Maximize Your Metabolism Class

Treats will be served! (Above “Healthy”Chamacallit recipe from The Art of Healthy Eating - Sweets)

I have really enjoyed doing my classes and meeting many of you either in my home or on the webinar.  I will be doing one last class for this winter.  This will be the last class I do until fall.  This is the LAST chance to catch this great information. :)

The class is only $25. Pre-registration is required. For those of you who are out of the area there will be a Webinar option. The Webinar option will enable you to see the slides and hear me speak just like if you were in the room.  Any questions you have will be answered (via the chat option in the webinar)  You get a PDF of the slides to follow along with.

WHEN: Sunday March 24th from 5-7pm central

WHERE: My home in River Falls, WI (email Craig for more details)

DESCRIPTION:
Maximize Your Metabolism
Want to boost your metabolism, lose weight and feel better? In this two hour class you'll get a better understanding of what your metabolism is, how you can accelerate it and just what foods will rev it up or put the brakes on it. Find out the biochemical problems with Low Fat Diets and why a breakfast of cereal and skim milk does not "do a body good." Maria's recipes and diet secrets have been featured on television programs, radio shows and magazine articles. She has also been interviewed many times on the importance of balancing your brain neurotransmitters and how that equates to weight loss success. The more sugar we eat, the more we crave it. If you start your day off with cereal and skim milk, you aren't going to be able to walk by the candy jar in your office at 2pm!

Check out these to breakfast comparisons:
Option 1: 1 cup SMART START Cereal (1 cup skim milk and banana)
472 calories, 105 carbs, 4g fiber = 25.25 tsp of sugar in blood (IF you didn't add any sugar!)
Option 2: 2 eggs, with 2 cups of mushrooms, peppers, onions
190 calories, 9 carbs, 3 fiber = 1.5 tsp of sugar in blood
Option 3: My homemade donut made with coconut flour
217 calories, 7.4 carbs, 4.6g fiber = 0.7 tsp of sugar in blood! To eat is a necessity; to eat 'healthy' is an art.

To sign up to attend at our house in person, please email Craig at: 
craigmaria@gmail.com

To attend the webinar, just pay here:

Gall Bladder and Fat Digestion and GIVEAWAY!

ChocoPerfection Giveaway!

Enter to win a box of ChocoPerfection bars! All you have to do is leave a comment below that you would like to win and also include what "healthified" recipe you and your family enjoys the most. The winner will be picked on February 28th. (NOTE: this is for USA only) Good Luck!

ChocoPerfection bars uses the sweeteners oligofructose, which is derived from ground-up chicory root, and erythritol, which comes from fermented natural foods. These ingredients don't effect insulin levels (zero on the glycemic index) or have a laxative effect like malitol. Most "low carb" chocolates use malitol which does increase blood sugar and often causes intestinal discomfort. Also, chicory root is very theraputic to the gall bladder! So, here's to chocolate on a "diet!" Click HERE to find all "healthified" chocolates. 

  

A client wanted to share this with all of you:

Dear Maria,

I wanted to write you a quick email to again thank you and to give you an update on my progress. Two different people this week have used the word "unrecognizable" to describe me. I have now lost 50 pounds by following your guidelines and amazing recipes! I am not quite to my goal of getting back in my bikini, but I have full confidence that I will get there...and soon! All of my old clothes are literally falling off of me as I have lost a shocking 8.5 inches off of my stomach, 8 off of my waist, 5 off my hips, and 5 off of each thigh! I cannot even wear old blazers and jackets since they also are giant on me now. Shopping for a new wardrobe is so exciting!

When I started learning about nutrition from you, people we questioning whether this was the right choice for me. A lot of people doubted that I would be able to stick with the plan. I am happy to report that I have successfully made a lifestyle change. Your support and information through phone and email were key pieces to my success!  The scale has never gone up since I started consulting with you. 

Finally, I went for my physical this week. My blood sugar was very high when I started consulting with you. In fact, I was just about to start medicine to correct it.  It is now completely normal!  My blood pressure had been high as well, and that has resolved. I feel great, better than I have in years and it is all due to you!

Thank You, Maria! You are a hero!

