Healthy chocolate pb cake recipe!!

I've mentioned that getting fit is a lifestyle change. I don't believe in any gimmicks, weight loss pills or severe liquid diets. I am a healthy eater and I usually make very clean and lean choices-eventually your body will adapt to wanting it. But let me tell you-that does not stop my sweet tooth EVERY NIGHT! But that's okay because I save up for it and allow for it in my daily allotment. It's all about moderation and finding ways to make alternatives to some of your favorite foods. Some of my weaknesses are chocolate and peanut butter. This a recipe I use to indulgee in these cravings and not feel bad about it!!


Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Recipe

This healthy cake recipe is as rich as any other chocolate peanut butter cake recipe, but it has yogurt and ground flaxseed meal in place of some of the butter and less sugar than most chocolate peanut butter cake recipes. To make this low fat cake recipe even more healthy, use an omega-3 enriched peanut butter, such as Smart Balance.
Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 65 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1-2/3 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. kosher salt
10 Tbsp. butter, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal
16 oz. plain yogurt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips
Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, mix flours, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, beat butter, flaxseed meal, yogurt, eggs and vanilla together with an electric mixer. On low speed, add dry ingredients, beating until incorporated. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake 40-45 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven and immediately spread peanut butter over top, allowing the heat of the cake to melt the peanut butter into a soft, spreadable frosting. Sprinkle chocolate chips over peanut butter. Using a knife, swirl chocolate chips and peanut butter together.
Makes 18 servings of healthy chocolate peanut butter cake.

brides to be- DIET?

The wedding: It's the stuff dreams are made of and every bride wants to look perfect in her wedding dress.

But with so many Americans overweight, that means a lot of brides want to slim down and shape up. Dieting is always tough, but perhaps never tougher than when a woman has the added pressure of planning one of the most important days in her life.

Are you a bride-to-be seeking to shape up or slim down? Below are answers to some frequently asked bridal diet questions I found from an article on dateline NBC fitness experts:

When is the best time to start a diet before one's wedding?
“The amount of time you need really depends on how much weight you want to lose and how much toning you want to do,” says Flipse. “If you’d like to drop 10 lbs., you need at least 5-10 weeks. If you already ordered a dress in a smaller size and haven’t allowed enough time to sensibly and safely lose the weight you want, you better be sure to have a good tailor or postpone the wedding by a few more weeks.”

According to Conde, the goal is to lose body fat, not muscle tissue. “If you lose muscle while you are dieting, you will end up looking flabby or 'skinny fat.' And you’ll eventually gain the weight back. In an ideal world, you could safely lose up to 6 lbs. per month. Most people are not happy with that. You can accelerate your weight loss per week by increasing exercise or decreasing caloric intake. If you need to lose 30 lbs., think smart and start 6 months before your wedding.”

How important is the role of exercise? Is limiting food caloric intake enough? 
“There is no way to lose weight and get into wedding dress shape without exercise. Don’t even consider it,” says Flipse. “You do have the time for toning, stretching and/or more vigorous workouts if you just move it to the top of your priority list.”

Conde recommends dedicating at least an hour (three to four times per week) to workouts.  She emphasizes that decreasing caloric intake is vital. “Obviously, working out does burn calories and increases lean muscle mass, but if your caloric expenditure does not exceed your caloric intake, you will lose some weight, but never reach your goal.”

How much weight is too much weight to lose in such a short time frame?
“If you lose more than 10 pounds a month (and you are not obese), that is too much,” says Conde.

Any weight loss more than that isn’t sensible, say the experts. “Plus, you’ll feel exhausted, look run down, and be cranky all the time,” adds Flipse.

Are fad diets or diet pills OK if a bride is on a short timeline? “The problem and danger with diet pills is that those affect your nervous system. Most contain caffeine as the main ingredient which will make you feel edgy and moody,” says Conde. “Crash diets, on the other hand, make you feel lousy as most of them are too low in calories.”

