Coconut Quinoa Porridge // The Perfect Healthy Winter Breakfast Recipe

Written with love, by Jennifer Dene

Last week I wrote about why dieting is the worst thing a bride can do to reach and maintain her dream body. In that post, I got into the science-like-nuts-and-bolts of what dieting does to your metabolism, state of mind, and sense of self.

But there was one really important argument against dieting that I didn’t mention . . . it’s just plain boring!

If you told me that I could only eat chicken breast and broccoli for the rest of my days in order to maintain my ideal weight, I would throw in the towel then and there. As someone who has spent way too much time, money and energy going down the diet path I can tell you that it’s just not worth it.

What’s more, it’s not necessary. I lost 30 pounds and found my ideal weight after ditching the diet and eating foods that satisfied my cravings and nourished my body.

Today’s coconut quinoa porridge recipe is one of those meals.

As the days grow shorter and colder, my body starts to crave warm, hearty foods. During these months I swap my green smoothies for warming breakfasts that include healthy fats and slow-burning carbohydrates. There’s something wonderful about a bowl of creamy goodness to start the day.

Quinoa is a wonderful breakfast choice as it contains all nine essential amino acids. These particular amino acids (histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine) can’t be created by the body and must be delivered through your diet. They play these vital roles:

●      Build and maintain muscle
●      Metabolize fat
●      Balance blood sugar levels
●      Strengthen the immune system
●      Produce essential chemical reactions that keep the body functioning

If you prefer to have a gluten-free or vegan diet, quinoa should be a staple on your shopping list. While quinoa looks like a grain, it’s actually a seed known as a pseudo-grain (amaranth and buckwheat are also in this family).

So what on earth is the difference between a grain and a pseudo-grain?

Well, biologically speaking, cereal grains (i.e. oats, rye, wheat) are the seeds of grasses, and belong to a group called monocots. Pseudo-grains, on the other hand, are the seeds of broadleaf plants, and belong to a group called dicots. Compared to gluten based grains, pseudo-grains contain significantly higher levels of B-vitamins and iron.

And, perhaps most importantly, quinoa porridge is easy to make and simply delicious to eat.

As I said, there is no room in a bridal routine for diets and deprivation. Instead of thinking about what you need to take out of your diet to reach your ideal, healthy weight (for the wedding and beyond), start to think about what foods you can add in that will nourish and delight.

I hope that you enjoy this Coconut Quinoa Porridge as much as I do, and I would love if you shared this recipe with your girlfriends!

With love,
     Jennifer Dene

Ingredients

Serves 2-4

1 cup uncooked quinoa (white or red)

1 cup full fat coconut milk (or milk of your choice)

1 cup coconut water (or filtered water)

1 teaspoon honey (or sweetener of your choice, plus extra to drizzle at serving if desired)

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, nutmeg or cardamom (optional)

Directions

Step One: Rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh sieve under cold running water for a minute or two. This removes the bitter outer layer before cooking.

Step Two: Place the quinoa, coconut milk, water, sweetener and spices in small saucepan with a lid and bring to the boil over high heat.

Step Three: Turn heat to low and simmer, covered, for 14 minutes.

Step Four: Remove saucepan from heat and let stand for 10 minutes, with the lid on.

Step Five: Serve with your choice of toppings such as nuts, fruit, coconut flakes and jus a little extra honey if desired.

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Note: Quinoa porridge can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge for three days, so I usually make a double batch to keep things quick and easy during the week. Simply reheat with a little extra milk and then add your toppings. I think it’s particularly yummy with a drizzle of honey, walnuts and slithers of banana, but I would love to hear how you serve yours!

Why Diets Are Ruining Your Engagement (and what to do about it)

Written with love, by Jennifer Dene

Brides often ask me the first thing they should do to live at their ideal weight and they’re always surprised at my answer. I tell them that they need to stop dieting. Today I want to share with you exactly why restrictive diets will move you further away from your dream bridal body (and what to do instead).

I’ve helped women around the world lose or maintain weight, get fit, healthy and feel happy. Whilst these women are different ages, have different backgrounds and live different lifestyles, they all have something three things in common:

1.    They want to stop dieting

2.    But they are afraid of gaining weight if they let go of nutritional control

3.    They often don’t understand the impact those diets are having on their long term health and happiness

If you are considering going on a crash diet to lose weight before your wedding this article is for you. Read on to learn the three reasons why you need to ditch your wedding diet today.

You will always need to restrict your calories, even after the diet is over.

When you deprive yourself of adequate calories (through extreme diets or detoxes) the body goes into “starvation” mode and is forced to break down the proteins in your muscle to use as energy. Since muscle mass is your primary calorie-burning furnace, depleting this resource decreases your ability to consume calories without weight gain.

For every pound of muscle you lose during a crash diet you lower your basal metabolic rate or BMR (the amount of energy that you expend during rest) by 57 calories a day. This means that after dieting you must now consume fewer calories to simply maintain your pre-diet weight, which is why many women actually gain more weight than they lose when they stop dieting and return to a regular eating pattern.

For example:

●     Pre diet: you maintain a weight of 150 pounds by eating 2000 calories/day

●     During diet: you lose seven pounds of muscle mass, lowering your BMR by 400 calories/day

●     Post diet: to maintain your pre-diet weight of 150 pounds you can only eat 1600 calories/day

In A Nutshell

Brides who crash diet will usually regain weight post-wedding because quick weight loss contributes to loss of muscle mass, which decreases the number of calories that you can consume to stay at your existing (pre-diet) weight.