Tomato Tart from The Art of Eating Healthy: Savory

Are you or someone you know part of the increasing population having gall bladder surgery? It is becoming a very common operation. Is there something changing in our current diets that is causing this?

In the past few recent decades, we have been mis-informed that fat-free diets are the healthy way to go. Even the medical profession is telling parents to have their kids drink skim milk! Don't get me wrong, there are some fat to totally avoid, such as vegetable oils and trans-fats. But going on low fat diets is more harmful than you realize. This is why I always use full fat (and tasty) foods! High protein diets alone are not the way to go. High fat is.

Galls are released by dietary fat. If you go on a little-to-no fat diet, the gall bladder starts to atrophy because it doesn't need to work; just as when you don't use your muscles, they atrophy and you are no longer as strong as you once were. Once the damage is done, and the gall bladder is removed, patients mistakenly believe that they can no longer eat fats without discomfort. This is not true, the bile to break down fat is made in the liver, then stored in the gall bladder. Even without a gall bladder, you produce bile and can (and should) consume healthy dietary fats.

After surgery (any surgery) you lose most of your beneficial bacteria; such as bifido bacteria, that keeps your intestines strong and healthy. Adding in probiotics and digestive enzymes are the first step to healing. Your body is smart, after years of low-fat dieting, it no longer produces lipase like it once did; lipase is the enzyme to break down fat (just as when a vegetarian adds in more protein after years of low protein, they feel sick... they no longer produce Protase, the enzyme to break down protein).

After a few days of increasing enzymes and good bacteria, adding in quality fats is essential for your body and cellular health; our brain and cells are composed of over 60% fat people! It is important! I suggest starting with coconut oil. Coconut oil is a medium chained triglyceride (MCT) which is an awesome fat because it doesn't require bile for digestion! I use this in place of butter for all my baked goods. It gives them an AWESOME and naturally sweet flavor.

Foods high in cholesterol are also essential! You NEED cholesterol to produce bile. Start to add in quality eggs (yes, the yolks...whites don't count, the cholesterol is in the yolks), organic cream and butter, grass-fed meats, lobster and other shellfish. I am not talking about "oxidized cholesterol"... which is damaged cholesterol found in skim milk and many processed foods; which triggers heart disease). If you keep avoiding fats and cholesterol, your body will keep on pace with no lipase excretion or bile production...causing a vicious cycle.

A low carb, high fiber diet with LOTS of liquids will help keep this painful condition away! So using coconut flour and psyllium husks, which are in tons of my recipes, will really help too! Just make sure you increase your water consumption when increasing fiber.

Also using Just Like Sugar which uses chicory root as a sweetener, helps decrease gall bladder issues. Chicory root builds your body's resistance to gallstones and liver stones by increasing the flow of bile, it assists the body in digesting foods and liquids. The extra bile also helps break down fats in the body. Chicory root has a mild laxative effect, increases bile from the gallbladder, and decreases swelling. Click HERE to find it. 

With these tips, along with not eating processed foods and wheat, your body will start to heal and you will feel and enjoy foods like you once did. Happy Eating!

All of my recipes in my cookbooks are filled with coconut oil, coconut flour and coconut milk to consume for healthy Bile Production. Click HERE to find them. Thank you SO much for your support! My whole family appreciates your support!

Some Favorites are:
1. Almond Joy Ice Cream (The Art of Eating Healthy: Kids)
2. Coconut Flour Baked Goods made with Coconut Oil
3. Protein Waffles made with Coconut Oil topped with my Homemade Tropical Syrup (Art of Eating Healthy: Sweets)
4. Tomato Goat Cheese Tart (The Art of Eating Healthy: Savory)
5. Perfect Pancakes (The Art of Eating Healthy: Sweets)
6. Grossini (Italian Bread Sticks): (The Art of Eating Healthy: Savory)
7. Chicken Cacciatore: (The Art of Eating Healthy: Savory)
8. Super Salad Dressing (The Art of Eating Healthy: Savory)
9. Potted Crab (The Art of Eating Healthy: Savory)
10. Blondie Brownies
11. Cream of "Wheat" Cereal

Spinach Artichoke Tart

Do you or someone you know suffer from an auto immune disease? My client, who suffers from alopecia (auto immune disease where you lose all your hair) had no hair when I first met her. Well, she showed up today with a surprise! She took her hat off for me and "TADA!"