If you must diet on a short time line, Conde suggests cutting calories. “Increase your protein, decrease your carbs and fat, and do not go below 1,200 calories. This can be done for a week or two before the wedding, then you should stop.”

What can one do about cravings for chocolate, refined carbs, etc. — which often get worse during stressful times?
“Cravings are much easier to handle when you aren’t trying to stick to diet rules that forbid certain foods,” points out Flipse. “They are also more manageable when you substitute the word ‘want’ for the word ‘crave.’ You can go ahead and have some of that chocolate, as long as you work it into your daily calorie and/or carbohydrate budget. By avoiding the word ‘crave’ you become empowered to chose what you’re going to eat (or not), rather than feel overcome by some primal urge.”

Should women take vitamins or other dietary supplements to help stay healthy ahead of the big day?
Yes, say both experts. "No one gets nearly the amount of vitamins and minerals from their diets alone," says Conde.

"Any woman who is restricting her caloric intake to lose weight will benefit by taking a multivitamin, and possibly some additional calcium," says Flipse. "The more limited or repetitious your food choices are, the more likely you’re not going to meet your daily nutritional requirements. A supplement will keep you covered if there are gaps in your diet, and provide the folic acid that is so important should you become pregnant in the near future,” says Flipse.

These are great tips from fitness experts Cynthia Conde and Robyn Flipse. The key is to treat your body nicely. Severe dieting calorie restriction always crashes and burns. Some great books to keep you on track and looking HOT CLICK HERE. Here you can find a success journal, checklist, restaurant guide, strategies, etc, etc. to help keep you right. Remember not everyone is perfect. Services/ products like these can be sitting in your hands to help you keep a positive mind set-even if you sneaked that brownie :) yummy yummy.....

You work too hard at losing weight to let the weekend blow your diet before your big wedding day. Although it seems far away, every little thing counts. And trust me- the addend little calories add up. Stay on track -- and still have fun -- with these smart-eating tips for avoiding cravings and overeating in social situations.

Your 3-Day Game Plan
Welcome to the weekend, when you kick off your shoes, pull on your jeans -- and fling your diet out the window! After watching what you eat all week, it's natural to want to indulge a little. The problem is that once you loosen the reins, it's easy to lose control. I've seen people erase in two days every ounce of progress they made all week.
Taking a step back for every step forward isn't just frustrating. It can lead to your giving up on slimming down. Eventually the yo-yoing can screw up your metabolism and make it even harder to drop pounds. To keep that from happening, try these stay-strong strategies for every situation, guaranteed to get you to Monday with your diet intact:

Calories Burned in 10 Minutes:

Indoor Activities:
• 28: Stretching or yoga
• 28: Household chores, light
• 34: Weight lifting, moderate
• 45: Household chores, moderate
• 59: Playing with kids
• 90: Sit-ups, vigorous
• 102: Stair machine/Treadmill

Feeling really motivated? If you have more time on the weekends or your day off, get outside and embrace winter and all the fun activities it has to offer. (I for one can’t wait to go snowboarding... wait, does that count as exercise? Yes!)

Outdoor Activities:
• 28: Playing catch
• 57: Walking, very brisk pace
• 62: Ice skating
• 66: Shoveling snow
• 66: Snowboarding
• 68: Downhill skiing, moderate effort
• 88: Snowshoeing
• 91: Cross-country skiing, light/moderate


Now remember- it is different for everyone based on height/ weight/ gender/ bmi (body mass index) but  this is an average amount burned. Just think doing house chores and you scrub a little harder or blast your favorite Michael Jackson song while dancing your way to a cleaner house. It's a win win situation. Now get moving!! If you are interested in more weight loss tips/ recipes: CLICK HERE. THIS IS A FUN BOOK CALLED FAT LOSS FOR IDIOTS. IT'LL GIVE YOU GREAT TIPS TO STAY ON TRACK :)