What To Do About It

Rather than focusing on calorie depletion, start choosing better quality ingredients that nourish your body. Swap refined, artificial foods for whole foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. See some easy ingredient-swap suggestions here.

You can’t rely on willpower after 3pm.

On any given day you only have a finite supply of willpower to resist short-term temptations. The problem is that every decision you make uses up that reserve. It’s unrealistic to commit to an ultra-restrictive eating pattern while also functioning at work or in your personal life.

For example:

●     It’s 8am and you are proud of yourself for only eating half a grapefruit even though you wanted that bagel. This diet is easy! Wedding dress here you come!

●     It’s 12pm and you have spent the morning focused on an important workshop without updating your Pinterest boards once — a willpower record! You struggle to eat a salad without dressing as your lunch date enjoys their burger.

●     It’s 4pm and you’re answering work calls, wedding planning emails and meeting your fiancé for his tux fitting. At some point you need to pick up the dog from the vet. You eat your no-fat, no-sugar, no-fun snack and wish everyone would leave you alone.

●     It’s 9pm and you are still hungry after a meager portion of dinner. Your hubby-to-be interrupts your seating arrangement session to ask what you want to watch on TV. You lose it — can’t he even make one decision?

●     It’s 9:30pm and you find yourself zoned out with a bag of chips and a tub of ice cream. Stuff it, you’ll start the diet again tomorrow.

In A Nutshell

Dieting empties your physical and mental reserves and can make life a lot less enjoyable.

What To Do About It

Developing a health and fitness strategy that focuses on achieving small goals is the best way to create your dream bridal body and keep it after the honeymoon. Give yourself enough time to implement small, sustainable change and feel confident in knowing that your results will last.

Yo-Yo Dieting Is A Path of Self Destruction

The nature of dieting is to constantly be thinking about food and denying yourself things that your body wants and needs. This obsession is mentally exhausting and puts the body under constant and prolonged stress, which releases the hormone cortisol. Excess levels of cortisol can lead to enhanced lipogenesis (fat creation), visceral obesity (the dangerous kind of fat within the abdominal wall), breakdown of tissues and suppression of the immune system. (source A).

With every “failed” diet you become less confident, less consistent in your genuinely healthy habits and more prone to emotional eating, chronic stress, body image disorders, compromised self-worth and disease.

In A Nutshell

Crash diets are designed to fail so that the dieting industry continues to make money — don’t let them keep you from feeling like the perfect bride and leading a healthy and happy life after “I Do”.

Source A:

Cortisol Connection: Tips on Managing Stress and Weight; Christine A. Maglione-Garves, Len Kravitz, Ph.D., and Suzanne Schneider, Ph.D.;

How To Recharge Your Bridal Fitness Routine

Written with love, by Jennifer Dene

My clients often ask me what I do for my workouts. The truth is that I do a bit of everything and you should too. Adding variety to your bridal fitness routine is the best way to get in shape — read: look and feel amazing — before your big day.

This is what “a bit of everything” looks like:

●     I swim, run, walk, and occasionally I jump on a mini trampoline

●     I frequently do Pilates, plus a little bit of yoga

●     I strength train a couple of times a week, sometimes with weights and other times without

●     I move slowly and quickly, forwards, backwards, side to side, up, and down

●     I exercise both inside and outside, with company or solo

●     I do classes and I make up my own routines

●     I always play music

I know that my body needs to be constantly challenged if I want improve my fitness, strength and flexibility. And to be honest, my brain needs the challenge too. Repeating the same-old workout is a recipe for boredom, and increases the likelihood of quitting your exercise routine. 

What about you? Is your bridal workout routine bringing you consistently good results, or have you hit a fitness plateau?

Today I want to supercharge your fitness with 5 easy tips:

Run your regular loop in reverse. Not only will your eyes appreciate a change of scenery, but so will your legs. Striking the ground at different angles, running up hills that you normally go down, and changing when and how your cardio system is challenged make this a fun fitness fix.

Try something new. Drop in to a random class such as Zumba, TRX, martial arts or even water aerobics! Pick something that puts you slightly out of your comfort zone and say hello to newfound muscles. Make this more fun by calling your bridesmaids and scheduling a fit-date!

Keep it social. Joining a team or participating in an active 'non-workout' is a great way to increase your fitness and spend time with your hubby-to-be. Think outside the box with activities such as wall climbing, stand up paddle boarding, or even rollerblading.

Get it done in half the time. If steady-state cardio is your go-to workout then challenge yourself by covering less distance with greater speed. Hill sprints, pool sprints and bike sprints are a wonderful for your aerobic system and keep your metabolism burning long after the workout is done — not to mention leaving you more time for Pinning!

Train with a beginners mind.  Re-introduce yourself to your body every time you workout. Try not to default into the same range of motion, weight limit or tempo just because it’s what you always do. When your muscles are comfortable they aren’t changing. Where in your fitness routine can you challenge your habits and change your physique?

Now, I'd love to hear from you! In the comments below finish this sentence: "I will challenge by bridal fitness routine this week by…"

With fitspiration and love, 

Jennifer Dene

P.S. Want some more inspiration? Download my free bridal workout calendar here, 28 days of workouts designed for the busy bride-to-be.