![]() So you are tired of the difficulties of healthy eating? You think it’s impossible to eat clean all week and spend less than an hour in the kitchen each night. As you watch E!, you think to yourself, those actresses can only look that great because of a staffed chef. What if healthy eating really is not out of your reach? What if you spent your time in the kitchen differently? I used to be there, I used to think I would never be able to eat properly all week. I never had the time or energy after work, to cook a healthy meal. The only time I had for the kitchen was to reach into the refrigerator and the quickest meal won. Story of my life, until recently, since I dug deeper into nutrition I’ve begun to realize that one day spent in the kitchen can make or break a weekly meal plan. Meal Prep 101: 1. Find healthy recipes 2. Make a grocery list 3. Buy groceries 4. Cut, prep and package the groceries 5. Have access to easy, convenient, healthy foods Check out my weekly meal plan here. Healthy Recipes: Thanks to social media, there are healthy recipes on pretty much every social media app you use. Just look for healthy dinners and the type of protein you prefer. Pinterest is a great resource, along with yummly. Most sites/apps even include recipes, step-by-step instructions and nutrition information. When you are first getting into the habit, you may find it easier to stick with a single source of protein. I started by simple crockpot chicken, which I then used for fajitas (my fav), salads for lunch, shredded chicken, etc. Grocery Lists: Grocery lists are pretty simple, you probably make one now. Recipe inspired grocery templates are out there, just use Google. Make sure to think about repurposing foods for lunch or simple items which can be used for a side dish with dinner or snack for lunch (fresh carrots, snap peas, green beans). Cut, prep and package: Probably the easiest but most over-looked step in the process. Sure, it’s great you buy fresh vegetables from a local farmers market, but when was the last time you ate all of those veggies? Simply cutting, prepping and packaging fresh fruit and vegetables before storing can make these items more accessible when you’re tired throughout the week. All of this could be an hour and a half tops on a Sunday morning. Sample week: 1. Plan Saturday or throughout the week as I see eye-catching recipes. 2. Buy and Prep Sunday morning/afternoon 3. Package as I prep a. Cut veggies and pack into containers or pre-season b. Cut meat or pre-season meat 4. Prep meals a. Breakfast -Egg bake: Eggs, leftover veggies and cheese in a pie dish = healthy breakfast all week. b. Lunch -Pre-cut, pre-packaged veggies and fruits -Yogurt -Protein Shakes c. Dinner - Meat and veggies are already prepped, so dinners should only take 20 minutes tops Really?!?! Yes, all of this seems like a lot of work. Think about your weekly vicious cycle; splurge at night, starve in the morning and splurge again at night because you starved all morning. Still need convincing, just read a few excerpts from the researchers at American Journal of Preventive Medicine and American Journal: Greater amount of time spent on home food preparation was associated with indicators of higher diet quality, including significantly more frequent intake of vegetables, salads, fruits, and fruit juices. Spending <1 hour/day on food preparation was associated with significantly more money spent on food away from home and more frequent use of fast food restaurants compared to those who spent more time on food preparation (2014). …women who more frequently planned meals before they went shopping, wrote a shopping list, enjoyed food shopping, planned in the morning what they will eat for dinner that night, planned what they will eat for lunch, reported they enjoy cooking, liked trying new recipes and who reported they sometimes prepare dishes ahead of time were more likely to consume two or more servings of vegetables daily (2007). I would say the evidence is pretty convincing. Just try it for one week. You will see how much easier and accessible healthy eating becomes. You will also enjoy a heavier wallet! Time Spent on Home Food Preparation and Indicators of Healthy Eating. Monsivais, Pablo et al. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 47 , Issue 6 , 796 – 802. Moderators of Environmental Intervention Effects on Diet and Activity in Youth. Stef P.J. Kremers, Gert-Jan de Bruijn, Mariël Droomers, Frank van Lenthe, Johannes Brug. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 32, Issue 2, February 2007, Pages 163-172.
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Strength circuits (like the one in this video) paired with cardio (like jumping rope) is a great way to build muscle and shred inches from your body. The exercises in the video are performed with a barbell, but you can use a set of dumbbells or kettlebells to complete the workout. Also - you can change any exercise if you don't feel you have the technique mastered. If you missed it, the workout is:
5 sets of 5 reps of: Hang Clean (alternative = upright row) Front Squat (alt = body weight squat) Push-press (alt = push up) Bent Row (alt = single arm row) 500 jump rope revolutions ( alt = jumping jacks, jog, etc) **Subtract 1 set from the barbell work and 100 revolutions each round. Are you stuck on a fitness plateau? Bored with your current program? Below is a program I developed based on my experience in the gym. A similar program helped take my fitness to the next level and the nutrition plan helped bring definition to my abs and carve pounds off my body. This program will challenge your body and your mind as you move towards increasing your physical strength. You will have to increase the weight used and your mental toughness, each and every week. Try the program click here. ![]()
Hey everyone!
