Looking good and feeling great are two things that don’t come easy. Before I went into business for myself, I struggled with food, family, health issues, and my own self-esteem.

But somehow for me, the lessons I learned early in life sparked a fire in my belly and a passion in my heart. In turn, these led me to a career path that I was destined to pave.

For over 30 years, I’ve been fortunate to have made a difference in the lives of thousands of people with regard to weight loss, self-respect, and learning to live happier and healthier lives. It is my hope to make a difference in yours too.

It’s your life – come on, let’s make it the very best it can be!

Love, love, love,

But keeping a sensible eye on how many I eat doesn’t stop me in the least from being crazy about all the different varieties of nuts, each possessing their own unique taste and texture. Simply put, all nuts are not created equally. Each is as different from the other as is all the different kinds of fruit we have in this world.

Everything else aside, nuts can also differ in the amount of fat they contain. Don’t get me wrong; most nuts are good for you because they belong in the category of foods that provide us with healthy fats. But that can be tricky if you don’t take it a step further– just because most nuts contain healthy fats, it doesn’t mean we (especially those of us who are advocates of good nutrition) should eat as many as we want. Like I said before, “too much of a good thing can be too much!” The fact is, one cup of dry roasted, mixed nuts are 23 PointsPlus ® values on the Weight Watchers program (or about 640 calories for those counting calories).

But in moderation, nuts can do a body good. They are high in calcium, folic acid, magnesium, potassium, vitamin E and fiber. Some studies say that a daily portion of just 1 oz (which is a lot less than the whole jar that my husband eats in one sitting) may reduce the risk of heart disease by up to 10%. I use them as an ingredient in sweet and savory dishes (after I lightly road them to bring out all the flavor) and as a healthy snack. The nuts highest in monounsaturated fat (the good type of fat) are: almonds, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, macademia nuts, pecans, pistachios and walnuts. You might find this interesting: Botanically speaking, some foods we know as nuts are actually seeds (such as Brazil nuts) or legume (like the peanuts).

I always buy unshelled nuts in bulk, choosing those that are heavy for their size and that have solid shells, without cracks and holes. When I choose shelled nuts, I look at how plump and crisp they are and make sure they are more-or-less uniform in size and color. Buy and consume nuts while they are fresh! Because of their high fat content, rancidity is always a concern. Rancid nutmeats can make you sick and ruin whatever food they flavor. To be sure nuts are fresh, buy them from a supplier with rapid turnover and when you get home, measure them out in individual, single-serving airtight bag and store them in a cool or freezing place. This is what I do for Florine and my family. Then, whoever wants nuts, can reach in the freezer, pull out a single-size portion and enjoy without going overboard or becoming sick. Shelled nuts can be refrigerated in this manner up to 4 months, or frozen up to 6 months. As a general rule, unshelled nuts, will keep about twice as long as shelled ones because their skin offers them more protection.

When it comes to using nuts in recipes, you don’t have to use the variety of nut the recipe calls for. Like all recipes, feel free to swap ingredients. Use what tastes good to you or the kind you have on hand.  Remember, recipes are only “guidelines.” I encourage personalizing recipes to your own taste as long as you know the PointsPlus values of the finished creation. Remember, 1 ounce of nuts (Almonds, for example, – about 23 pieces) equals 5 PPVs. One Brazil nut on the other hand is 1 PPV because those are big nuts! Know what you’re including in your recipes and meals, how much you’re eating and what the PPV is.  Nuttin’ nutty about that!

-       “Secret Workout Of The Stars Revealed”

-       “No Time—No Problem. World’s Fastest Workout”

-       “Banish That Belly With One Simple Exercise”

-       “Blast Fat Fast!”

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t have a problem with anyone promoting ways to exercise. Let’s face it– anything that might motivate people to move is a great thing! What I do have a problem with, though, is the concept that there is a one-size-fits-all exercise plan, that there’s a secret behind it and that it always works for everyone. I’m here to tell you; There are no secret workouts, no “special’ exercises and definitely no shortcuts to getting into shape. It’s calories burned, it’s Activity PointsPlus® values earned and it’s work; don’t let anyone fool you about that. But, it can be fun work!

You’re probably saying to yourself, “Yeah, right!”

Look, I get bored out of my mind if I walk on the treadmill or ride my bike along the same path everyday and I would imagine you would, too. No one needs drudgery. Boredom is not a motivator, so you have to mix it up and step out of your comfort zone! Try different ways to be physically active. Seriously, that’s where the real work comes in…changing your attitude and getting yourself out of the exercise rut. They don’t call it an “exercise routine” for nothing!

