Superbowl Snacks

Superbowl Sunday is right around the corner which means junk food and beer!  If you're trying to keep it healthier this Sunday, check out some healthier snack ideas below!

 I get Food Should Taste Good Multigrain Tortilla style chips or Beanitos black or white bean chips!

*Homemade Guacamole
-Combine chunks of avocado with salt, pepper, lemon or lime juice and chopped red onion (or onion powder!)

*Fresh Salsa
-Most grocery stores should have fresh made salsa in their produce section.  Check out the ingredient list though, as i've found some places put in sugar while others don't.  If your looking to make your own fresh salsa, mix together the following ingredients: (chopped tomatoes, chopped red onion, diced bell pepper, diced/seeded jalapeno, minced garlic, salt, pepper, lime juice, parsley and a little olive oil.

*Veggies & Hummus
-Sliced peppers, carrot sticks, celery sticks, almost every veggie that you enjoy raw would be great with hummus!

*Jalapeno Yogurt Dip (play around with amounts of spices to your liking)
-Greek Yogurt or Low Fat (Plain) (Drain yogurt first)
-Jalapeno (or more if you like hot)
-Onion
-Bell Pepper
-Garlic or garlic powder
-Salt
-Paprika
-Chili Powder
--chop jalapeno, onion, bell pepper and garlic and mix in food processor

Stick to ligher beers and watch for the sugar consumption if drinking liquor drinks.  Watch portion sizes and most importantly, have fun and enjoy yourself!

HIIT Workout

30 seconds work 10 seconds rest
5 rounds

Bosu Hop Overs (could do on a mat or bench)
MB V Raise
Bosu Mt. Climbers
Quick Lateral Hops
Bosu Push up with Cross Overs
Plank Push Up/Plank Jack
High Knee Fake Jump Rope
Starters

Pushing yourself as fast as you can for those 30 seconds!  work work work!

Gym Pet Peeves

I see a lot of things going on in the gym on a daily basis.  Being there everyday has lead me to observant of everything going on around me, so I thought i'd make a fun little post about my gym pet peeves!

1.  Not wiping off equipment.  While I rarely use the machines, I witness many people not wiping down the equipment after they hop off.  It takes 2 seconds to wipe it off, so just do it.  No one wants to sit down in your sweat!

2.  Holding onto the treadmill handles.  I see this alllllllllll the time.  And not just with walkers, but with sprinters!!!! The only time I don't mind seeing this is if the person is older or if the person has balance issues.  Otherwise, if you are a perfectly healthy person, pick a speed or incline in which you don't have to hold on.  Holding onto the handles makes you not work as hard and gives you bad form.  I've seen sprinters holding on to the very top while leaning back or leaning way forward.  It hurts just looking at them.  

3.  Taking someones equipment without asking.  Unlike some, I put my stuff away when i'm done.  If it's not put away, i'm still using it.  I have no problem sharing equipment while i'm doing a different exercise.  Just be polite and ask first :)

4.  Cardio queens.  I see so many woman from week to week using the same cardio machine for at least an hour.  Same machine.  Same Pace.  Same amount of time.  Every week.  And no strength training.  I understand everyone has their "favorite".  But i've seen girls before hop on a different machine because their normal ones weren't available.  And the minute someone gets off they run to it.  While cardio is important for our health, our bodies are great at adapting.  That means if you only do 1 machine at the same pace and the same amount of time week after week after week, your body will get so used to it and it won't be as effective anymore which means you won't be burning as many calories.  Best advice is to change up your cardio on a weekly basis.  Do different machines and intervals so it'll keep your body guessing.  And add in strength training!

5.  The people drinking a soda or eating M&M's while working out.  Yes, i've seen it.

6.  Reading or watching the tv while on a machine.  This wouldn't be so bad if you were working hard enough, but everyone I see who is "reading" or really getting into what their watching are going at a very slow pace.  Try making a playlist with some good beats, and leave the book/magazine at home and turn off the tv.  You'll push yourself more when you aren't distracted!

