Surviving Labor Day Cookouts!

Hello everyone - I'm back!  Yes, the blog took a break in July and August, but now it's back and I'm kicking off the fall fitness posts with a Labor Day Survival Guide :).

Here are a few tips to stay on track even on a holiday weekend that is notorious for it's BBQ cookouts!  Worry not...it's completely possible to enjoy this end-of-summer holiday party!

1. Drink water. You knew I'd say that, didn't you??  Seriously though, it's often easy to mistake thirst for hunger, and when you're dehydrated, you're more likely to make not-so-smart food decisions. So stay hydrated with the H2O, and also be mindful of how much alcohol you consume.  If you are of the legal age and plan on drinking, stick with light beer (around 100 calories for a 12-oz. bottle) or wine (around 120 calories per 5-oz. glass) and be sure to drink a lot of water between each alcoholic drink. Have trouble drinking plain water?  Well, a favorite flavor mixer around here is the True Lemon brand - they don't use any artificial "junk" in their packets, and in addition to lemonade, the Cherry Limeade flavor is great.  Also add some lemon juice and Truvia to make your own lemonade.  But if it's hot out, just try drinking plain water! And don't start the water drinking at 3 in the afternoon - start your day out right with a full glass of water with your workout before you hit the road for the lake :). 

2. Don't skip a meal! Many people "save" their calories for the party, but did you know you are actually you are setting yourself up to overeat? When you arrive hungry, no matter how many calories you think you have "saved", you will likely overeat because you are starving.  Also, when you skip a meal or two, you have halted your metabolism - it will shut down for awhile because it doesn't have any food to burn.  And we need our bodies burning all day!!

3. Contribute to the food table. This way you can ensure that there's an item or two you can eat without guilt or worry. Of course, this doesn't work if you bring full-fat brownies, so try this recipe:

Guilt-Free Double Chocolate Brownies

12 brownies

Ingredients

·           Nonstick cooking spray

·         4  tablespoons butter

·         2/3  cup granulated sugar

·         1/2  cup cold water

·         1  teaspoon vanilla

·         1  cup all-purpose flour

·         1/4  cup unsweetened cocoa powder

·         1  teaspoon baking powder

·         1/4  cup mini semisweet chocolate pieces

·         2  teaspoon powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Coat the bottom of a 9-x-9-inch baking pan with nonstick spray. In a medium saucepan, melt butter; remove from heat. Stir in sugar, water, and vanilla. Mix in flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder until combined. Add chocolate pieces. Pour batter into pan; bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

4. Hit the grill. Grilling makes practically everything taste great, and it keeps added fat to a minimum. As long as the food isn't drowned in oil beforehand, you're pretty much good to go. My top picks? Skinless chicken breast, lean beef burgers, and veggie skewers!
 
5. Cool off with smart frozen treats. Stick to fruit pops and real fruit bars instead of standard ice cream sandwiches. Read the labels to check the sugar grams!

6. Stay away from mayo-laden side dishes. Even a seemingly reasonable 2/3-cup serving of potato salad has an average of 300 calories and nearly 20g fat. Not worth it!!  Bring your own side dish of potato salad and just modify your recipe to include a mix of nonfat yogurt and lowfat mayo.  If you need help modifying your favorite potato salad recipe, send it to me and I'll help!

7. Serve a Plate. How many times do you stand at the food table grazing?  Yep, I've been guilty of that too.  But can you really determine how much food you have really eaten when you spend an hour chatting with people as you stand - and graze - at the food table?  Serve a plate of food, and use the rule you use with your kids or that your parents used with you...your eyes are probably bigger than your stomach, so serve small portions! 

8. Let's get physical... Is there a volleyball game going on? Frisbee? A really competitive game of tag? Get in on it! You'll have fun and burn off some extra calories. Just make sure you hydrate!  And seriously, you can get up and do a quick 30-minute workout before you head out to the lake or over to that BBQ.