She thought I was crazy when I told her that she had a food allergy causing her to lose her hair. She is a total believer now! She was so excited that she had her first hair cut in over 10 years!

We eliminated certain foods and added in some specific supplements to help with skin and hair conditions.

If you or someone you know is interested in getting on the right path, please email me for a consult. I would be honored to help!

Are you a female? an athlete? or have a food allergy and are low in iron? Spinach is very high in available iron which is very important to supplement with especially if you are female (about 90% of females are iron deficient and this is why they don’t have enough energy and are losing hair). If you lack iron you have a hard time carrying oxygen to the mitochondria of you cell, which is where you burn fat. SO, if you are low in iron, fat burning is hard to accomplish. Low iron can be caused by a FOOD SENSITIVITY (your intestines inhibit you from absorbing iron), heavy menstrual cycles, heavy exercising, or not eating meat. Low iron causes high anxiety. HEALTH TIP: adding lemon to meals with  iron, helps with absorption; it can increase your body's absorption of the iron by up to 20 times!

Tip: for those with a compromised thyroid, don't consume excessive amounts of raw spinach.
If you love spinach artichoke dip, you have to try this recipe!

CRUST:
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp Celtic sea salt
1 clove garlic (optional)
1 egg
FILLING:
1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped organic spinach, thawed and drained
1 ½ cups artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/8 tsp Celtic sea salt
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
8 oz macarpone or cream cheese softened
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. For the tart shell, combine the flour, cheese, salt and garlic and mix well.
Add the egg and mix until the dough is well combined and stiff. Press pie crust into pie dish or tart pan. Bake the crust for 12-15 minutes, or until it starts to lightly brown.

Meanwhile, combine spinach, artichokes, salt, garlic, Parmesan Cheese, mascarpone and eggs. Pour mixture into prebaked tart shell. Sprinkle with extra Parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Makes 12 servings.

NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per serving)
Traditional Tart = 270 calories, 18g fat, 10g protein, 16g carbs, 1g fiber (15 effective carbs)
"Healthified" Tart = 252 calories, 18g fat, 14g protein, 5.6g carbs, 2.2g fiber (3.4 effective carbs)

Flappers

Swerve Deal for February

You may or may not know that Swerve is a company based in New Orleans.  This month they have a fun promo going on where you get a pair of Mardi Gras beads with each 3 pack of sweetener (confectioners or granular).  Just use this link to get it. :)
http://www.swervesweetener.com/113.html 

Flappers

I love taking my son, Micah, out on dates on Saturday mornings. We found a total gem of a place in Minnesota called The Colassal Cafe. I also saw that they were featured on Diner's Drive-Ins and Dives! One of the restaurant's specialties was Flappers. 

"HEALTHIFIED" FLAPPERS

1/2 cup coconut flour (OR 2 cups blanched almond flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup Swerve confectioners (or erythritol and 1/4 tsp stevia glycerite)
1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 TBS melted butter or coconut oil
7 eggs (4 if using almond flour)
1 tsp apple extract (or vanilla, but apple tastes great with the Brie Cheese!)
TOPPINGS:
8 oz brie cheese
1 cup walnuts
SAUCE:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup Swerve Confectioners (or xylitol)
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
OPTIONAL: 1/2 tsp guar gum (thickener)

In a large bowl, combine the coconut flour, baking powder, natural sweetener and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the almond milk, melted butter or oil, eggs and extract. Stir the egg mixture into the coconut flour mixture.

Place coconut oil or spray a skillet with coconut oil spray and heat to medium high heat. Pour the batter onto the hot skillet to make circles to your desired size. Cook the pancakes until bottom is golden brown and carefully flip the pancake. Cook the pancakes on the other side until golden on each side. Repeating with remaining batter.