7.  Healthy people taking the elevator.  Really?!?

What are your gym pet peeves?

HIIT Cardio Workout

Some days, the last thing I feel like doing is cardio.  You could say I have a bit of cardio ADD.  For this reason i'll try to make my cardio workouts more creative to try to make the time to go by faster.  Here is the last HIIT workout I did this week...give it a try!

Get creative and feel free to use different machines if there are ones you like better.  I just like switching up between 3 machines sometimes as it keeps me from getting bored!

Rower: 5 minute warm up, 5 minute speed intervals (1 Minute super fast, 1 minute slow)

Stepper: 10 minutes total.  1 minute speed intervals with 1 minute recovery interval

Arc Trainer: 5:00-1:00 X 5

Minutes 5:00-0:00 30 second speed intervals with 30 second recovery intervals
*After your first round of 5 minutes, hop off and do 10 mt. climbers with a burpee 5X and 15 plank jacks
Hop back on the arc trainer and now do 4:00-0:00 hop off do your bodyweight cardio, then 3:00-0:00, 2:00-0:00, 1:00-0:00

So you will have done this set for about 15 minutes!  You'll be a sweaty mess by the end!

HIIT Treadmill Workout

Hills & Sprints

I'm always changing up my cardio to keep it from getting too boring. Some days I do HIIT on the machines or track or outside, steady state cardio, or bodyweight cardio.  There are definitely many days where it's the last thing I feel like doing, so I'll come up with HIIT workouts that make the time fly by.  Below is one that I do on the treadmill.  The first half is hills and the second half is sprints.  For the hill intervals I usually keep my speed at about 4.5 for the really steep hills (10 and 12) and bump my speed up to 5.5 for the rest.  You can do this workout and adjust it to your fitness level, so you'll see there are ranges for speed and incline.

Also, I use the first interval as a warm up starting with a fast walk into a jog.

Minute:               Speed:               Incline:

0:00-5:00            4-5.5                  3.5

5:00-7:00            4-5.5                  8-10

7:00-8:00            4-5.5                  5-6

8:00-10:00          4-5.5                  10

10:00-11:00        4-5.5                  6-7

11:00-13:00        4-5.5                  12

13:00-25:00 Repeat the following intervals

30 seconds fast walk

30 seconds run

1:00 seconds sprint        

Label Reading Tips

My Facebook post yesterday inspired me to write a blog with a few tips on how to read labels.  I’m a bit of a label nazi.  I ALWAYS read labels on foods that I haven’t purchased before.  I have my weekly grocery list of foods that I already know the ingredients, but if there is ever a sale on an item that is a different brand than the one I buy, the first thing I’ll do is compare the ingredients and labels.  Yesterday I had posted a picture of 2 different “natural” peanut butters at the grocery store to show an example of why it is important to read your labels.  One of the peanut butter’s had sugar and other things in the ingredient list while the other was 100% natural and just contained peanuts.  The point of the post was to show people that it’s so important to read your labels and ingredients.  Just because a food is claiming to be healthy or natural, certainly doesn’t mean it is.  Here is my list of quick tips when it comes to reading labels.

1.  Don’t always believe the package.  There are so many food items that will say “healthy”, “low fat”, “fat free”, “no trans fat” etc.  These marketing tactics are used to draw your attention to purchase the item.  A lot of times when something is “low fat” or “fat free” such as dressings, they will contain more sugar.

2. Know your fats.  As listed above, one label you might come across is “no trans fat”.  But companies do not have to report the amount of trans fat on a food label if it doesn’t reach a certain amount.  So, how can you tell if your food contains trans fats?  The ingredients!  If your ingredients list has hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, that’s trans fat! Also, limit saturated fats. 