9. Enjoy. That's the point, after all! The more time you spend having fun with family and friends (and not standing directly in front of the food spread!), the less time you'll spend thinking about the food.  Oh, and one more thing...
 
10. Wear sunscreen. No, it won't help you burn more calories, but it's really important if you're spending time outside. Plus, if you end up sunburned, you might be tempted to drown your sorrows in a gallon of ice cream.  One small bowl of ice cream = okay!  A gallon?  Not so much :).

Thanks, HungryGirl.com, for giving me a few of these ideas to expand upon today!

Last week of June "100" Fitness Challenge!

Last week of June - the last 3 "100" challenges!!

Monday & Thursday - 100 one-legged kicks - 50 on each side.
Tuesday & Friday - 100 Hundreds (two options shown below).

Wednesday & Saturday - 100 Plank Punches (each punch is one).

Go for it!!

June Fitness Challenge: Week 2! (out of order - sorry)

Monday & Thursday = 100 squat jumps

Tuesday & Friday = 100 rows (50 per arm if you do them with a weight)

Wednesday & Saturday = 100 seconds of a low plank

Go for it! Remember - you can break it up. If you can't do 100 seconds of a plank, do 20 at a time, or whatever level you can do.

June Fitness Challenge: Week 3!

Week Three of June = 3 new "100" challenges!

Monday & Thursday - 100 seconds of a wall squat. If this isn't challenging enough, try one legged squats as shown below - 50 seconds on each leg.

Tuesday & Friday - 100 plank walks - down and up equals one . A good idea to do 10 leading with the left arm and then 10 with the right arm, etc.

Wednesday & Saturday - 100 butterfly situps.

June Fitness Challenge!

Welcome to June! This month's challenge is a 30-Day Full-Body Fitness Challenge. Each week you will do three different exercises on two days of the week.

Monday & Thursday = 100 push-ups...yes!! BUT you don't have to do them all at once. Break it up and do 4 sets of 25 throughout the day or however you want to do it. Try to do full body push-ups and see how many you can do before going to your knees if needed.

Tuesday & Friday = 100 squats. Again, you can break these up into 4 sets of 25 or two sets of 50. Make sure you keep your knees behind your toes - you should be able to see the toes of your shoes when you squat. Squat don't bend - act like you are about to sit down in a chair.

Wednesday & Saturday = 100 crunches. Hands light behind your head - don't pull on your neck. If your neck gets tired, take a break. Another tip to help keep the pressure off your neck - press your tongue against the roof of your mouth. Also, keep your lower back ON THE FLOOR.

Go for it! Next week there will be three different exercises.

5-Day Fitness Challenge!

This week brings us a 5-day fitness challenge! I was contemplating what to offer you this week, and came upon a blog that had a great idea for a 5-day challenge. I tweaked it a bit, and here you go! It's a progressive-type of week so get ready!

MONDAY:
* Limit yourself to less than 24 grams (women) or 36 grams (men) of added sugar.
*Add a 1-minute plank to your workout routine.

Tips: For 5 days, start noticing where that added sugar comes from! Definitely leave out the soda, candy, pastries and dessert (it’s just for 5 days) – and start checking your food labels to see where the rest of your sugar is coming from.

Don’t add sugar to your coffee or put it on or in anything you’re ingesting (great alternatives include cinnamon, a little full-fat coconut milk, steamed almond milk, sprinkle of cacao powder)

Don’t eat foods with added sugar (not sure? Read your food labels. If sugar or any kind of sugar derivative is listed – even natural sugars – skip it).

It’s okay to eat fruit, and a little honey per day is also okay.

TUESDAY:
*Drink a serving of Shakeology or make a green smoothie; limit added sugar.
*Do bicycle crunches for 1 minute; plank for 1-minute

If you don't use Shakeology, here's a recipe idea:

Green Smoothie:
1.5 cups Baby Kale (a little more tender and sweeter than mature kale)
1/2 cup parsley
1 apple (cored)
1/3 cucumber
5-6 strawberries
1/4 lemon (de-seeded and squeezed)
3 T hemp seeds or 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
1-1.5 cups water

Put all in a food processor, blender or smoothie maker and pulverize. Add ice to desired consistency.