Meanwhile, make the sauce by placing the butter in a saucepan over high heat. Using Swerve: Before you begin, make sure you have everything ready to go - the cream and the butter next to the pan, ready to put in. Work fast or the sweetener will burn. Heat butter on high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart (2 L) or 3-quart (3 L) saucepan. As soon as it comes to a boil, watch for specks of brown (this is brown butter....so good on veggies!). Immediately add the Swerve and the almond milk to the pan. Whisk until sauce is smooth (whisk in guar gum if desired). Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, and then pour into a glass mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. Store in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

Using Xylitol: Again have everything ready. Wear oven mitts; the caramelized sugar will be much hotter than boiling water. In a heavy-bottomed 2-quart (2 L) or 3-quart (3 L) saucepan, heat sweetener on moderately high heat. As it begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as it comes to a boil, stop stirring. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on. As soon as all of the xylitol crystals have melted (the liquid should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted. Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Count to three, then slowly add the almond milk to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Note that when you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably. Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth (whisk in guar gum if desired). Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Place pancakes on a plate, top with walnuts, brie, and sauce. Enjoy! Makes 8 servings.

NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per serving)
Traditional Pancake = 554 calories, 38g fat, 15g protein, 48g carbs, 1.9g fiber (46.1 effective carbs)
"Healthified" Coconut Flour Pancakes = 406 calories, 36g fat, 15.5g protein, 6.5g carbs, 3.8g fiber (2.7 effective carbs)
"Healthified" Almond Flour Pancakes = 511 calories, 42g fat, 18g protein, 8.3g carbs, 4.3g fiber (4 effective carbs)

Why Weight Loss Can Be SO Difficult and SUCCESS

The WINNER of the ChocoPerfection Bars is: Natasha Iglehart

Please email me at craigmaria@gmail.com so we can get them shipped ASAP!

Here is a wonderful email that I just received!

"Maria, I had tried so many diets in the past. I will admit I was one to be fooled into thinking that the popular "low fat" diet was the way to go. I can CERTAINLY agree with you and say, IT'S NOT!!!! After cutting fat and calories I found myself losing weight (1 pound a week if i worked out a lot) but then I would feel deprived and depressed and gain it all back. In addition I was noticing my hair thinning a ton!! I started seeing my doctor about my hair thinning over a year ago. She did a blood panel and then sent me to see multiple other specialists. I'v probably had one appointment every couple months for a year and still I have no answers, nor have I been directed to take action in any way. That is what really tipped me over the edge to contact you, Maria. I figured I'v already spent so much time and money NOT getting any answers. Why not try this, what have I got to lose?

From our first email I could tell that Maria cared to help me. As soon as I booked we took action (unlike the doctors office) I listened to everything she said and well, she helped me change my life. Everything she teaches just made sense to me and really "clicked."  I started the "maria way" in October 2012 and it is now January 2013. Since then I'v lost over 30 pounds and I'm still losing!!

The more important part for me is that all of the symptoms I had when I came to Maria are gone or very close to gone. Anxiety = gone. Hunger spikes = gone. Stress levels = GREATLY reduced. Not to mention my hair is growing in thicker, healthier and much FASTER. My skin looks amazing too and I'v been getting so many compliments about it :) Overall I feel like a million bucks!

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!!!!"

Losing weight gets harder each time! Why you ask? Well, a healthy liver is the main organ that governs fat loss. It processes hormones, cleanses the cells of toxins, makes cholesterol, breaks down fats, metabolizes carbohydrates and proteins, as well as many other bodily functions. When a liver is constantly stressed by dieting, it gets tired and toxic, which makes it unable to assist you in your weight loss journey. Not only that, but in Chinese medicine, they consider the liver function to govern our emotions. When the liver is stressed by poor food, alcohol, fructose and sugar, lack of sleep, or pollution, you are most likely to be depressed, anxious or angry. Low liver function causes food cravings, binge eating and excretion of too much cortisol.... Causing more liver stress... It is a vicious cycle! Not to mention, if you go on anti depressants because your liver is causing low moods, the anti depressant causes more toxicity to your liver, which causes more depression and inability to lose weight.

