The Holiday Fitness Survival Guide

It's here—whether you're ready or not. Just look at the seasonal shelves in your favorite store. Retailers like to call it ‘holiday season' but let's be more accurate. 

Weight Gain season has begun and runs straight through New Year's. 

The next two months will bring ample opportunity for you to expand your waistline. Of course the choice is yours. 

Lets talk about some easy ways to ward off the extra holiday inches.

*Exercise: There is no substitute for exercise. Not only will this amazing tool help you to lose fat and tone muscle, but will also keep your heart and other vital organs functioning at their peak!

Try to work out before your holiday feasts. This will ensure that you actually do it, and your body will process some of those less healthy foods much better if you eat them post-workout. 

Make it a goal to workout at least 5 times a week, encourage your family to join you. Since we are all  short on time try doing some intervals, or this great workout that only take 8-15 minutes! 

*Junk food: Simply don't keep it in your house! Instead of making cookies and chocolates for your neighbors give them a fresh veggie platter, or apples dipped in cinnamon, yum! 

When you are given treat plates it's okay to re-gift  just make sure you give it to someone who did not already get it.  

Here are some more easy tips on avoiding the holiday junk food binge! 

*Make healthy replacements for some of the traditional holiday dishes:

Replace your mashed potatoes with this healthy cauliflower mash. instead of a pumpkin pie, enjoy some pumpkin muffins. Instead of making your sweet potatoes with marshmallows and sugar add some cinnamon. 

When filling your plate put the salad on first, and make sure to give yourself a big hearty serving, after that add on the rest of your veggies then get to the more fatty foods. It's okay to "splurge" a little, but keep the portions down. 

You don't have to gain weight over the holidays, you can stay (or even get) trim, fit, and most importantly healthy!

Coconut Cauliflower Mash

This amazing dish came from my friends over at Precision Nutrition. 

It's a great replacement for your Thanksgiving day mashed potatoes. 

Enjoy!

Ingredients 
Cauliflower (rough chopped) 3 cups
Cashews (crushed) ¼ cup
Coconut milk ¼ cup
Salt 1 pinch
Pepper 1 pinch
Cinnamon 1 pinch

Serving Size
Serves 1 large or 2 small.

Preparation Time
2 min. Preparation Time
15 min.  Cooking Time

Introduction
If you like mashed potatoes but worry about the high-carb content, worry no longer. Mashed cauliflower tastes just like mashed potato but has far fewer calories and packs a bigger nutrient punch. In this recipe, we’ve included a crunchy twist to mashed potatoes by adding cashews.

Instructions
Add all the ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Simmer for 15 minutes and then remove from heat. Purée in a blender or food processor until smooth. Add 1 tablespoon of water at a time if necessary to get the mixture moving. Serves 1 large or 2 small.

Variations and Options
For a great anytime meal, serve with homemade Sirloin Burgers (pg.90). For a great soup, add a cup of broth to this recipe when blending. Refer to page 266 for instructions on blending hot mixtures. For additional flavoring, try adding your favorite herbs to the mash. Paprika, safflower, or coriander are awesome spices to try in this recipe. If you don’t have a food processor, you can mash with a fork.

Nutritional Information
(per serving)     large     small
Calories (k/cal)     409.4     204.7
Fat (g)     27.3     13.6
Saturated (g)     13.3     6.7
Monounsaturated (g)     8.6     4.3
Polyunsaturated (g)     2.8     1.4
omega-3 (g)     0.0     0.0
omega-6 (g)     2.8     1.4
Carbohydrates (g)     27.8     13.9
fiber (g)     8.6     4.3
sugars (g)     9.2     4.6
Protein (g)     13.3     6.6

Your handy A-K Guide to the 13 vitamins

I get lots of questions about vitamins, specifically symptoms related to vitamin deficiency. I found this info graphic floating around on Pinterest the other day and I absolutely love it!

This is a great little guide to vitamins, the only thing missing is what foods you can find the vitamins in. That post is coming soon. 

Just in case you needed another reason to workout

Repeat After Me: "I CAN do this"

Losing weight, can be hard, maintaining weight loss can be hard. Let's face it, changing anything (even small things) about ourselves, and our habits can be tough, but it is doable!
When you get frustrated, just take a deep breath, and repeat after me: " I can do this"

The Complete Guide to Interval training

I am a huge fan of interval training. It offers a great workout and most interval workouts last between 8 and 20 min! Even the busiest can find 8 min in their schedule to workout! I found this great info-graphic about interval training, and thought I would share.

Don't feel like you have to do the exercises they have suggested here. If you do not want to run, but you want to do Tabata intervals you can do them on a bike, or in the pool, as long as you are getting your heat rate up, and working your entire body. 