In case you are wondering how to join this awesome class, follow (and like) the skinny on strength facebook page by clicking here. All details about location and things to bring during your first class are up on the facebook page. You will also find a video of the types of exercises you can expect. The community-oriented class is free for anyone willing to try and is open to all fitness levels. We will expect everyone to come with an open mind and a willingness to work for 30-40 minutes. All workouts are written by me, an ACSM certified exercise physiologist, and are inspired by results I have provided throughout my time spent in the fitness industry. Message the Skinny on Strength Facebook page to sign up and like the page to stay in the loop. Bring a towel, bottle of water and any medications (inhaler) or health history I should know about. We look forward to seeing you. Makes 1 waffle: 293 calories (with water)
Nutrition Facts Servings 1.0 Amount Per Serving calories 293 Total Fat 11g Saturated Fat 4g Monounsaturated Fat 2g Polyunsaturated Fat 1g Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 256 mg Sodium 2909 mg Potassium 304 mg Total Carbohydrate 17g Dietary Fiber 6 g Sugars 2g Protein 32 g Vitamin A 6 % Vitamin C 1 % Calcium 20 % Iron 17 % Nutrition facts according to Myfitnesspal, love that site.
A great way to get extra protein without buy protein bars is to make your own power balls. There are a million recipes all over the Internet, but most of those recipes call for store bought nut butters. The recipe I use starts by making the nut butter used as the base of the balls.
My favorite nut to use so far is the cashew. I get a bag of raw cashew pieces at Trader Joe's and put half of the bag in a food processor. You want to grind the cashews to a fine powder. Once in powder form, add in all your flavors and ingredients before adding in the oil. I put a scoop or two of protein powder (usually vanilla Muscle Milk), vanilla extract, salt, local honey, chia seeds and finish with coconut oil.
I rolled the ball below in coconut flakes, just so they didn't stick together when stored in a sandwich bag. I usually eat two balls with a banana after a workout.
In 2 hours time, you've completely sabotaged muscular recovery AKA you wasted 45 minutes of your time to workout. The "window of gains" the guys from barbell shrugged term it, has now closed. You may think relaxing on the couch is part of the recovering process, but how you ever wondered why you are sore and stiff the day(s) after workouts? Or why your major lifts (bench, squat, deadlift, etc.) are still within the same 10 pounds for the last 7 months? 5 reasons you aren't skinny strong Below are a few ways to recover better after workouts: 1. Missing the #windowofgainz.
If you don't already listen to the barbell shrugged podcast, then you should probably subscribe. The window of gainz is the time after a workout when the body is primed for food. The muscles are starving for carbohydrates (CARBS) and protein.
To put this into perspective, imagine you are on a sandy beach. Kids around you are digging a hole in dry sand; as more sand is put in a pile, the sand from the top and sides starts spilling back into the hole. Still, the kids keep digging away without the hole getting any deeper. At some point, one of the kids realizes getting the sand wet keeps the sand from falling back into the hole. Well the dry sand, wet sand is exactly what happens inside of the body. The sand is carbohydrates (CARBS) and wet/dry is the body's ability to store the CARBS in the right places. When the body is "dry", all the "ideal" locations for CARBS are filled...so the CARBs have to spill over into Adipose tissue (fat cells, not to be confused with actual FAT we eat). When the body is "wet", the muscles are STARVING for replenishment and the CARBs are stored in all the right places. The types of CARBs in the above situation are your; oats, banana, berries, rice, quinoa, etc.
Why CARBS? CARBS get a bad rep from the media, one article after another. The truth is CARBS are the quickest and "cheapest" fuel source during most workouts, so the muscles store as many CARBS as possible to ensure a readily available fuel source.
PROtein makes up a huge majority of our body weight. It's an essential building block to a lot of organs (muscle) and processes (movement). You are doing your body an injustice by limiting protein supply throughout the day, especially after a workout.
WOG meals should be 50/50 - PRO/CARBS. The WOG meal is your opportunity to eat that oatmeal, rice, quinoa, banana, berries, dried fruit, etc. Ever CARB that is not part of your daily low-carb meal plan. LOOK AT AMOUNTS IF YOU LOOK SOFT.
