Something to think about...

I know that this article puts me at risk for all of the Crossfit trainers to attack me, but I simply believe that people should know all that they can before they begin ANY excercise routines. I DO NOT think that Crossfit is bad. In fact, I keep meaning to incorporate it more into my arsenal. Read the article and give me your thoughts...

http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/cult-crossfit?cm_mmc=Twitter-_-MensHealth-_-Content-Fitness-_-CrossFitCult

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Spartacus Workout

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How to Eat Clean

 Here are some basic principles of clean eating that you'll need to keep in mind:


•Eat primarily non processed foods. If it comes out of a box, don't eat it. If it comes from the earth, eat it
•Eat six times a day. This is to keep your metabolism fired up and it keeps you from getting too hungry
•No alcohol or sodas. Drink lots of water and/or herbal unsweetened tea
•Never miss a meal
•Combine lean protein and complex carbs at every meal
•Avoid all saturated and trans fats
•Eat fresh fruits and vegetables

Ideas for breakfast would be:
•Steel cut oatmeal (not flakes) with berries and 1 Tbsp. chopped walnuts
•4-5 scrambled egg whites with 4 oz. potatoes mixed with red peppers and onions
•1 c. yogurt with 1 c. fresh berries, 1 slice whole wheat toast
•whole wheat pancakes  with fruit
•banana chocolate protein smoothie


NEVER, EVER skip breakfast!!!! Think about it. You've just been sleeping for 7-8 hrs. (hopefully). Your body needs some fuel after not eating for that length of time. Your mother was right. It IS the most important meal of the day!


Lunch:
Okay, here's where things get a bit more challenging. Most people are home at breakfast time. Not so for lunch. My suggestion would be to pack a small cooler the night before and just grab it when you leave for work in the morning. (This is where the planning comes in.) Anyway, here are some lunch ideas:
• 4 oz. chicken on whole wheat bread with mustard and avocado slice; green salad with olive oil and vinegar
•4 oz. chicken, 1/2 c. brown rice, 1 c. low sodium lentil soup
•1 c. whole wheat pasta, 1/2 c. low sodium marinara sauce, 4 oz. grilled chicken breast, 1/2 c. broccoli
•Mexican Egg White Scramble

Dinner:
•4 oz. salmon, 1 medium baked sweet potato and 2 tsp. olive oil
•1 turkey burger patty, 1 baked potato cubed and roasted with 2 tsp. olive oil and 2 tsp. chopped rosemary
•pizza made with 1 whole grain English muffin, 1/4 c. part skim mozzarella cheese; salad made with 1/4 c. chickpeas, 2 tsp. cilantro, 2 tsp. minced garlic and 1 Tbsp. honey-mustard vinaigrette

Snacks:
Snacks are NOT optional!!! You will need to eat 3 snacks a day, one after breakfast, one after lunch, and one after dinner. In the beginning you're going to feel like you're eating ALL THE TIME but soon you will get used to eating this way. Believe me, it beats walking around hungry all day. Here are some tasty snack ideas. All snacks should be around 200 calories.
•Larabars
•1 English muffin with 1 Tbsp. peanut butter
•6 whole wheat crackers and 1 oz. cheese
•1 c. plain Greek yogurt with 1 c. berries
•1 small baked sweet potato mixed with 1 c. plain Greek yogurt Pin It

I'm CRAVE-ing these right now;)

Don't some super cute workout clothes make the pain and the self-stink just a bit better??

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3 Reasons To Do The Tabata Training Method Instead Of Long Distance Running (for fat loss)

I talk over and over again about the benefits of Tabata, so for those who have never done a Tabata session and have no idea what I am talking about, here is an overview. (NOTE: The chart at top shows the workout, one excercise, 20 seconds of full intensity followed by 10 seconds of rest, 8 times, then take a short rest, change the excercise and repeat that pattern. 4-8 times total). There are a couple of great ideas for excercises following the overview.

At one point or another, you have probably went jogging and if you’re anything like most people I know, it’s boring. All you do is run from one area to another and run back at a steady, most of the time slow pace. Most of the time jogging sessions last an hour to 2 hours. However, Tabata training is completely different. I’ll give you three reasons why you should use the Tabata Training Method instead of long distance running and other long hours of cardio training.