So where do you start? Well, just for the heck of it, leisurely visit a well-stocked, sporting good’s store. Go up and down every aisle, look at all the products. Picture yourself using all the different items, imagining that each item was manufactured just for you. Sounds crazy, but do it! I don’t care if it’s a whiffle ball bat, a SlipNSlide or boxing gloves. Contained within those 4 walls are literally hundreds of FUN ways for you to become more physically active.

As you’re making your way from idea to idea, remain open-minded (like a 5 year old kid) and don’t sell yourself short (you can do anything you set out to do!). If you want to start golfing at the age of 80 and your doctor is all for it, go for it. If that kayak hanging on the wall in the boating section is calling your name, what’s stopping you from adopting paddling as a sport? Rollerblading? No problem, at least after a few test runs.

Make it an ongoing quest to look for entertaining, adventurous-for-you ways to keep moving. The “fun-factor” alone will help you commit to making physical activity a permanent part of your lifestyle.

Whenever I demonstrate a recipe at a class that calls for Swiss chard, bokchoy, collard greens or even dandelion greens, someone always asks, “Can I use spinach instead?”  Of course you can use the spinach! But that’s playing it safe. Why not just try making the recipe with the ingredients it calls for?

I know, it’s intimidating. You don’t know how to pick out certain greens, how to use them in recipes and how to cook them.  Starting somewhere is a good place to start. My advice (and how I learned) is to apply whatever rule you are already applying to your other favorite greens. When shopping for greens, feel and smell. (I touch everything and smell everything!) What kind of texture does one variety have? Don’t be afraid of snapping one small piece of whatever is in your hand and taste it! Use your instinct. For example, when you pick up and feel Swiss chard, you’ll notice that is just a bit firmer then spinach. So, that means you have to cook it a little bit longer than you would spinach.  Look at collard greens. They have big, thick leaves. This means that they, too, will require a longer cooking time. It’s like choosing pasta. The smaller noodles require less cooking time; the larger ones more.

The bottom line is, DON’T BE AFRAID OF TRYING AND MAKING MISTAKES. You are cooking for yourself and maybe your family, so if something goes wrong, it’s no big deal. This is how you learn and the next time you go to use a “different” green, you will  know better about what to do or not to do with it.

Greens are great in soups; greens are great with eggs; greens are great in salad, and when it comes to salad, who says greens must always be raw? You can quickly blanch your greens (blanching means quickly boil then cool in iced water) and add them to the other greens and veggies in your salad. Now that’s what I call a real salad!

In Italy, I grew up eating dandelions. My parents still go out on the field, in the spring time, and pick them. When the dandelions are still little, they are not so bitter and they are much more tender than the “mature” ones. My mom always tosses dandelions with a little red wine vinegar, some good olive oil, salt and pepper and maybe some garlic. It makes for an amazing salad!

Okay, this may be going a little too far, but I’m going there anyway! My mom used to save the water from the blanching and we used to drink it in the morning as a diuretic, purifier and cleanser remedy. Are you appalled and grossed out? Do you think my mom is pazza–Italian for crazy? Now what if I tell you that I saw this very same remedy the other day on the Dr. Oz show. Aha! She’s not so crazy! Who is running to the store for some dandelions now?

I like this Ralph Waldo Emerson quote:

“WHAT IS A WEED? A PLANT WHOSE VIRTUES HAS NOT YET BEEN DISCOVERED.”

Get out there and discover! (Hey, I even posted a recipe for you to get started under my recipes. It’s called Dandelion Greens and Goat Cheese Frittata. Check it out.)

Serves: 4

PPV: 7 (using the WeightWatchers.com eTools Recipe Builder)

**Note: By using reduced-fat feta cheese instead of soft goat cheese , you can reduce the PPV by 1. Replace with or fat-free feta cheese and you can reduce it by 2 PPV

Instructions

• Boil dandelion greens in salted for about 3-5 minutes. Drain, cool and squeeze greens to get rid of excess water.
• Roughly chop greens in food procesor or by hand.
• Whisk eggs, add garlic. zest, salt and pepper, goat cheese and dandelions.
• Spray a large non-stick pan with olive oil pan spray. Pour in mixture and using a silicon spatula (or wooden spoon) cook eggs mixing occassionally. Divide onto 4 plates and enjoy with a green salad.