2. Restore body's pH levels.After a workout, the body is usually moved towards a more acidic pH level. Have you ever smelled yourself after a workout and realized you smell like ammonia? That's because your body has become acidic as a result of a lack of base type foods to maintain an alkaline pH level. (Oh Chemistry)...For the sake of simplicity, eat a banana, sweet potato, red potato or raisins after a workout to restore the balance. Your body will thank you. Don't get too caught up in the testing kits or anything like that, however, if you do think you have a huge pH imbalance, then a good visit to your physician could clear the air. If you're interested in learning more about this topic, a good book is the Paleo Diet for Athletes. 3. Foam roll after workouts.Muscle soreness has always been attributed to lactic acid build up in the muscles, but actually the soreness is caused by micro-tears within the muscle fibers (1). Lactic acid is actually a hero when hitting that last rep or sprint, the acid is recycled into the energy cycle used to power movement. The muscle tears cause a rebuild process, anabolism, which fuse the tears and add a little extra to patch the gaps. (Which is where hypertrophy, muscle growth, comes from). Where the body falls short in the repair process, is forming straight, smooth patches to these tears. Overtime these patches build and build, until what we know as "knots" form. The best way to help the body build more efficiently, is by hitting the foam roller or lax ball. Post workout is usually best, since the muscles are warm and have been worked. Use the lax ball before a workout, only if you have a current or recent injury or an area is extra stiff.
mobilityWOD is also a good resource here.
4. Stretch AFTER the foam roller AND more often.
Now that you've worked out the tension-causing knots with the foam roller and LAX ball, the muscles are primed for stretching. Foam rolling and stretch, together, improve the body's ability to move. The better you are able to move, the more you will get out of your workouts.
Mobility warm-up, not filmed.
CARDIO & PLYO:
2 x 60 seconds of: 10 triple step skaters & 10 high knees
3 x 40 secs of: Squat jumps and side climbers
STRENGTH:
Timer exercise: walking lunges around play ground
Strength set 1: underhand row x 10 & push-up x 10
Strength set 2: travel dip x 10 & skater x 10
STRETCH not filmed.
The old saying to never judge a book by its cover. How many times have you made a judgement of someone (good or bad) before ever having spoken with them? We do it all the time, it's part of how we explore the world. In the world of fitness, the judgements seem to be more harsh or critical. Some may think a trainer has never experienced struggles. That the trainer has always been fit and in shape. What if us trainers have been in your shoes? A good trainer always makes a session, both physically and metal. We turn into your mini therapists, without a mention of our stories. We are all human, after all.
Below are a few truths trainers never tell their clients, unless there is a need to humanize ourselves. 1. We have struggled the same fight to look and feel comfortable in our own skin. Nothing worthwhile comes easy. I haven't always eaten clean or understood the difference between diet and life style. 2. We haven't always looked this way. Personally, I've pushed myself over the past 6 years to get where I am today. There have been times I've given up and felt hopeless, like I'd never reach my goals. 3. Everyone is a work in progress; physically, mentally, emotionally, romantically, etc. You should always fight for understanding and learning. 4. At least 60% of the population has struggled with some spectrum of disordered eating. 5. We are in the business of helping others, but we can't help if you judge our abilities by our appearances. Too many times, I've heard women tell me they don't want to get big or bulky, because they've seen my arms. Everyone comes in all shapes and sizes. We've all been there; working hard in the gym, crushing the diet and still looking at the same numbers on the scale. Even after reading through all the fitness magazines, blogsites, websites, etc., so no resolve. No one has provided you with the magic solution. You're frustrated and desperate to try anything. I've been there. Struggling to eat enough while still trying to get "toned". I've read enough nutrition articles to qualify for the board of dietician exam, and still I struggled with my physique, numbers on the scale and performance in the gym. So how did I turn that around? I stopped lying to myself. I admitted I was not eating healthy or clean. I was not pushing myself as hard as I could during workouts, nor was I focusing my energy on the right workouts. Most of all, I was not sleeping enough. So what does that mean for you? Take an honest look at your logs, if you don't log your food and exercise, then start. Do the logs match what you know to be correct? Probably not, right? Did you log the alcohol you've drank during the week/weekend? The food those drinks caused you to eat, after lowering your willpower? The truth is - most of us already know what we need to do to get results. You've read enough articles by now to know enough, I'm not going to provide you with any information you didn't already read or hear. The hard part is to be honest with yourself. End the vicious cycle of lying to yourself and making poor choices. 1. You aren't logging your food and exercise. Logs are essential to personal growth. How do you know which variable (food, exercise, sleep, supplement, etc) actually caused change, if you don't log? How do you know what pre-workout meal was best for reaching that personal record? I recommend logging in myfitnesspal.com. This site and app, logs; food, supplements and exercise. The site lacks a sleep log, but you can track in your daily notes. Try logging for one week, then make changes. 