I was checking out a recipe for power bars the other day and came across an ingredient with which I was not familiar. Along with lots of other healthy-sounding ingredients such as dried fruit, whey protein powder and organic peanut butter, this recipe called for ½ cup LSA. So I went on a Google hunt to learn more!
LSA is a blend of flax seeds, sunflower seeds and almonds and carries quite a nutritional punch! The product, LSA, is not available in the United States, but appears to be a staple in Australian homes for healthy eaters. By following this simple recipe, though, you can have LSA to add to your diet, too.
Ingredients
3 parts whole flax seeds
2 parts sunflower seeds
1 part almonds
For my first batch I used 1 cup flax, 2/3 cup sunflower and 1/3 cup almonds which produces 2 cups of LSA)
Preparation
Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and grind to a fine mixture. Put in air-tight container and store in the refrigerator. It is suppose to last for a month.
From my first blending experience, I’d caution you that as these seeds contain a high quantity of oil, your blender blades may need to be cleaned and the whole mixture shaken up before completion. In my Magic Bullet, the mixture tended to clump up around the blades and the edge of the cup. I just cleaned off the blades, broke up the clumps and blended it some more. It worked out in the end.
The nutritional value of this little mixture is powerful! 1 tablespoon contains 72 calories which breaks down into 52 calories of fat, 11 calories of carbs (mostly fiber with only a little sugar) and 9 calories of protein. However, the real value comes in the form of the actual nutrients such as vitamins of all kinds, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, selenium, omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, etc. Just Google any one of the three ingredients above for nutritional content and sit back and read the accolades!
By now you must be thinking, “So okay, what do I do with the stuff?” Good question. The real answer is that I’m still experimenting, but here are some easy-to-use initial ideas.
1. Add a tablespoon of LSA to boost the nutrition content of various foods such as oatmeal, yogurt, other cereal, smoothies, etc. If you taste it, you will see that, as anticipated, it’s just a nice nutty blend that will not significantly alter the flavor of whatever you add it to. Of course, it is grainy in texture, so if you add it to something smooth such as yogurt, you will notice the graininess when you eat it. I don’t find this to be a problem, but we all have our peculiarities about food textures.
2. From what I’ve read, it looks like LSA is often used as a substitute for flour in whole or in part when making things like muffins or brownies. I haven’t experimented with this yet, but will report on my results when I do.
3. LSA is a great ingredient to add to homemade power bars or granola bars. I am planning to make peanut butter power bars later today and will report back on the results and provide the recipe if it turns out to be a good one.
In summary, I think this is a powerful nutritional booster and am currently pursuing options for integrating it into my diet. As I learn more about it, I will share this via my blog, both pros and cons as I find them. In the meantime, I’d urge others to try it out and let me know via comments what you think about LSA. Perhaps you already use it and would like to share a recipe or two!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Pulling My Head out of the Sand
I started this blog and discussion group to work through all aspects of making a life style change to health and fitness. When I’m in the groove (exercising regularly and pushing the edge, being smart about what I eat, feeling good and losing weight), then I have no problem coming up with articles and stimulating discussion. But when I start heading down the slippery slope that takes me back to old habits (failing to exercise even a little, opting for more calories and less nutrition, gaining back a few pounds), then I seem to avoid both blogging and discussing anything about the process.
What needs to surface here is that both sides of the fitness coin are real and need to be held up to the light of day for scrutiny. I need to own the bad behavior and poor choices as much as I own the good behavior and smart choices. After all, it’s all me, making decisions and taking actions that effect me. What’s there to not own?
Things have slowly broken down since I took my last vacation in September. I don’t think the vacation was the catalyst for lapse, nor was it the fact that my personal trainer decided to stop working in my area on Saturdays. I still have access to two gyms free of charge and I still have all of the information I have gained over the years about good nutrition and working out. This is just the time frame in which the slipping began.
The difference between this down-slide and others, is that I am hyper aware of it and have not let everything go. The progress I have made regarding preparing healthy meals and taking healthy food into work for lunch and snacks still holds. The difference in eating has been that I tend to eat more calories over-all and I indulge in empty calories such as pita chips or cookies. As a result, my weight hasn’t change much, though I notice a few pounds and my clothes fit a little tighter.