Good Morning Yoga Sequence

I wake up almost every morning feeling stiff and sore from the previous days workout.  I recently found this quick and easy Good Morning Yoga Sequence to help get my blood flowing, and stretch those sore stiff muscles.
The benefits of Yoga are incredible! From muscle toning, to lengthening, Yoga can help you to look and feel better.

  I do not recommend attempting to do complicated yoga poses without the instruction of a certified Yoga instructor.

Photo Credit

Baked Banana Protein Donuts or Mini Muffins

I am always looking for a healthy, and delicious way to add a bit of extra protein to my diet, and these amazing donuts were a perfect fit.





Ingredients1 3/4 cup oats1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce1 scoop protein powder2 bananas1 tsp baking soda1 tsp baking powder3/4 tsp salt1/2 tsp cinnamon3 tsp lemon juice1 1/2 tsp vanilla1/4 cup agave sweetner
 Directions1.  Preheat oven at 375 degrees and spray doughnut pan with non stick spray. 2. Blend all ingredients well and fill pan with batter. 3. Bake  for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.  Stick with toothpick before removing from oven to ensure the donuts are cooked thoroughly.

 Source

Usually when I make these I just use a vanilla protein powder, and a mini muffin tin pan, lining it first with some coconut oil. These turned out to be the perfect post-workout snack. 

Are your sleep habits making you fat?

We all know how important sleep is, especially when we don't get enough. I am willing to bet, however, that the majority of us don't actually realize all that's at risk when we don't get enough of it.

Everything from our energy through the day, our mood, and even our weight loss can be negatively effected from lack of sleep. Much like food, getting too much, or too little sleep can be extremely detrimental to our overall health.

How mush sleep do we actually need each night in order to function properly? Studies have been done suggesting that the minimum is 7 hours, but that it's better to get between 8-10 hours per night!  I don't know if I have ever managed to get 10 hours of sleep (in one night) in my adult life! Lucky for me taking an afternoon nap (legitimate sleep, not just watching a movie while relaxing) can count as those extra hour(s) that I missed out on during the night.

What's the big deal with sleep, and body weight anyway?

A study conducted in 2005 on 10,000  adults, suggested that the United States obesity epidemic might, in part, be caused by a corresponding decrease in the average number of sleep hours. This study found that people between the ages of 32 and 49 who sleep fewer than 7 hours each night are significantly more likely to be obese.  Also, staying awake beyond midnight seemed to increase the likelihood of obesity.  These associations have a “dose-response” relationship, with later bedtimes and shorter sleeping hours resulting in greater levels of body fat gain.  Wake-up time was not significantly related to obesity.  Similarly, a study that followed the growth of more than 9,000 children from birth onwards showed that children who slept the least when they were 30 months old were more likely to be obese at age 7 than children who slept more.

While there are many reasons that lack of sleep could influence body fat, one of them may be the decreased growth hormone (GH), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and increased cortisol, most notably in the evening.  Moreover, chronic sleep restriction results in elevated sympathetic nerve activity and a slow insulin response.  This is the perfect storm of peripheral effects to accentuate obesity:

• Lowered glucose tolerance (GT)
• Increased sympathovagal balance
• Increased evening and nocturnal cortisol levels
• Lowered leptin
• Insufficient thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)

Pragmatically speaking, lack of sleep may lead to more body fat simply because more time spent not sleeping means more time to eat. And those junk food commercials start looking pretty appealing at 1 a.m.

So, less sleep potentially results in more body fat, big deal.  Well, that’s not it.  Getting less than 7.5 hours of sleep each night also means that you’re at greater risk of heart attack, stroke, and sudden cardiac death than your pals who get plenty of snooze time.  Also, with the weight gain that could come with minimal sleep, you’d likely see insulin resistance (IR), glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes.

Check this out: Eleven healthy men in their 20s were only allowed 4 hours of sleep for six straight nights. At the end of this, the young men had the insulin sensitivity of a 70 year old pre-diabetic! Despite the small sample size in this study, the results are suggestive.

A few interesting facts about sleep:

*Sleep debt is cumulative, meaning the more nights you go with less sleep the greater likelihood of negative effects taking place.  Experts hypothesize that each hour of sleep debt needs to be repaid, eventually.

*High concentrations of cortisol –- a stress hormone -– can negatively affect sleep quality.  This is a double edged sword, as poor sleep can effect the concentration on cortisol in your body.

*Sleep may improve memory formation and recall

*Knowing you’ll get to nap during the day can help to lower blood pressure. Maybe this is why we were all so happy in pre-school.