2. Your macro-nutrients are off. Macro-nutrients?!? Proteins, carbs and fats are the macro-nutrients found in the foods you eat. Most of the body and it's major organs are made up of protein, so you can see this macro-nutrient is of top importance when you exercise. Protein is found is animal products, nuts, seeds, dairy and some plant products. Carbohydrates (or carbs) are in everything. Some say carbs are the devil and others say carbs are the most important macro. The truth is - carbs aren't a one size fits all macro. Some of us are more sensitive to carbs than others. Carbs also come in many different packagaes; fruit, vegetables, beer, bread, pasta, pastries, sugar, dressings, etc. Try this experiment - go two weeks without bread, pasta, pastries, donuts, protein bars, added sugar, anything processed in a factory. See how you feel. I bet you'll feel 100% more vibrant. Your workouts will be and feel so much better. Fats, oh fats. There is a distinct difference in the macro-nutrient and the extra layer you've been grabbing at for months. FAT, the macro-nutrient, is GOOD for you. Fat lines our organs and joints, fat also fuels the brain and helps send electrical signals all over our body. There are three different types of fats, or fatty acids; monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats and saturated fats. Mono and poly unsaturated fats are the good kinds of fat. They contain what you know as OMEGA 3, which is essential to bodily functions. In fact, research has shown that OMEGA 3 has been associated with decrease in LDL and an increase in HDL, along with a lower risk for heart disease (1). Sources of these OMEGA 3 are; fish, flaxseed, canola oil, soybean oil, and walnuts. So how should you arrange your macronutrients? Well that really depends on you. If you're sensitive to carbs, then you should limit starchy and dense carbs (potatoes, oats, quinoa, etc) to a post-workout meal. The carbs on which you should focus are vegetables and fruit. Keep munching all day. Low carb macro profile: PROTEIN = 40% daily calories (1 g of protein = 4 calories) FATS = 35% daily calories (1 g of fat = 9 calories) CARBS = 25% daily calories (1 g of carb = 4 calories) Try to play around with the breakdown according to how you feel. If you feel great and you've only consumed 20% carbs, then maybe that breakdown is ideal for YOUR body. 3. You aren't sleeping enough. Lack of sleep wrecks havoc on the mind and body. Several studies suggest inadequate sleep leads to physiological stress and inflammation. Along with stress, the body starts to become unable to recover from daily workouts. The body starts to slump into a state of over-training, which halts progress by the release of cortisol into the blood stream. While cortisol is good in moderation ( like most things), when in overabundance, the body begins to store fat everywhere. Another way lack of sleep will seek revenge, is by means of hunger. The body will tell your mind that you are STARVING, the stomach will start to hurt and you'll think that you need to eat more to feed that energy cycle. Start getting 7-8 hours of sleep each night. Turn off and unplug 30 minutes before bedtime. Starting a nightly routine will help. 4. Your workouts are inefficient. Take a look around the gym, how many people take time to Instagram every set they do? Probably 60%, if not more. Too much rest between sets, depending on the type of lift, leads to inefficiency. The metabolism never gets a jolt. 1. Put down those color-wrapped dumbbells, they aren't doing you any favors. 2. Add 5-10 lbs to each main lift every week or two. 3. Try barbell/dumbbell/kettlebell circuits. Add super-sets to your workout, pair a squat with a lunge, chest fly with a bench press. *Are you intrigued by the 3 statements above? Follow this 8 week program I wrote, with help from a licensed dietitian, to help people like you achieve their fitness goals. Click here to download your copy. 5. Your doing too much cardio. Which came first, the cardio or the weights? Have you ever seen that fire conditions alert? You ever notice the alerts only come around on dry, windy days? Well, think of that wind as cardio. The fire burns because of the amount of wood available to burn, the wind only ever helps that wood burn faster. In terms of the body, the wood is muscle you build from lifting weights. Wouldn't it make sense to provide your fire with enough wood to create a bonfire? Well pick up those weights and lift. Too much cardio is also linked to the release of cortisol, which stated above is not good for the belly fat and muffin top. Sorry to break the news to you. The body also gets used to the amount of cardio you do, so eventually that hour of elliptical translates to maybe 10 minutes of calories (not that much). So that's just a big waste of your time, taking you back to reason # 4. Focus, instead, on short bout of intense cardio. Maybe 1 minute of all out intensity followed by 2 minutes of recovery, repeat for a couple rounds. Do cardio AFTER a workout. Cardio BEFORE a workout will deplete the muscles of energy stores, ultimately (for the sake of the metaphor above) reducing that wood to twigs, decreasing that bonfire to a mere candle (2). 1. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/types-of-fat/ 2. http://journals.lww.com/acsmhealthfitness/Fulltext/2014/01000/Which_Comes_Fi rst__Resistance_Before_Aerobic.5.aspx ![]()
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