinner. Winner all around! The original recipe is here; I tweaked it a little.

This pizza recipe is for year round, not just Pesach!(In the process of putting together an E-Kosher Medifast cookbook)

Cauliflower Pizza

Steam some fresh or frozen cauliflower first, just until tender but not mushy. Drain and let it cool completely. Then use a ricer or a cheese grater to grate the cauliflower to make 1 measuring cup full (not packed).

Mix 1 c grated cauliflower with 1/4c Eggbeaters, 1/2 tsp oregano and 1/2c shredded low moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese. (You can use reduced fat; Spread this mixture on a cookie sheet that has been *generously* sprayed with Pam. (Even better, use parchment paper. The crust *will not stick* if you bake it on parchment!) Use a spatula and spread/pat it into a circle about 10″ or so around. Put this into a preheated 440 degree oven for 12-15 minutes, until it is very nicely browned. The edges should look almost burnt.

Take the crust out of the oven (if you used parchment, slide it off and remove the paper at this point) and top with 3T of Chunks of tomatoes or your favorite no-sugar-added pizza sauce (Walden farms sauce). Then sprinkle with 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella. You can now add your favorite pizza toppings. If you want a Lean & Green meal you should add 1/4 c veggies… I used diced canned tomatoes. Otherwise, add whatever you like: turkey pepperoni, black olives, peppers, mushrooms, etc.

Put back into the oven under the broiler, watching carefully, just until cheese is melted. Remove from the oven and cut into wedges. Enjoy!

It tastes as good as it looks!

And yes, you can pick up the pieces and eat them with your hands if you baked it long enough. I did! Or you can eat it with a fork. Either way, this is delicious. It totally satisfies my desire for pizza. Next time, I am adding mushrooms!

Another great idea!

Tuna/Salmon Patties:

I love tuna and have it at least once a week. I make tuna salad with tuna, diced scallions, celery, tomato, dill pickle….whatever I have on hand. To this I add 2 tbl. of low fat mayo

You could also try making tuna or salmon patties. I mix 1/4 – 1/3 cup of egg beaters to 6 oz tuna, then spices (garlic powder, onion, scallions, pepper, whatever sounds good). Instead of 1 patty, I make 4 or 5 small patties. They are easy to flip that way. Hope that helps.

Matza Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1

Amount per Serving

Calories 120

Calories from Fat 0.0

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 0g

Saturated Fat 0g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 0mg 0%

Total Carbohydrate 27g 9%

Dietary Fiber 1g 4%

Sugars 1g

Protein 3g   6%

Est.

Burn Off The Calories

You could burn off the 120 calories from this Matzo (matza, Matzah) in a variety of ways:

Scuba Diving – general for 15 minutes

Hiking – cross-country, general for 18 minutes

Tackle Football for 12 minutes

Swimming: butterfly for 962 minutes

TreadClimber – resistance 12 @ 1 mph for 31 minutes

This is based on your weight of 150 lbs

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