Make good sleep a priority, just like the rest of your healthy habits. Here are several factors to consider when generating a sleeping pattern:

• Consistency:  Keep a relatively consistent bedtime and wake time. Staying up late and sleeping in on weekends can disrupt your routine during the week.
• Light: Keep the bedroom extremely dark, to tell the body’s light-sensitive clock that it’s time to sleep.
• Noise: Keep the bedroom extremely quiet or use a white noise generator (such as a fan).
• Relaxation/routine: Develop a pre-bed routine that is relaxing and familiar.  Television, work, computer use, movies and deep/stressful discussions late at night can disrupt sleep.
• Temperature: Keep a slightly cool temperature in the room, between 66-72 F or 18-22 C.
• Stimulants: Eliminate stimulants like caffeine/nicotine, especially later in the day.
• Exercise: It’s not only good for a tight butt and big guns, it can help improve sleep.
• Fullness: Eating a dinner that makes you overly full can disturb sleep.

Source: Precision Nutrition




  

The 7 Rules of Exercise During Injury, and Injury Recovery

*Listen To Your Doctor:

When  I'm hurt and my doctor tells me that I can start being active again. I get a very specific list of do's and don'ts. Can I run? Can I do calisthenics? Can I weight train? The things s/he says "no" to I stay far away from. The last thing you need to do is re-injure what ever was hurt, and/or hurt something else!

*Listen to your body:
Just because the doctor may have given you the thumbs up on a certain exercise does not always mean that your body is ready to do it full out. Start with just going through the basic range of motion of the exercise with no added resistance, if that feels okay start to gradually increase the resistance. Pay attention to the signals that your body is sending. It will let you know that something is wrong (usually) long before you injure or re injure yourself.

*Don't take your pain killers right before you work out:
You need to be in tune with your body while you are recovering. If you are all doped up on medicine you will not be able to hear the sometimes subtle messages that your body is trying to send you. Not to mention the fact that if you are not even supposed to drive while on prescription pain killers, the weight room is probably not the safest place for you to be hanging out.

*R.I.C.E (Rest Ice Compression Elevation):
This magical formula works like a charm for most (if not all) injuries. Try to apply at least one aspect of  R.I.C.E. as soon as possible after working out, all the extra blood pumping will no doubt inflame the injured area, R.I.C.E. will return it to normal faster than almost any other method. Not to mention speeding up recovery.

*Watch your diet
I know this is not actually exercise related, but while you are injured it is more important than ever to eat right. Eating lots of veggies, lean protein, and tons of water will help you keep your fit physique while also helping your body to better regenerate cells, get rid of toxins, and heal faster.

*Take it Slow
Believe me, nobody wants to hit the ground running (so to speak) more than I do, but when it comes to recovery, you really need to take it slow. This will help your body better adjust to the new stresses of working out while in a weakened state, while also allowing you to be able to really listen, and watch for the warning signs that you are pushing it too hard.

*Work Range Of Motion and Stability Before Strength:
Do excercises with little to no resistance until you can work, pain free, through the range of motion. If you've had a hurt foot, or leg, practice standing on the one foot to help regain the tiny stabalizing muscles that are so crucial in day to day activities.


*Workout
Maybe for some of you this goes without saying, but unless your doctor has given you explicit orders to do absolutely nothing, you need to get out and, at least, move around a bit. Obviously I am not recommending you go from couch potato to marathoner on a broken leg, but go for a walk, do some push ups, anything to help get your blood pumping. Increased circulation will help you heal faster than almost any other single thing.  That is why it's so important to get, even just a little bit, of activity in each day. Plus you will have the added benefits of fat loss and muscle gain so that when your injury is healed you will not have to start from scratch.

The 7 rules of exercise that everybody should know

1-Stick with multi joint movement (MJM) exercises.

     *This means exercises that require you to move more than one part of your body. For example, doing a push up requires you to move the elbow and  shoulder joints, whereas a bicep curl only requires you to use the elbow joint.
     I call single joint movement (SJM) exercises, such as bicep curls, triceps extensions, and hip ad/abductor exercises cosmetic exercises. They are, quiet frankly, a huge waste of time (unless you are in a figure competition and have to flex each muscle in your body individually).  Scrap the bicep curls and do push ups and pulls ups instead. Stop wasting your time doing sitting hip abductions and do single leg squats and lateral lunges instead.  You will cut your workout time in half AND see much better results!

2-Work each side of your body individually and equally
     *A few simple changes in your workout will expose weaknesses you did not even know that you had, and help you to have better overall balance and strength. Instead of doing your bench press with a bar, try switching to dumbbells, do alternating reps, switch from the leg press machine to doing single leg squats (you will have to go a bit lighter, but your left leg will no longer get a free ride)
      This rule also applies to injuries. If one shoulder is hurt and can only shoulder press 10lbs stick with the 10lbs on the other side as well. This will help keep you in balance. Your healthy side is going to be bigger/strong than your injured side anyway, don't make it worse by over stressing the healthy side, and under stressing the injured side. Obviously if you are in a cast your normal daily activities are going to stress your healthy side way more than the injured, again, try not to compound it in the gym.