Note: You can use wilted greens in warm salad, bake in tart, add to soup, gratin or pasta, braised or sauteed. Dandelion greens are earthy, nutty, and bitter in a pleasing way.

We justify our ‘not-in-our-best-interest’ purchasing choices by telling ourselves things like, “Oh, I’ll make sure I portion it out into single-servings when I get home,”or “Hey, it’s for the kids,” or even, “How could I pass it up, they were practically giving it away.” What we doing is coercing ourselves into compromising true value (worth) over price.

Let me tell you, there is a big difference between price and value, especially if the value is so compromised by the “deal” that paying even a few pennies for the purchase is just not worth it.

For example, would you….

…Purchase a cheap cross-country airline ticked knowing that the airline hadn’t updated its computer system for years, had a history of mechanical problems, overwork their pilots and attendants to sheer exhaustion and was being under investigation for various safety violations?

…Put a child in a car safety seat that you picked up for a few dollars at a flea market even though the seat didn’t meet minimum safety requirements, the plastic was beginning to crack and the straps were dry-rotting?

I think the majority of us would answer a resounding, “NO!” to both of the above questions. There is just too much at risk, no matter how little we’d end up paying. At first, it may seem like a great deal but with just a little thought, we’d realize that the compromise (putting price over true worth) makes absolutely no sense at all.

Don’t get me wrong — we should be looking for the best price on the things we value. It would be foolish of us not to. Value comes first, though. I search out where I can get ripe, locally grown vegetables at a good price every week and look through the circulars for  a grocery store that is offering the leanest cuts of fresh meat at a decent price. I also clip coupons and get online deals for the foods I want. But value always comes into play. If I see a coupon for a high-sugar cereal, making the purchase almost a giveaway, I can honestly tell you, no clipping for me. But, even if I don’t have a coupon, I’ll buy a high-fiber, low-sugar healthier box of cereal when I shop that week. I realize that shopping for foods that are healthier, even if they can’t compare price-wise with less nutritious foods, is the best investment in the long-run when it comes to my overall health and weight-management goals. And those are the things that I value for me and my family.

As we’re learning how to eat healthier, we have to convince ourselves that value always trumps price and not visa versa.

There is a cliche: “You only get what you pay for.” When it comes to purchasing nutritious foods, this saying holds particularly true. After all, becoming healthier and feeling great are priceless!

There are a lot of spices out there and I don’t know them all. Being Italian, there are some specific ones that I grew up using and still use ALL THE TIME. When I came to the States, I learned about many other spices and since then, have added new ones to my collection.

Do you know what I also found out since moving here? People are afraid of spices. I’m not sure why but if you’re one of those “Fraidy Cats”, you have no idea what you’re missing! The first thing you should do to get over your fear is to go to a spice specialty store. These stores are like a wonderland to me! I smell the different spices, taste them, learn about them and I always buy at least 1 item that I never tried before. At home, I play with the unfamiliar spice and see what I can create.

I have a dare for you: Go to a spice store or a store that shelves a lot of GOOD, fresh spices. Start by buying 1 or 2 familiar ones that you don’t already have on your spice rack (or are so old that you need to get rid of them). Then buy 1 or 2 unfamiliar ones (in a small amount), go home and play with them and create recipes out of them for the next couple of weeks. Once you become familiar with the spice, go back to the store and do the same thing all over again with different spices.

One spice that you’re probably familiar with that is always in my pantry is PAPRIKA. I love it!

Paprika is made from aromatic, sweet red pepper pods. The powdered spice is mainly used for savory dishes. The flavor of paprika can range from mild to pungent to hot and the color ranges from bright orange-red to deep blood-red. Most commercial paprika comes from Spain, South America, California and Hungary. The Hungarian variety is considered by many to be superior.

One of my very favorite varieties of paprika is PIMENTON. Pimenton is a special Spanish paprika made from peppers that have been slowly smoked and dried over oaks fires. The process gives the peppers a rich smoky quality. There are 3 version of pimenton: sweet and mild (dulce), bittersweet medium –hot (agridulce) and hot (picante). All supermarkets carry mild paprika, while ethnic or specialty markets must be searched out for the more pungent varieties. It’s worth the trip!