The term "leaky gut" refers to when waste and partially digested foods are allowed into the blood stream due to perforations in the intestinal wall. People who are very sensitive to food poisoning have weak intestinal walls which allow bacteria to enter the blood easily. People who take antacids allow food particles to sit in their digestive system too long causing stress on the intestinal wall and are subject to leaky gut. This all causes water retention and stress on the liver. Some clients gain about 10-15 pounds of extra fluids. A healthy body is about 2/3rds water (hydrated cells are happy cells!) but when you have a leaky gut, water gets trapped and is unable to filter out toxins and waste; this also inhibits cell functions including the movement of fat. This is where cellulite comes into play. Your lymphatic system gets overwhelmed which causes the undesired effect of cellulite.

Also, our body and fat cells want to stay at "homeostasis"... when you lose weight, your fat cells shrink. When this happens, one of the 25 messengers in the fat cells sends powerful messages to the brain to eat. This message often sends people into an over-feeding binge, making the fat cells even larger and makes your set point even higher. Yo-yo dieting is very detrimental to fat cell growth.

Another important role is the liver ensures proper hormone balance. Estrogen dominance is a very common issue I see with many clients. First off it is because we are exposed to unhealthy external estrogen (such as non-organic meat and milk, alcohol, fructose, microwaving in plastics, drinking from plastic water bottles, and even soap leaches estrogens into the blood). But estrogens are detoxed by a healthy liver. Disruptions of the liver detoxification contributes to estrogen dominance; this causes difficulty in losing belly fat. Too often we are told to calculate calories in and calories out for weight loss. I believe it is all about hormone regulation. Insulin, estrogen, testosterone, leptin, ghrelin, glucagon, thyroid, progesterone, cortisol, human growth hormone as well as others determine our rate of fat metabolism, cravings, energy, sleep...if we fail to support our hormones, you can run all day and eat 500 calories and you will be frustrated at the conventional wisdom of the calorie lies.

The liver also produces over half of your bodies cholesterol production. Most of this is used to produce bile which breaks down fat. Bile gets stored in the gallbladder and is used to digest food and bile salts stimulate the secretion of water into the large intestine which helps us with proper bowel movements. One sign of a tired liver is that you don't have a daily bowel movement. Other signs are excess belly fat, fatty cysts, and age spots.

Signs of liver stress:
1. Chronic indigestion
2. Constipation
3. Cellulite
4. Hot feet at night
5. PMS or menopausal symptoms
6. Low moods: depression/anxious/irritable
7. You are negative or resentful
8. Muscle or joint pain
9. Headaches or migraines

10. Fatigued

The good news is, the liver can heal very rapidly when provided the right food and nutrients! I have a whole chapter on Liver Cleansing foods in my book: Secrets to a Healthy Metabolism. Instead of bogging down your liver with a high carb Saturday morning breakfast of pancakes, waffles, syrup and cereal... try my recipe ideas:) Happy Eating!

"Healthified" Granola
NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (1/4 cup serving)

BareNaked Granola = 130 calories, 22 carbs, 2g fiber, 4g protein
"Healthified" Granola = 110 calories, 9.7 carbs, 7.6g fiber, 5g protein

Unsweetened Almond Milk
NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (1 cup serving)

Skim Milk = 90 calories, 13 carbs, 0g fiber, 13g sugar
Unsweetened almond milk = 30 calories, 1 carb, 0g fiber, 0g sugar (PLUS twice as much calcium!)

"Apple Juice"
NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (1 cup serving)
Traditional Apple Juice = 117 calories, 29g carb, 27g sugar
"Healthified" "Apple Juice" = 0 calories, 0 carbs, 0 sugar

Cream Cheese Danish
NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per serving)
Starbuck's Danish = 440 calories, 61 carbs, 0 fiber
"Healthified" Danish = 158 calories, 3 carbs, 0 fiber ***using FULL FAT, Full-flavor stuff!

Protein Pancakes
NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per serving)
Aunt Jemima = 160 calories, 31 carbs, 1 g fiber, 4 g protein
"Healthified" Protein Pancakes = 90 calories, 1.75 carbs, trace fiber, 13g protein

Nature's Hollow Xylitol Syrup
NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per serving)
Maple Syrup = 208 calories, 48g sugar
Nature's Hollow Syrup = 50 calories, 0g sugar

"Healthy" Nut Butter (Pecan Butter shown). See the recipe in the cookbook The Art of Healthy Eating: Kids

Eggs: Scrambled, poached, fried... love those eggs!