3-NEVER do crunches/sit ups
    *Chiropractors everywhere are thanking me for telling you this vital rule. I know you think that crunches are the basis of a strong stomach and the highly coveted 6 pack.  It's a lie. Sorry to have to break it to you so bluntly. Here is a list of reasons to cut crunches/sit ups (even with those fancy machines) completely out of your workout, and your life.

Strong, sleek abs no crunches.

        A-To best exercise a muscle you have to make it do it's job, then add stress. The job of your stomach/back muscles is to hold your body upright. A sit up trains your muscles to be hunched over and sticking out. It's the truth, lots of crunches and sit ups will make your muscles protrude out. Ladies, I don't know about you, but the last thing I need is for my muscles to make me look fat!
   
     B-Studies have been done on pig spines, these spines were placed in a machine that put them repeatedly through the basic motion of a crunch. Guess what happened to these spines... they broke, in half. The spine was not made to be stressed in this way. I know that you are thinking, "There is no way I could ever do enough sit ups to break my spine in half!"  That may be true, but think of all the damage you are doing with the sit ups, slouchy posture, cracking your back and neck every five minutes, and just general stresses. You can control the amount of sit ups in your life 100%, so just don't do them. Trust me, you will thank me later.

     C-Your head should always be supported. I know that you put your hands behind your head, or use a machine, and call that enough support, but it's not. Let me tell you a story...
   I used to do somewhere around 500 crunches everyday, no joke. (and no, my abs did not look amazing) Anyway, I started to have problems with my voice. I'm a singer and I was teaching large groups of 4th-12th graders at the time. Losing my voice was not an option. After visiting an ENT and a vocal specialist I was told that my neck muscles had gotten so big that they were squeezing my vocal folds. SICK, right? There is no need for me to have that strong, or that big of a neck ever! I understand why football players and MMA fighters need a strong neck (it probably saves their lives in some cases) but for the general population, it's just an unhealthy choice.

     I know you are all panicking because you now have no idea how you are going to exercise your core. Check out my YouTube page there is play list of 29 exercises that safely exercise your core.  If you don't want to click through just remember planks, cable stability chops/lifts, and heel extensions are your new best friends.

4-If an exercise is too easy, you probably just need to add more resistance
     *Adding more weight is not the only way to add more  (though it is still an option), you can add instability. *Light bulb* Single leg squats too easy? Try standing on an elevated, or uneven surface. Push ups too easy? Do them on only one foot, or with hands on a bosu ball. It will rock your world. Your workout and your fitness should always be evolving and progressing. There are almost endless ways of making an exercise harder. You just need a coach who knows how to do it.



5-LSD is not all it's cracked up to be
    *Long Slow Distance (LSD) cardio has swept the nation as the best, and perhaps only way, to lose weight and not get "huge."  Sorry to say it, but you've been lied to once more. Not only is running, or biking, or even swimming all that distance hard on your body, but it is one of the least effective ways to burn fat. This is where interval and H.I.T. (high intensity training) come into play. This is where you combine high bursts of speed/intensity with slower "cool down" phases. Not only will this type of training boost your metabolism (for up to two days after you workout), but it also translates better to real life activities such as sports. When was the last time you played soccer and ran 6 miles at an easy controlled pace?

6-Every exercise should be done with good posture
    *When you work out, you are really training your muscles on what you want them to do. This is why before basically every exercise I take just a second, roll my shoulders back and down, make sure my neck is straight, and that my lower back is not rounded or curved. Along with good posture proper form is a must for all exercises. If you can not do an exercise with proper form and good posture, then you need slow down, lighten the resistance, or find a slightly easier exercise. This not only protects you from injury, but it trains the muscles in your back, neck, and shoulders how to hold your torso upright and maintain good posture. This will make you look thinner, a bit taller, and just overall more healthy and confident. Not to mention prolong the healthy life of your spine!

7--(Ladies) lifting weights, even heavy ones, is not going to make you huge, or manly
        *Do you have any idea how hard guys have to work to get huge? Really hard, and they have to eat tons and tons of food.. Trust me when I say that bench pressing is not going to turn your chest into pure slabs of muscle and make your shoulders bigger than your husband's. What will actually happen is that you will burn fat faster, and have a leaner, stronger frame. This will help you look and feel better now, as well as, in 40 years when your non-weightlifting friends have osteoporosis, hunched backs, diabetes, and are fighting a losing battle with gravity. Resistance training will improve your quality of life faster than almost any other method, and the results are incredibly long lasting.