1. Time
One of the down sizes of doing long distance running is that it takes time to get to the area where you are jogging to and back; and time for your heart rate and metabolism to shoot up. Because it takes time, you’ll have to work longer and harder in order to see the results (losing fat and/or improving cardio). However, with Tabata, you can gain more results in less time.
If you don’t know already, Tabata is a four minute session. Each Tabata has 8 intervals of which you exercise at a very high intensity for 20 seconds. After 20 seconds, you have 10 seconds to rest. Tabata is a form of high intensity training and one of the benefits of high intensity training is that it can boost your metabolism and heart rate up in a matter of seconds. Long distance running requires anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 in order to get your heart rate up. Not only that but you have to maintain that heart rate for the rest of the jog to get your body to burn fat.

2. Losing Fat
I’m sure you’ve encountered various people saying that the only way to lose fat is to jog. The truth is, jogging is only one of the ways to lose fat (and the slowest). As mentioned above, jogging takes time for your metabolism and heart rate to rise. So in order to burn fat while jogging, you have to wait a bit until your body can get into the fat burning zone.
Tabata training will raise your metabolism and heart rate up in no time. Because you are performing these exercises at a very high intensity, your body will have to work much harder to keep up. This will cause your heart to pump faster and your metabolism to rise; which you want if you are planning on losing fat. Your metabolism will stay at a high not only during the workout, but after the workout as well. This means that your body will be burning fat even when you aren’t doing anything.

3. Aerobic and Anaerobic Benifits
Izumi Tabata was the founder and creator of Tabata. He conducted a test which tested two groups of athletes. The first group was ordered to train in moderate intensity exercises (this includes jogging, skipping, swimming, cycling and so forth) at 70% lasting an hour for each training day for five days a week for a total of six weeks. The result from this group was that their aerobic system improved, however their anaerobic system improved little to none.
The second group was ordered to train 4 days a week for a total of 6 weeks at a high intensity (170%) each training day lasting 4 minutes. The results of this training group was that they increased their aerobic system much more than the other group and that they had a 28% increase.
This means that the group performing high intensity training (Tabata) had much more improvements than the group performing moderate intensity.

Basically, you can get much more done in less time in Tabata training than you can in long distance running. You can also put any exercise you want in Tabata to make it much more fun.

http://youtu.be/kDJBjVq_930
http://youtu.be/ITeAbUbAQw4 Pin It

Healthy Honey/Oatmeal Cookies

This week, I had the opportunity to talk to a group of women about how to fit clean eating and excercise into their busy lives and why it's so important to do so. Since we, as moms, need to indulge sometimes and still feel like we're eating right, I handed out recipes and samples of my favorite healthy cookies. To my surprise, they were really well-recieved. Give 'em a try and let me know what you think:)

Dry Ingredients:

-1 C whole wheat flour
-1 1/2 C large flake rolled oats
-1/2 t baking soda
-1/2 t baking powder
-1/2 t salt
-1-3 T cinnamon
-1/2 t nutmeg

Wet Ingredients:

-1/2 C honey
-1/2 C applesauce (corn oil can be used if you really want to)
-1 T molasses
-1 egg
-1 t vanilla

Xtra Ingredients:

-1/2-1 C raisins
-1/2-1 C chopped walnuts

Prep:

1. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients.
2. In a medium bowl, mix wet ingredients. Hint- When measuring honey and molasses, spray your measuring cup/spoon with Pam to prevent sticking:)
3. Combine the wet mixture into the dry mixture until well-blended. Add the raisins and walnuts and mix.
4. Cool the mixture in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 335*. (lower temperature is to prevent burning from the honey)
6. Drop cooled dough by teaspoonful onto baking sheets. Press down with a fork to ensure even baking.
7. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until golden at the bottom of the cookie.
*These cookies freeze very well:) Pin It

Ethan's Run Discount

This week begins my Ethan's Run special! So, for those of you who didn't run and haven't seen the ad, yet, here it is...Email me to save your spot!

Call or email me by February 21

and get either

3 free one-on-one training sessions

or

2 free weeks of BOOTYcamp outdoor group training.

(Approximately $100 value)

*Private outdoor group training is also available.

With a group of 5 or more, I’ll customize your camp, anytime, anyplace,

for about the same price as my BOOTYcamps!

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NOTICE!!

BOOTYcamp is postponed until late February. Look for dates and times to come. Sorry for those of you who wanted to drop-in but still contact me for your free personal training sessions:) Pin It