Merritt Clubs Blog

St. Patrick's Day, one of the biggest eating and drinking holidays in the US, has come and gone. But that doesn't mean we should stop the green eating! Instead, try some of our registered dietitian Charlotte Martin's favorite healthy green recipes below, which can be enjoyed year round.

Also, checkout this clip to watch Charlotte share these recipes on Baltimore's WJZ.

You don’t have to look far during this time of year to find highly-caloric and highly-delicious treats all around. At work, at home, at your friends’ and families’ homes, you’re sure to find platters stocked high with cookies, pies, and other tempting treats that will have you diving in face first and leading to that overly stuffed, uncomfortable, gotta-put-on-sweatpants feeling. If you take a moment now to step back and reflect on what the holidays are truly about (read: friends and family) and to focus on your goals, you’ll cruise into the new year feeling great both physically and mentally.

We do believe the old saying, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” and September is apple month! We are going all apple and teaching the benefits of this fabulous fruit. Let’s learn about our metabolism, cutting out added sugar and junk food, and good food substitutions for your cravings. High-processed foods can be loaded with sugar, salt, chemicals and trans fats, which can lead to health issues. Cutting junk food is an easy way to eliminate empty calories that don’t contain any nutrients.

It seems like we wait all year for summer to arrive when we can finally relax, unwind, and have some fun. Once Memorial Day hits, vacations, BBQs, and other festivities fill our weeks and weekends and before we know it, it’s time to start thinking and planning for Back to School. We should begin to set our sights on the upcoming fall season and how to keep our bodies and minds healthy and happy as the weather starts to cool and the festivities slow.

As the season slowly turns to fall here in the Old Line State, autumn vegetables will be making their way into CSA boxes and produce markets. When they do, one item Marylanders should be on the lookout for is escarole. It could help those in search of a healthy life.

Vitamin, fiber and mineral rich, this leafy green member of the daisy family belongs with vegetables in the chicory genus. It characteristically has slightly bitter, broad, curly, light green leaves and is sometimes marketed under the name scarola or Bavarian endive. If picked fresh and stored properly in the fridge, it should remain edible for at least three days.

There are various ways to prepare escarole and lead a healthy life. Some nutrition aware chefs like to simply wash the leaves and serve them up raw in a tasty, fall salad. They say it pairs well with a slightly sweet vinaigrette dressing, soft cheeses and autumn nuts. It’s also not uncommon for raw vegetable fans to include pureed escarole in juices and smoothies.

Other Maryland chefs prefer to cook the escarole. Boiling and sautéing are the two most common methods of preparation. However, there are those that like to bake the escarole with additional ingredients as part of a vegetable casserole or toss the leaves into homemade or semi-homemade soups.

One of the easiest semi-homemade escarole soups to make and incorporate into a healthy life requires just two additional ingredients. They are a can of no or low sodium chicken stock and a package of fresh tortellini. Just cook the escarole and tortellini in the chicken broth and viola!, semi-homemade soup will be on the menu.

We know what you’re thinking right about now, “So how healthy is the soup?” On average, a serving of low sodium chicken broth is 10 calories and contains around 100 mg of potassium. A serving size of three cheese tortellini, on the other hand, has approximately 330 calories as well as healthy amounts of calcium and iron. As for the escarole, a ½ cup serving typically contains 4 calories and a whole head has roughly 87. It also contains vitamin A, folate and vitamin K.

To learn more about escarole, other foods and activities that may help you live a healthy life, please contact us at Merritt Athletic Clubs today.

Everyone realizes what happens to their body when they go several hours without eating. Well did you know you could still create deficits throughout the day without proper balance of nutritional intake? Every person experiences blood sugar level fluctuations. The proper intake should help sustain the appropriate blood sugar levels, by eating on time and having the correct sources (complex carbohydrates). Everyone’s schedule is different but in general we should eat every 3-4 hours it can be more frequent with the appropriate quantity. Preventing these deficits helps the body function properly and keeps you feeling good. In addition, this is also true for water intake. A steady flow of water intake is necessary throughout the day. This helps prevent dehydration and allows for healthy body function.

Written by: Leigh Nielsen

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Diets are temporary and, in many cases, when we return to our regular eating habits we gain the weight back that we lost while dieting, if not more. Diets also frequently deprive us of much needed calories and can lower our metabolism. Thus, when we eat things that are not on our diet, we cannot burn off the calories as quickly and effectively. For these reasons, I suggest we “just eat right!”

So how do we eat right? Here are some tips:

• Switch to whole grain rice, breads, and pastas.

• Eat every two to three hours. Your body is an engine; it needs fuel to function properly and at its best.

• Eat at least 5 servings of veggies and fruits each day.

• Consume a starchy carb, fibrous carb, and protein each time you eat.

• Substitute healthy fats for not-so-healthy fats. So, avoid trans fats and limit saturated fats.

• Eat out less. When you do eat out and need fast food, choose restaurants such as subway. For sit down restaurants, look for the low fat menu items or only eat half of your meal and take the rest home.

• Drink as much water as possible! Your goal is to drink more water today then you did yesterday.

• Eat breakfast.

• Don’t buy junk! If it’s not in your house, you won’t eat it.

– Stephanie Carrigo, Personal Training Manager at Eldersburg