ArcaMax

When I was growing up, most people believed that losing weight was all about "calories-in, calories-out." Today, we know it's a lot more complicated than that. The key to successful weight loss is understanding that not all calories are equal. It's critical to understand what your body does with the calories it's given. That's what Plan Z is all about. While Plan Z is more than just a low-carb diet (it's a fully coached program), I recommend all of my dieters eat low carb after completing the diet, for hundreds of reasons. We don't have time to get into all of them today, so I am going to list my top seven reasons below.

This is why I recommend you resolve to low carb it in 2022:

1. It lowers your cholesterol. Since 2002 over 20 human studies have been done that prove low carb eaters lose more weight and that it actually leads to improved cholesterol results. Has your doctor been barking at you to get your cholesterol down? This can help – a lot.

2. You’ll lose weight. Low carb diets are more effective in losing abdominal fat. You want to get that belly gone. Right?

3. A low carb lifestyle lowers your blood sugar level. When you eat carbs they are broken down into simple sugars. That causes an insulin response. But when you eat too many carbs, insulin’s response is to turn the excess carbs into fat. Insulin is the fat hormone. It has no choice. Your choice is…to not eat the carbs.

4. It makes weight maintenance easier. If you don’t want to have to count calories, points or anything else, you want low carb foods.

5. Type 2 diabetics stand to benefit the most from a low carb diet...

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Pork Loin Roast with Red Pepper and Spinach Stuffing

The flavor and aroma of this dish will bring a little bit of the Italian countryside to your dinner table.

Servings: Serves 4 but can be doubled easily

Ingredients:

1-1/2 lb pork loin roast
1 tsp of garlic
1 tsp of Italian seasoning, divided
½ cup of roasted red peppers. You find these in the Italian section of the grocery store. They are pre-roasted and packed in a jar. You just need to pull out enough to cover the roast and rinse them well before using them. Pat dry. Store the rest for another use.
1 cup of baby spinach

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

You are going to “butterfly” your pork roast. This means you are going to open it up so the whole roast will lay flat and you can stuff it and roll it. It’s not difficult to do if you are careful. Take a sharp knife and cut across the roast about one inch down from the top. You are then going to continue to cut in a circular motion as though you are opening the roast in a spiral. This is very difficult to describe with just words but all you have to do is imagine that your pork roast is spiral, like a cinnamon roll and cut into it to “re-open” the spirals.

Then lay the roast opened flat on your work surface. Spread the garlic across the roast and sprinkle with half of the Italian seasoning. Now take pieces of the roasted red peppers and cover the surface of the roast. On top of that scatter your spinach leaves.

Carefully grab one end of the roast the long way and begin rolling it back up. If you tuck in the edge as you start you will roll it up jelly-roll fashion and your stuffing will all be encased inside the roast. You can secure the roast to stay closed by wrapping kitchen twine around it in a few places or if you are lucky like me, when you put the roast in the roasting pan with the seam side down it will stay rolled up and stay put. Whichever works best. You could also use turkey pins and hold it shut that way if you prefer.

Sprinkle with the rest of the Italian seasoning and give it a good grind of sea salt on top, too.

Roast your meat until it reaches 170 degrees. This will take up to 90 minutes.

When you take it out of the oven, slice it in half-inch to three-fourths-inch thick slices. They will hold together best that way. Gently place on your plate and serve with side veggies.

Serving Suggestions:

If you serve with broccoli and red bell pepper bits you’ll have more red and green!

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola