Empowering Renewed Health

12/24/2025

09/22/2025

Vacation and exercise can go hand in hand when you make it fun. Today I hiked almost 7 miles in Gatlinburg, TN exploring the Sky Park and Ober Mountain. The views were so gorgeous that it didn’t even feel like exercise, just pure adventure. 🥾🌳

02/01/2025

Healthy Snack 🍎

I highly recommend these low-calorie apple chips as a crunchy, low-calorie snack option, available in single-serving bags at Walmart or Sam’s Club, as well as larger bags at various grocery stores. These apple chips are ideal for an evening snack or a convenient work snack, containing only apples or apples and cinnamon, without artificial preservatives or oils. They also carry them in banana chips which are another great low calorie snack option. 🍎

01/23/2025

Health Tip 🩺

Inflammation, elevated blood sugar levels, and poor digestive health have been associated with the consumption of certain foods, including sugar and other sweeteners, gluten, highly processed grains, starches, most dairy products, processed foods, alcohol, as well as soy and some legumes. It is advisable to limit or avoid these foods to support overall health and well-being (Cygan, 2016, p 6). (The Exercise Coach Nutrition Playbook by Gerianne Cygan)

01/22/2025

Avocado Toast 🥑

Ingredients:
1 Slice Sourdough Bread, Toasted 🍞
1 Small Ripe Avocado, Cored & Smashed 🥑
1 Egg, Cooked Scrambled or Sunny Side Up 🥚
Optional: 1/2 tsp Spicy Chili Crisp
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Directions:
Toast sourdough bread. Core avocado and smash. Add salt & pepper to smashed avocado to taste. Cook egg per preference scrambled or sunny side up. Put smashed avocado on toasted sourdough bread. Add cooked egg. Top with spicy chili crisp.

01/21/2025

Chicken Big Macs

Ingredients:

2 Mission Carb Balance Fajita Size Tortillas
8 oz Ground Chicken
Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Salt & Pepper
2 Slices Cheddar Cheese
Lettuce, Chopped
1 T Minced Onion Reconstituted with 2 T Water
Dill Pickle Slices
4 T Light Thousand Island Salad Dressing or Make Your Own Big Mac Dressing
Olive Oil Spray

Directions:
Spray tortillas lightly on both sides
with olive oil spray and fry in skillet until crisp but still bendable. Remove from skillet. Make 2 thin patties the size of tortilla out of ground chicken 4 oz each. Season patties with onion powder, garlic powder, salt & pepper. Cook patties in skillet until done. Place patties on tortillas. Add one cheese slice on each patty. Top with minced onions, pickles slices, and 1-2 T thousand island dressing. Fold tortilla. Enjoy. Makes 2.

01/20/2025

Airfyer Tortillas Quiche 🥚🧀

Ingredients
1 Burrito Size Mission Carb Balance Tortilla
3 Eggs, Whipped
80 g Cottage Cheese
1-4oz Can Drained Mushrooms or Fresh
1 Small Red Onion, Diced
1-2 Handfuls of Spinach
2 Servings of Shredded Cheese of Choice
Onion Powder, Salt & Pepper to Taste
Optional: Diced tomatoes can be added. Make it your own with veggies of choice.

Directions:
Preheat airfryer @ 340 degrees. Sauté onions, mushrooms and spinach with olive oil spray until softened. Season with onion powder and salt & pepper. Combine eggs and cottage cheese with a dash of salt & pepper in a bowl and whisk until combined. Place tortilla in a deep round baking dish. Add veggies to bottom of tortilla then pour egg mixture on top. Top with shredded cheese. Air fry @ 340 degrees for 17 min. Check for doneness by inserting a knife. It is done if knife comes out clean. Slice & serve.

01/19/2025

High Protein 38 g Waldorf Salad 🍎

Ingredients:

1 Diced Apple
1 Diced Celery Stalk
Grapes Halves
1—5 oz Can of Drained Chunk Chicken or Diced Fresh Cooked or Grilled Chicken Breast
1 Serving Cottage Cheese, Blended or 2 T Mayo. (If you want higher protein, use cottage cheese)
Choice of Nuts—-(I like to use Emerald 100 cal nut & fruit packs)
Optional: Dried cranberries, raisins

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

This makes a filling high protein lunch for work.

01/16/2025

Tuna Salad & Crackers 42 g Protein 🐟

Ingredients:
1 Can Drained Albacore Tuna
1/2 Cup Cottage Cheese
1 T Dill Relish (More or less to Taste)
1 T Stone Ground Mustard (More or less to Taste)
1 Serving of Triscuits or Crackers of Choice. (Triscuits provide 3g of Protein)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together and serve on crackers.

**I use albacore tuna since it provides 6 g more of protein compared to light tuna in water **

01/14/2025

High Protein Chocolate Overnight Oats 🍫

Ingredients:
1 Fairlife Protein Chocolate Shake
1 T Chia Seeds
1 T Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding Mix
1/2 cup Protein Rolled Oats

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a jar. Refrigerate overnight. Oats can be eaten cold or warm. These oats have 42 g of protein. Eat for breakfast or as a high protein snack.

01/10/2025

🍏 Protein Apple Salad 🍎

Ingredients:

1 Diced Apple

1 Individual Container of High Protein Yogurt (I use Chobani 20 g Protein Vanilla or Oikos Triple Zero Salted Caramel Yogurt)

1 Protein Nut/Caramel Bar (I use Barbells Caramel Cashew, Barbells Salted Peanut Caramel or Fiber One Protein Caramel Nut Bar)

1 T Smuckers Sugar Free Caramel Sundae Syrup

Optional: Fat Free Reddi Whip

Directions:

Dice up one apple in a bowl. Mix in one container of yogurt. Cut up one protein bar and mix half of it into salad. Top with the remaining half of the bar. Drizzle with some caramel syrup and top with optional fat free Reddi Whip.

This is a healthy high protein version of the Snickers Apple Salad. You can make it your own by using your favorite nut/caramel bar and low sugar toppings of your choice such as low sugar/zero sugar caramel or chocolate syrup etc. This version has 40 g of protein. The amount of protein in the salad will differ depending on the kind of yogurt and protein bar that you use. It is good for a breakfast or as a snack.

01/09/2025

If you enjoy coffee, regardless of whether it is hot or cold, and you need to add milk or creamer, as is my preference, you may want to consider using fat-free Reddi Whip as a substitute to lower calorie intake. Since 2 tablespoons of Reddi Whip contains only 5 calories, whereas 1 tablespoon of milk or creamer contains 25-35+ calories, it is a practical choice. I use it in my hot coffee, much like hot chocolate, and mix it into my iced coffee. ☕️