Author Archives: Cherylanne Skolnicki

Ten Minute Resolutions

This morning, in my monthly segment as the Healthy Living Expert on Fox 19, I shared five ideas for New Year’s Resolutions you can complete in 10 minutes or less! Often people want to be healthy but take on too much and ultimately give up before they see lasting results.

Instead of thinking in terms of all or nothing,  try a “10 minute resolution” this year. With no excuses, you can get some points on the board early and then build upon your success for more significant results throughout the year.

Here’s the clip to the segment. Remember, any of these can be done in 10 minutes or less!

1) Eat a quick breakfast – LESS than 10 minutes for many ideas – whole grain waffles or toast with peanut butter and a banana, cereal with milk and fruit, a yogurt parfait, or an energy bar and an apple

2) Get moving in the morning – even before you shower – yoga sun salutations, walking, running, weights

3) Add sleep….add 10 more minutes every few nights until you actually wake up feeling rested.

4) Take a lunch break to actually EAT – skip the multitasking and just enjoy your food – studies show that you will eat less if you do nothing else while eating because you’ll tune in to fullness cues from your body

5) Carve out a technology-free time to journal, breathe, read something inspiring, or just check in with yourself – try a simple breathing exercise like Dr Weil’s 4-7-8 technique which Dr. Stefanie Stevenson shared in the November issue of the Nourish e-newsletter.

BONUS: More Healthy 10 Minute Breakfast Ideas

Choose one of the following and pair with a piece of fruit – apple, banana, orange, grapes, etc:

  • Egg sandwich – one egg and one slice of cheese on a High Fiber English Muffin
  • High Quality Energy bar
  • High Fiber Toast with Cottage Cheese or Greek Yogurt
  • High Fiber Cold Cereal with Milk
  • Quick Cook Oatmeal with almond or coconut milk, berries, and nuts
  • Waffle Sandwich – 2 whole wheat frozen waffles with peanut butter or almond butter
  • Yogurt Parfait – Greek yogurt, berries, Kashi Heart to Heart cereal
PS – I just learned this morning that Panera is now offering organic steel cut oatmeal as a breakfast option! 320 calories and 9 g fiber…with some fresh strawberries and toasted pecans as toppings included!
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Happy Healthy New Year (x108)!

January 1st is here, blank and fresh like the first page of a brand new notebook. Don’t you just love beginnings? As the calendar page turns, it’s as if the air is cleared and every breath is full of possibility. What will you do this year? Who will you be?

As the world rushes to make resolutions, perhaps you can first take a breath and create some time to ponder what your body and soul really want in 2012. If you just join the crowd in saying you want to lose 10 pounds or eat better or get organized or exercise more, your intentions won’t be clear enough to be meaningful and actionable. Making real changes requires specificity and determination. You need to be ready to do the work and feel drawn toward it or it simply won’t happen. So please, in these precious, unmarred, first few days of 2012, make time to think. Resolve that you will listen to what your truest self wants. And then commit to delivering exactly that.

Let me illustrate this point. I started 2012 by doing 108 Sun Salutations today in a New Year’s Day yoga class. As I was deciding whether or not to take this on, I did a few sun salutations at home yesterday. It really wasn’t bad at all. “Ok,” I thought to myself, “how hard can this be?” After taking the class, I can tell you the answer is PRETTY DARN HARD! One sun salutation is easy if you’ve been practicing yoga, but 108 is NOT! In fact, I’d argue that 108 of anything is difficult! (Plus, the darling instructors leading the class threw in lots of extra twists and turns for good measure – which did nothing to easy the difficulty.)

My point is that 108 days from now (April 17th if you’re keeping track), your resolution to eat better or to work out more or to get organized simply will not feel as easy as it does today.  Make the resolution anyhow. But get some support! Enlist a friend to cheer you on, or reach out to my team at Nourish. We would be honored to walk beside you in 2012 as you make your health and well-being a priority.

I’d love to hear from you to talk about how we can support you. You can email me directly  or call us at 513-245-4224.

Here’s to making 2012 your healthiest year yet, one day at a time!

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Christmas Morning French Toast Casserole

Christmas morning is one of those incredible events in which the excitement can’t be contained and thus  bubbles over to the surrounding hours of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with effervescent glee. With anticipation at its peak and children waking at ungodly hours of the morning, the least I can do is provide a few suggestions for getting your day off to a smooth start breakfast-wise. In our  house, I’ve settled into a few routines to keep things on track so I can focus on those exuberant smiles and sparkling eyes as gifts are joyously unwrapped. Here goes.

1 – Christmas Eve is your moment. Once the cookies have been set out for Santa and the carrots chopped for the reindeer (you didn’t think they ate them WHOLE, did you?), turn your attention to setting the stage for Christmas morning.

Set up the coffeepot so it will brew at the push of a button when you awake. Set the table with Christmas dishes and napkins. Cut up a bowl of fruit and put it in the fridge along with glasses of juice. You want to be MINUTES away from a set breakfast table when you are ready to eat.

2 – Try a make-ahead breakfast casserole that you simply pop in the oven on Christmas morning. There are hundreds of good ones out there. I’m including a French Toast Casserole here that I’ve adapted from an old Cooking Light recipe. If you’d prefer something savory, try an egg casserole instead.The key is to pick one you can make the night before so you’re not scrambling eggs and cutting melon while everyone else is playing with the new iPad!

3 – Be flexible on the timing. Breakfast is clearly not the top priority on Christmas morning, so stay flexible about when you actually sit down to eat. When it’s finally time, you’ll be able to enjoy it with everyone else thanks to the prep work you did in advance!

Wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas morning!

 

Christmas Morning French Toast Casserole

serves 12

adapted from Cooking Light

 

Ingredients:

10 cups (1-inch) cubed sturdy white bread (I like Pepperidge Farm Hearty White for this)

1 (8 oz.) block neufchatel cheese (reduced fat cream cheese)

8 large eggs

1.5  cups skim or 2% milk

2/3 cup half-and-half

1/2 cup pure maple syrup (BIG flavor difference vs. artificial maple syrup)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 c. chopped pecans (optional)

2 tablespoons powdered sugar (optional)

 

Directions:

1. Place bread cubes in a lightly greased 9X13 inch baking dish. With a mixer, beat cream cheese at medium speed until smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time.. Add milk, half-and-half, 1/2 cup maple syrup, and vanilla, and mix until smooth. Pour cream cheese mixture over bread; cover and refrigerate overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 375°. Remove casserole from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Top with chopped pecans if desired.

3. Bake at 375° for 50 minutes or until set. Sprinkle the souffle with sifted powdered sugar if desired.

 

 

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