Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

One thing comes to mind when I think of Scones. Starbucks is always on our itinerary when we travel. That Blueberry Scone always stares me in the eye, behind that beautiful desert window, when I order my Tall Coffee. However, I've never tried it but heard it is quite wonderful for the tastebuds. Here's the nutrition facts behind the Starbucks Blueberry Scone: Calories: 460 Fat: 18g Saturated fat: 8g Cholesterol: 50mg Sodium: 400mg Carbs: 68g Fiber: 3g Sugars: 24g Protein: 5g Here's a common recipe for a blueberry scone: 3 3/4 c. flour 3/4 c. sugar 1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt 1/3 c. shortening 2 tbsp. cold butter 1 c. blueberries 3/4 c. milk 2 eggs The weight of a scone at Starbucks is 128grams. At Panera, the Golden Raisin scone is 390 calories and 118grams. Now, one would think that if restaurants and fast-food places would serve smaller portions (less grams) you would save calories. Well, kinda. Take the Caribou Coffee cinnamon chip scone. At 120grams, ...

If you know anything about Falafel's, you know I needed to do some major reconstruction on this recipe in order to make it healthy. Falafel is an Arabic word, popular in Egypt and the Middle East. You can typically find Falafel as a fried ball or patty made from spiced chickpeas or fava beans. Although you may see a ball when you order Falafel, it is usually served flat/crushed in pita-bread or flat bread. Palestinians and Yemenite Jews historically made Falafel from chickpeas and parsley whereas the Egyptian version uses only fava beans. The beans in Falafel are not cooked, unlike a typical bean patty, but rather soaked with bicarbonate of soda and ground with onion, parsley and spices (ex. cumin and coriander). After the mixture is formed, the ball is deep fried. Although the Falafel is found all around the world, if you happen to go to Egypt you can just go to McDonald's and order the Mcfalafel. (I tried really hard but couldn't find the calories for the McFalafel. I can...

I've watched every episode of Biggest Loser this season. I typically catch up on my DVR'd shows on the weekend, as I relax after my enjoyable long weekend workouts. I know there are a lot of die-hard Biggest Loser fans out there but I don't mind waiting 4 days to see who is "not the next biggest loser". My favorite show right now is Top Chef and in a close second, I'm really enjoying this new show called Chopped on the Food network and Chef Academy on Bravo. Come to think of it, I love every cooking show but nothing beats Top Chef. As I watch Biggest Loser, I keep a very open mind. I think there is a lot more that I don't agree with during this season, compared to other seasons, and because of it I am really worried about the general public who watches the show. At the beginning of the season I wanted to blog about what I didn't like about each episode but as my notes exceeded two pages as I watched each show, I figured my blogs would take forever to r...

There's been a lot of napping here lately. Karel is sick. I thought we were indestructible with our super healthy eating habits but I guess not. Unfortunately, Karel came down with a bad cough and a horrible head cold. He's avoided a fever but has no energy. This is day 3 of the sickness and I'm hoping this is the end. Although healthy eating can't ward off the common cold...it can sure help. Karel has not been sick since 2005. I think that 3+ years of no virus is an excellent record. Since we met in 2006, I'd like to think that our enjoyment for healthy nutrients has helped us stay cold-free. No missed days of work and pure enjoyment for life and our training. The last time I was sick was in June 2007, after I returned from Las Vegas for a conference. I guess when it rains it pours because when I got sick...I was out for a few days. Maybe it isn't certain that we can prevent cancer with healthy eating, but it wouldn't hurt to try. I know I can't preven...

For many people free time is a thing of the past. If only there were 30 hours in the day, we could exercise at any time of the day and sleep wasn't necessary. Especially for athletes and fitness enthusiasts, who try to squeeze in a healthy 6-15 hours of training/exercise per week, meal planning is easier said than done. I realize that a lot of my recipes on my blog involve a little prep. However, I try to keep my meals easy to prepare and yummy to eat. Because of my grocery budget, it is likely that my ingredient list for my recipes will be small. And, because I am a vegetarian, you will see a lot of the same foods which I often rely on to meet my protein needs. I am at a point in my life where I have a bit of time to prepare meals. Lucky for me, it is also my passion and hopefully a future career. However, I understand that not everyone has the time to prepare meals every day of the week and one day, I'm sure I will miss days of an extra hour or two to dream up, and prepare, m...

I think the biggest fear for soon-to-be athlete vegetarians, or people seeking a semi-vegetarian eating routine, is the worry about getting enough protein. One of the main reasons people turn to vegetarianism is the desire to add more fruits, veggies and non-meat protein in the diet, in replacement for higher calorie and fat foods. However, I find that many people quit the meat-free lifestyle just when they are learning to enjoy the addition of fruits, veggies and non-meat protein because they are constantly hungry. First off, when a large amount of calories are cut out from the diet, it is likely that you will feel hungry and your body will ask for more food. The trick to eating vegetarian is to well, eat more vegetarian-friendly food. Now, just because a food doesn't have meat in it, doesn't mean that you can eat as much as you want of it. For a good part of my vegetarian life, I lived off cheese, cheese and more cheese. Cheese on anything and everything because I don't e...

Sometimes I have my bad days but usually I have good days. I always wake up happy, say something good about the day and look forward to crossing items off my to-do list. But then there are days when I wake up and think about the future and wish it would come a bit quicker. I guess there are times in our life when we can't rush the days and have to stay busy to pass the time. My bucket list of my nutrition-related books, videos, shows (I'd love to have a show on the food network), articles and so much more, grows every day. My head is filled with a gazzillion ideas but not until I get that RD behind my name will I pursue my big dreams. For now, I'm enjoying helping as many people as I can through my articles on beginnertriathlete.com and irongirl.com, in addition to my blog. My life is very routine. Wake up around 5-6am, workout, stay busy all day, cook a Marni-creation for dinner, watch TV and hang with Karel in the evening and go to bed around 9:30pm. Although I really lov...