As with all herbs and spices, paprika should be stored in a cool, dark place for no more than 6 month; sometimes it can be stretched up to a year. I also suggest that if you don’t use a spice regularly to store it in the freezer. But to all of you that still are using the same jar of spice for the last 3-5 years; just toss that thing, will you? It’s no good!
CLOVE is another staple spice I use when a lot when I cook. Clove is the dried, unopened flower bud of the tropical evergreen clove tree. It’s reddish-brown in color and nail-shaped. Its name comes from CLAVUS, the Latin word for nail.

Cloves are sold whole or ground and can be used to flavor a multitude of dishes, ranging from sweet to savory. Clove is great to use in sweet breads, with beets, and in anything with beans and apples. I also use it in chicken and beef broth, carrots, chocolate, and add it to my onions, just to give you some ideas on how to get started with it.

Last but not least, I always make sure I have NUTMEG on hand. It’s a staple in northern Italian cuisine. A native of the Spice Islands, this seed comes from the nutmeg tree. When the fruit of the tree is picked, it is split to reveal the nutmeg seed which is surrounded by a lacy membrane that, when dried and ground, becomes the spice MACE. The hard, egg-shaped (it is not as big as an egg, don’t worry!) nutmeg seed is grayish-brown in color and about 1 inch long (see?).The flavor of nutmeg is delicately warm, spicy and sweet. Nutmeg is sold ground or whole. Whole nutmeg that is freshly ground with a nutmeg grater or grinder is superior to that which is commercially ground and packaged. Nutmeg is excellent when used in baked goods, milk-or cream based preparations like custards, white sauces or eggnog and on fruits and vegetables, particularly potatoes, spinach and squash.

Now, you can for sure start your new collection with these 3 spices but you don’t really have to go by me. Just go to the store, do some reading, smelling and tasting. Then pick some spices that really interest you and start cooking!

No matter what it looks like for you, stress eating is just a last-ditch effort for some sense of control.  The problem is…gaining a sense of power by overeating or eating the wrong foods just doesn’t work.  The trouble and the worries that cause you to resort to overeating are still there and you actually lose a sense of control when you turn to food for some sort of comfort or reward. The guilty ramifications just amplify the initial stress that you were hoping to stifle with the wrong foods.

Okay, okay.  So what can we do?  That’s an easy one..we have to find ways to reduce our stress!   It takes a lot of work and it’s not always clear where to begin, especially when you have a whole lot on your plate.  But here’s how I like to think of it: my mind can be in a hundred different places with a hundred different worries so de-stressing worry-by-worry isn’t a real option in my fast-paced life. Not that I can’t begin to find actual ways to reduce those things that cause my stress but before I even begin to tackle that, I need to de-stress from within.  I need to start with myself.  That’s something that I sometimes find difficult because I want to solve all the outside problems first.

I’ve found, though, that without taking the time out to care for myself in the right, healthy ways, I am less able to fulfill my many roles and handle my life well.  For me, exercising, eating good foods, and spending quality time with my family and friends are ways that I am able to de-stress and prepare for oncoming challenges without sabotaging my goals. These things help me handle myself in all aspects of my life so much better. For you, you might want to add things like crafting, cooking, playing music, or being outdoors—the list goes on.

What’s important is that you find your niche; look inside yourself and care for yourself.  What do you like to do (not HAVE to do) that brings happinesses and a sense of contentment to your life? When you delve inside yourself and come up with this answer, you’ll find healthier ways to nourish your mind and body rather than feed it. You then stop the guilt-cycle right in its path and will find yourself in a better position to handle all that life throws at you because you feel good about you!

For those of you who are saying “Chef who?!,” let me explain. Isabella Nicoletti is a talented Italian chef who has been working carefully and tirelessly to create delicious, healthful meals that fit seamlessly into a Weight Watchers lifestyle ever since I scooped her out of an Ann Arbor restaurant.

I want to share Chef Isabella, her inspiration, excitement, and passion for food with all of you! That’s why we’ve created so many new opportunities for you to learn from the chef! If you click on the “Chef Isabella Cooking” link on the top of the askflorine.com website, you will see a list of ways to get in touch with Chef Isabella and her cooking. You’ll be connected with her new blog where Chef Isabella will share about herself, her food, and provide you with tips and tricks for in the kitchen. You will also be able to access some of her favorite recipes. If you’d like to meet with Chef Isabella in person, you can click on “Meeting Appearances” to find out which meeting room Chef Isabella will be showing up to next! Or, for real healthy cooking foodies, you can sign up for a cooking class at the Weight Watchers Kitchen in Farmington Hills.

Whichever way you connect, be sure to check out Chef Isabella and all of the skill and personality she has to offer!