3. Limit foods with added sugar.  Added sugar is in many foods you probably don’t think about.  Salad dressings, pre-made soups, cereals, sauces, seasonings etc.  If you use a lot of these items, try looking for items that contain less grams of sugar per serving.  (We all know we use more than 1 serving, so do your math).  Also, be aware of hidden names for sugars.  An ingredient list might not have sugar, but there are many names for it.   A few examples: dextrose, fructose, glucose, sucrose, maltose, sorbitol, xylitol, high fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin etc.  Be aware of “sugar free”.  Sugar free could mean it has Aspartame, a nasty sugar substitute.

  4. Choose whole grains over processed.  When it comes to breads and pastas, your better choices are whole grains.  Look for it to say 100% whole grain.  Once again, look at your ingredient list.  If it says whole grain on the package, it may not be.  Also, choose whole grain breads and pastas with a higher fiber content to ensure slower digestion. 

5.  Stick with a short ingredient list.  Ingredients are listed in order of what the food contains most of.  You want your first few ingredients to be unprocessed recognizable ingredients.  If the food contains a long list of ingredients, many of which you cant even pronounce, just place it back on the shelf.  If you can’t recognize the words, chances are your body won’t know what it is either. 

6. Minimize sodium intake.  Sodium intake should be limited to less than 2,300 mg/day, and less for higher risk populations.  Many processed foods will have a high sodium content, so make sure not to ignore it.

7. Don’t ignore serving sizes.  It’s important to understand your serving sizes, especially if you’re trying to lose weight.  Most of us eat more than the serving size, which can make the calories add up quickly.  For example, if a serving size of a food item was 1, and your calories per serving size were 130 but you ended up having a portion that was 3 servings, you’ve now consumed 390 calories.  If this was a food item that you were having as a snack, you can see where it can start to add up.

Hopefully this list will help some of you make better choices during your next trip to the grocery store!  A lot of times you’ll hear people say to “shop the perimeter” of the store.  While a lot of natural whole foods are located around the perimeter, there are plenty of foods that are okay for us that are located in the aisles as well.  You just have to know what to look for.  

Strengthen Your "Core"

I witnessed something the other day at the gym that prompted this post.  The other day I witnessed someone at the gym who easily spent over an hour doing ab work.  Now, when I say "ab" work I'm talking about crunches upon crunches.  Every type of crunch.  Crunches on the floor, crunches on the stability ball, weighted crunches and so on.  For OVER AN HOUR!!!  I honestly couldn't believe that someone was spending that much time on one section of their body, but especially because working your entire core is more important.  While doing ab workouts will help to tone the outside of your stomach, it takes a lot more than just doing crunches for over an hour.  A lot of people want a flat stomach or a six-pack, but what you need to realize is that you should focus more on strengthening your "core".  Some of you may be sitting there scratching your head asking yourself "isn't your core the same thing as your abs?"  No.  When I talk about your core, I'm talking about every muscle that makes up your midsection - upper/lower abdominals, oblique's, and lower back all the way down to your glutes and legs... you know those inner muscles that won't show up on the outside of your belly.  Think of your midsection as a corset.  Abs are simply the muscles on the outside of the stomach.  By training your core, you'll get a tighter stomach and see faster results because you're going to be working more than one muscle group.

So what are the benefits of core strengthening?  Doing core exercises will help you with things like balance and stability and will strengthen the spine. A lot of exercises, especially compound exercises require some good core strength.  It also will help improve posture and reduce back pain.

Think of doing a squat with an overhead press.  You can definitely feel your core tightening and keeping you in balance while doing it.  Do exercises that decrease stability and require more balance.  Try squatting on a BOSU ball or lunging with one foot on the BOSU.  Your core will be working harder to balance you and keep you from falling.  Other great core exercises are planks.  There are a wide variety of planks to choose from, so if you find a regular plank easy and non-challenging, try a different version.

Some Core Exercises To Try:

Plank Push Ups
Plank while lifting one arm out straight and the opposite leg
Side Plank With a Cable Row
Push Ups
Lunge with a twist
Supermans
Single Arm Overhead Press

There are so many more as well!  So next time you have a goal of a flatter stomach, start doing more core exercises instead of just ab workouts!  The rest of your body will thank you.