I think the most significant thing this time is that I just quit exercising. I have ample opportunity, I just haven’t done it. As a result, the biggest change I notice is the lessening of muscle tone (softer tummy and thighs and even upper arms.) This is the biggest loss for me. I really like feeling fit and toned.
So why don’t I just go exercise? I don’t really know. I have plenty of excuses, but none that are truly sufficient to prevent me from establishing some kind of exercise routine. The only real excuse that may in fact have some merit is that I’m going through yet another stage of perimenopause and am having a lack of drive to do a lot of things I typically do. I’m going to see a new doctor after the first of the year to see if I can get a plan in place to improve my focus and energy to do things again, and I hope that this will put me back on track with fitness and nutrition. Although I have been going through perimenopause for about seven years now, I have never been on any kind of hormone replacement therapy because of concerns about negative side-effects and my personal history of cancer. However, I have found an alternative medicine treatment center that uses natural hormones and formulates the correct compound for each person they treat. I’ll certainly write about the experience, and I hope that it truly makes a difference.
In the meantime, I’m asking myself, “Why don’t you just go back and exercise?” Since there really is no good answer to that except that there is no answer and therefore I will go back and exercise, I’m hopeful that this will jump start a return to good behavior that will improve my fitness.
So all this is to say that there are always valleys with the peaks. I’m thinking that the appropriate response to the valley time is to acknowledge it for what it is, own it and find another peak to start climbing. Ignoring it just allows it to keep on keeping on. For me, that’s not acceptable. I simply will not go backwards!
I hope my next post is to write about the process of getting back into the swing of things. However, if that doesn’t happen, then I will write about the continuing process of working my way back to establishing that new life style that embraces health and fitness. Check back to see what happens next!
What needs to surface here is that both sides of the fitness coin are real and need to be held up to the light of day for scrutiny. I need to own the bad behavior and poor choices as much as I own the good behavior and smart choices. After all, it’s all me, making decisions and taking actions that effect me. What’s there to not own?
Things have slowly broken down since I took my last vacation in September. I don’t think the vacation was the catalyst for lapse, nor was it the fact that my personal trainer decided to stop working in my area on Saturdays. I still have access to two gyms free of charge and I still have all of the information I have gained over the years about good nutrition and working out. This is just the time frame in which the slipping began.
The difference between this down-slide and others, is that I am hyper aware of it and have not let everything go. The progress I have made regarding preparing healthy meals and taking healthy food into work for lunch and snacks still holds. The difference in eating has been that I tend to eat more calories over-all and I indulge in empty calories such as pita chips or cookies. As a result, my weight hasn’t change much, though I notice a few pounds and my clothes fit a little tighter.
I think the most significant thing this time is that I just quit exercising. I have ample opportunity, I just haven’t done it. As a result, the biggest change I notice is the lessening of muscle tone (softer tummy and thighs and even upper arms.) This is the biggest loss for me. I really like feeling fit and toned.
So why don’t I just go exercise? I don’t really know. I have plenty of excuses, but none that are truly sufficient to prevent me from establishing some kind of exercise routine. The only real excuse that may in fact have some merit is that I’m going through yet another stage of perimenopause and am having a lack of drive to do a lot of things I typically do. I’m going to see a new doctor after the first of the year to see if I can get a plan in place to improve my focus and energy to do things again, and I hope that this will put me back on track with fitness and nutrition. Although I have been going through perimenopause for about seven years now, I have never been on any kind of hormone replacement therapy because of concerns about negative side-effects and my personal history of cancer. However, I have found an alternative medicine treatment center that uses natural hormones and formulates the correct compound for each person they treat. I’ll certainly write about the experience, and I hope that it truly makes a difference.
In the meantime, I’m asking myself, “Why don’t you just go back and exercise?” Since there really is no good answer to that except that there is no answer and therefore I will go back and exercise, I’m hopeful that this will jump start a return to good behavior that will improve my fitness.
So all this is to say that there are always valleys with the peaks. I’m thinking that the appropriate response to the valley time is to acknowledge it for what it is, own it and find another peak to start climbing. Ignoring it just allows it to keep on keeping on. For me, that’s not acceptable. I simply will not go backwards!
I hope my next post is to write about the process of getting back into the swing of things. However, if that doesn’t happen, then I will write about the continuing process of working my way back to establishing that new life style that embraces health and fitness. Check back to see what happens next!
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