Why Shakeology or a green smoothie? Well, number one most of us just don’t get enough greens in our body on a daily basis. If you haven’ t done your weekly food prep and you’re too busy to cook it’s easy to order take out or eat whatever is in the pantry. I’m guessing that your pantry isn’t stocked with raw kale, micro greens and carrots – and if it was, cooking them can feel like a job at the end of a long day. But tossing them in the blender with some fruits and spices – that’s another story!

Number two, any flavor of Shakeology or green smoothies deliver a powerful dose of nutrients right into your body. They contain all the healthy, natural fiber from the fruits and vegetables you blend, so you’ll digest slowly – keeping your blood sugar stable. Juicing is also a great way to get the nutrients into your body, but it will eliminate the fiber. I consider both juicing and blending wonderful additions to a well-balanced eating plan.

WEDNESDAY:
*Meet your water requirement; drink Shakeology or a green smoothie; limit added sugar.
*Do 1 minute of jump squats, bicycle crunches for 1 minute and a 1-minute plank.

So, how much water do you need to stay hydrated? The Food and Nutrition Board recommends general guidelines by age and gender as follows:

Women: between the ages of 19-70 need 2.7 L per day (avg)
(slightly higher during pregnancy and significantly higher during nursing)
Men: between the ages of 19-90 need 3.7 L per day (avg)For example, 2 L of water is roughly 9 (8 oz) glasses of water. And 3 L of water is about 13 (8oz) glasses of water a day.

So if you’re trying to meet your water needs and you’re aiming for 2 L of water a day, that’s refilling a 600 mL water bottle 3 and a half times. That’s refilling a 32 oz water bottle a little more than twice.

A slightly different approach is to divide your ideal body weight by 2, and drink that amount in ounces of water. For example, if you weigh 120 lbs, drink 60 oz of water a day. This amount does not include the fluids you absorb from other foods and liquids, although I typically drink my full amount in water and let the water I get through my foods and coffee be "bonus" .

THURSDAY:
*Bring food for the day; meet your daily water requirement; drink Shakeology or a green smoothie; limit added sugar.
*Do 1 minute of push-ups, 1 minute of jump squats, bicycle crunches for 1 minute & a 1-minute plank.

When we were kids, our moms packed lunches and snacks for us. When we were babies, they never left home without a bottle and our baby food. That’s because Mom knew that we needed a steady supply of nutrients to get big and strong, and to thrive! But somewhere between high school and our first job, it got ‘cooler’ to go out to eat with our friends and Mom had to pack our thermos and lunchbox away.

Tip: Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail!!

FRIDAY:
*Find a new healthy recipe or food to try; bring food for the day; meet your daily water requirement; drink Shakeology or a green smoothie; limit added sugar.
*1-minute of Lunges; 1 minute of push-ups, 1 minute of jump squats, bicycle crunches for 1 minute & a 1-minute plank.

Eat seasonal! Since it's spring, focus on tender, leafy vegetables that represent the fresh new growth of this season. The greening that occurs in springtime should be represented by greens on your plate, including Swiss chard, spinach, Romaine lettuce, fresh parsley, and basil.

Remember, variety is the spice of life!

Good Luck!! And thanks to www.thebettyrocker.com for my inspiration for this week's challenge!

Today's Tip: May Fitness Challenge Week 2!

Hopefully you had a chance to see the first May challenge last week.  How did week one go?

And if you are ready for it, here is your plan for this week! 1) Again, work out at least 3 days this week and on 3 of those days ADD 5 minutes of these exercises: jumping jacks, burpees, push-ups, mountain climbers and squat jumps. Do 45 seconds of each exercise then rest for 15 seconds; 2) side planks - hold one side for 45 seconds then the other (see photo below); 3) Continue to try and touch your toes every evening. If you have mastered that, work on touching the floor.